Medical Research Council (MRC)  - MRC Scholarships

MRC DiMeN PhD scholarship

You will receive tax-free monthly stipend of about 2,453 EUR to cover your living costs (the UKRI minimum amount, £20,780 per year in 2025/26). This will cover the cost of a full four-year PhD. Your tuition fees will be covered in full. You will also receive an annual research budget of approximately £4,125 for laboratory and project costs, as well as £300 per year for travel and conferences. If your project is an iCASE placement – i.e. carried out in collaboration with an industry partner – you will receive more: a higher scholarship (approximately £2,500 more per year), a larger research budget and a three-month placement with that company. Funding is provided by the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation. The programme is administered by the ‘Discovery Medicine North’ (DiMeN) partnership, involving five universities: Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.

Who can apply

• Degree: You have a good bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject area or are well on the way to obtaining one; a master’s degree is also required for many projects.
• Field: Your PhD research project is in the field of biomedical and medical research: infectious diseases and global health, cancer, ageing and multimorbidity, or medical technology and data science.
• Where you study: The PhD programme takes place at one of the five partner universities (Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield or York).
• Nationality: Applicants of all nationalities are welcome to apply. Most places are allocated to students from the UK. A very small number of places are available to international applicants, who must cover their own visa costs, health surcharge and relocation costs.
• English: You meet the English language requirements of the university to which you are applying.
• Project fit: You meet the entry requirements for the project you have chosen.

How to apply

Select two projects from the list provided and get in touch with their supervisors. You should then submit a central application form via the University of Sheffield, covering projects at all five universities. The application deadline for 2026 is 4 December 2025 at 13:00 UK time. Around 100 applicants will be shortlisted for online interviews in early March, and around 40 will be offered a place.

How realistic are your chances?

With up to 40 fully-funded places per year and a high number of applicants (only around 100 make it through to the interview stage), the selection process is highly competitive. The initial selection is based on your anonymised academic and research statements. An application that is precise and tailored to specific projects carries more weight than a general one. Contact the supervisors at an early stage and tailor your application to their project.