Wolfson-Eisai 4-Year PhD in Neurodegeneration

The Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre (LWENC) has embarked on a new phase of our doctoral training scheme, which expands on our already close collaboration with our industrial partner, Eisai, to form the Wolfson-Eisai 4-Year PhD Programme. This programme brings together world class researchers, state of the art facilities, and unique cohorts of patients to facilitate research into the early stages of neurodegenerative disease, with the added benefits of industrial partnership and support.

Programme Structure

In the first year of the programme, students are given the opportunity to develop an extensive range of knowledge and skills in various areas of neurodegenerative research. This is achieved through attending a bespoke programme of taught activities based on the student’s previous experience, including journal clubs, stats courses, seminars, and taught modules of our MSc programmes.

In addition, students will complete three 10 week rotation projects in labs of their choosing, enabling students to develop relationships and collaborations with various supervisors before deciding on a three year PhD project. The rotation aspect has been very popular with our students as it minimises the risk of poor student-supervisor relationships, as well as allowing students to try new areas which they may or may not be suited to.

Students will embark on their 3 year PhD project at the end of year one, after submitting a PhD proposal. Students will be expected to take a lead role in developing their project proposals, and will have the opportunity to link together the studies undertaken during their lab rotations to pursue novel, exciting avenues of research.

Our supervisors have been selected based on their outstanding research record in the area of neurodegenerative disease and their supervisory experience. Projects have been carefully reviewed by Eisai in order to ensure industrial synergy. A list of our current supervisors can be found on our website.