Continue with FacebookLooking to list your PhD opportunities? Log in here.
We have 31 Cancer Biology PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships in Manchester
Cancer Biology PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships in Manchester
We have 31 Cancer Biology PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships in Manchester
A PhD in Cancer Biology would provide you with the opportunity to research a specific cancer in great detail. Whether you’re developing a new treatment, understanding the factors that allow a tumour to arise or innovating better diagnostic tests, you’ll be improving our understanding of cancer and saving lives.
What’s it like to do a PhD in Cancer Biology?
Doing a PhD in Cancer Biology, you’ll develop excellent laboratory skills, particularly in cell culture, working with RNA and studying the proteome. Most Cancer Biology projects link to other subjects and as such, you’ll have experience working with techniques from Cell Biology, Immunology and Genetics.
Some typical research topics in Cancer Biology include:
- Developing novel diagnostic tests
- Understanding a potential trigger of metastasis
- Developing novel therapeutics to treat a specific cancer
- The immune system and cancer interactions
- Characterising the role of a specific tumour suppressor or oncogene in a certain cancer
Generally, Cancer Biology programmes are advertised on the university website with the research proposal, including the scope and primary aim of the research pre-determined by the supervisor. These projects are usually fully-funded.
It’s uncommon to propose your own research in Cancer Biology since the additional bench fees make self-funding difficult. It can also be tricky to find a supervisor with the interests that line up well with your suggested project that also have the equipment and expertise to supervise you through your PhD.
In your daily life you’ll be in the laboratory conducting experiments, reading the literature for new methods you could try, analysing old data, and talking to colleagues and your supervisor about your work. In the final year of your PhD you’ll submit a thesis of around 60,000 words that will contribute to the knowledge of your field and you’ll defend your work during your viva exam.
Entry requirements
The entry requirements for most Cancer Biology PhD programmes involve a Masters in a subject directly related to Biology, with at least a Merit or Distinction. If English isn’t your first language, you’ll also need to show that you have the right level of language proficiency.
PhD in Cancer Biology funding options
The Research Council responsible for funding Cancer Biology PhDs in the UK is the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). They provide fully-funded studentships including a stipend for living costs, a consumables budget for bench fees and a tuition fee waiver. Students don’t apply directly to the BBSRC, you apply for advertised projects with this funding attached.
It’s uncommon for Cancer Biology PhD students to be ‘self-funded’ due to the additional bench fees. However, if you were planning to fund yourself it might be achievable (depending on your project) through the UK government’s PhD loan and part-time work.
PhD saved successfully
Exploring how cancer cells transmit force into the nucleus to regulate gene expression
Overview. This project will explore the mechanobiology of skin cancer cells and seeks to understand the mechanisms by which force is transmitted from the tumour microenvironment into the nucleus. Read more
Understanding the gene regulatory landscape of embryonic stem cells and cancer cells
Cell identity is ultimately determined through decoding the genome through the action of gene regulatory mechanisms. In particular, sculpting of the chromatin landscape to reveal unique configurations of gene regulatory elements in each cell type is a major driver of cell identity. Read more
Defining the molecular mechanisms of leukaemia chemotherapies
Chemotherapies are usually the backbone of cancer treatment for either curative or palliative patient care. Multiple therapies can be used for the same disease, with the choice of drug dependent on parameters such as the patient’s age and fitness. Read more
Decoding the epigenetic mechanisms of drug resistance in aggressive breast cancers
Breast cancers pose a major health burden to modern world as being the most common cancer in women. Estrogen receptor (ER), the classical marker of 70% these cancers, is the nuclear receptor important for cancer progression. Read more
Assessing the contribution of the human microbiome to paediatric cancer and predisposition and chromosomal instability syndromes
A self-funded PhD studentship is available in the laboratories of Andrew McBain, Stefan Meyer and Chris Knight. The project aims to study the microbiome in paediatric cancer predisposition and chromosomal instability syndromes (CIS). Read more
(WIS) How do mutations in the spliceosome protein SRSF2 contribute to clonal haematopoiesis and myeloid blood cancers, and how can patients with such mutations be better treated?
This project will take advantage of internationally leading expertise in myeloid blood cancer research in Manchester UK (Somervaille, Wiseman and Batta) and Israel (Shlush) and provide the student with a fantastic opportunity to study in two world-leading myeloid blood cancer research centres as part of an integrated programme. Read more
Targeting ERK5 to treat mesothelioma: A new immunotherapy approach?
Malignant mesothelioma (MM) has an average survival time of less than 12 months post-diagnosis. There is an urgent need to develop novel therapies to treat MM. Read more
Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins in the DNA damage response and cancer
A self-funded PhD studentship is available in the laboratories of Christine Schmidt, Stefan Meyer and Anthony Whetton. Read more
Roles of negative transcriptional regulators in cancer cells
The aim of the project is to investigate how factors involved in mRNA synthesis alter gene expression in human cells. Precise control of transcription and RNA processing is essential for the correct regulation of gene expression in all eukaryotic organisms. Read more
Understanding apoptotic heterogeneity in cell populations
Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in response to stress such as genomic damage. The decision to initiate apoptosis is taken at the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) by members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins. Read more
Proteomic analyses of adhesion signalling in cancer
Why adhesion? Cell surface adhesion receptors play key roles in the control of cell movement, survival, division and differentiation. Read more
Development of deep learning methods and software to infer pathway enrichment from histology images - application to liver fibrosis
Histopathological images are routinely used to characterize complex phenotypes. For example, pathologists regularly study stained images of tissue biopsies for cancer diagnosis as cancer is known to change the morphological features of cells including cell shape and size [1]. Read more
Investigating the interplay between the immune consequences of pelvic radiotherapy, the gut microbiome and long-term side-effects
The North West has a higher prevalence of pelvic cancers compared to the rest of England. Around 40% of all people with cancer have curative-intent radiotherapy (RT) with 1 in 3 people having pelvic radiotherapy as an important component of their anti-cancer treatment. Read more
Computation modelling of biological response to radiation at tissue level for Proton Therapy
Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) is a radically new type of radiotherapy that has the potential to improve the precision and targeting of radiotherapy leading to fewer side effects, faster recovery and better outcomes for patients. Read more
Identifying novel therapeutic targets in CMML
Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) is a clonal stem cell neoplasm defined by abnormal monocytosis and dysplasia. A quarter of CMML patients progress to acute myeloid leukaemia and these patients have dismal prognosis. Read more
