Medical Statistics PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships for Self-funded Students in the UK

A PhD in Medical Statistics will require you to provide expert statistical inputs to issues in medical health research. You’ll be concerned with either applying existing or developing new statistical methods in areas of medicine like public health, clinical trials or epidemiology.

What’s it like to do a PhD in Medical Statistics?

Statistics has a major role to play across medicine and public health. Research projects in Medical Statistics have both components of Statistics and Medicine. As a Medical Statistics PhD student, you can think of your project as a combination of research in statistical methodologies and their application to challenges in medicine and public health.

Some popular statistical methods in Medical Statistics include

• Bayesian statistics
• Casual inference
• Computational analysis

Some popular medical applications in Medical Statistics include

• Bioinformatics
• Brain imaging
• Clinical trials
• Epidemiology
• Genetics

You could also be working on the design and analysis of clinical trials or epidemiological studies. Whatever your research topic, you can expect to be dealing with large health data sets on a regular basis.

The aim is for you to be able to produce a thesis with unique and significant contributions to the field by the end of your PhD. Your thesis should be 75,000-80,000 words long to be defended in an oral examination.

In the UK, a full time PhD in Medical Statistics lasts 3-4 years. Most PhD programmes are completely research led, however, given the interdisciplinary nature of Medical Statistics there might be an induction period at the beginning of your programme during which you’ll be asked to attend basic training and go through some teaching modules.

Entry requirements

For a PhD in Medical Statistics, you’ll need to hold a First or a 2.1 Honours degree in Maths, Statistics or a related subject. A Masters, with Merit or Distinction, in these subjects is also a good foundation for a PhD in Medical Statistics. You’ll be expected to already have knowledge of both practical and theoretical elements of Maths and Statistics.

Depending on where you study, you might also have to prove you have a certain level of proficiency in the language of instruction at your university.

PhD in Medical Statistics funding options

In the UK, a PhD in Medical Statistics is funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) which provides fully funded studentships along with a tax-free stipend and an annual travel and training budget.

If your PhD comes with an MRC studentship attached, you’ll get guaranteed funding provided you are successful in your application.

PhD in Medical Statistics careers

Many Medical Statistics doctoral graduates chose to either continue research or join academia. However, with the skills and knowledge you’ll gain during your programme, you can also look at a career at public health organisations like the NHS or pharmaceutical companies.