leeds PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships

University of Leeds Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

The Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures brings together academic Schools and Institutes specialising in a wide range of research areas. Read more

Self-Funded PhD Students Only Arts Research Programme

Postgraduate Research Opportunities in Global Development, Politics and International Relations & Security

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Social Sciences Research Programme

About the School of Politics and International Studies. The School of Politics and International Studies is at the forefront of interdisciplinary research into international development, international relations and political studies. Read more

Postgraduate Research Opportunities in Education

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Social Sciences Research Programme

About the School of Education. The School of Education is recognised as one of the very best in the UK for its research and teaching excellence, with 81% of our research deemed 'world-leading' and 'internationally excellent' by the Research Excellence Framework in 2021. Read more

Postgraduate Research Opportunities in Law

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Law Research Programme

About the School of Law. The School of Law fosters and promotes research in all major fields of legal study. Our research explores contemporary issues across the fields of law and criminal justice, informing policy and practice on a national and international level. Read more

NIHR Leeds BRC: Pre-clinical evaluation of novel regenerative medicine strategies for knee osteoarthritis

Supervisors: Prof H Pandit, Prof D McGonagle

Historically, articular cartilage was considered incapable of spontaneous repair. However, biomechanical correction in osteoarthritis (OA) using high tibial osteotomy or joint distraction demonstrated the remarkable joint to regeneration by “merely” correcting joint alignment. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

University of Leeds Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Research degrees in the School of English

We offer research degrees at both Masters and PhD level. MA by Research (MAR). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Undertaking a PhD allows you to develop in-depth knowledge and make a meaningful contribution to your chosen field. Read more

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Arts Research Programme

NIHR Leeds BRC: Unravelling the pre-clinical immunology of the IL-23/1L-17 axis in axial inflammation in psoriatic arthritis towards optimal disease prevention

Supervisors: Prof D McGonagle, Dr H Marzo-Ortego, Dr T Macleod

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are key disorders within the seronegative spondylarthropathy (SpA) that was first described in… Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Postgraduate Research Opportunities in Sociology and Social Policy

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Social Sciences Research Programme

About the School of Sociology and Social Policy. In the School of Sociology and Social Policy we are passionate about research that makes a difference in society on a local, national and global level. Read more

NIHR Leeds BRC: The role of target organs in initiation of autoimmunity in systemic lupus erythematosus

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Autoimmune diseases such as SLE have traditionally been understood to result from aberrant haematopoietic adaptive immune system that targets normal tissues such as the skin and joints. Read more

Supervisor: Dr E Vital

NIHR Leeds BRC: Force sensing mechanisms of haemostasis in heart failure and diabetes

Supervisors: Dr R Ariens, Prof D J Beech, Dr E Levelt

Since the original identification of the role of PIEZO1 in vascular integrity and endothelial cell biology by our group in Leeds in 2014, there have been many publications on the role of PIEZO1 in endothelial function and its role in processes such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, cell-cell junctions, vascular permeability and leukocyte diapedesis. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

Leeds Beckett University School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing

Localised urban heat island monitoring to improve regulatory overheating risk assessment of domestic buildings

The School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing at Leeds Beckett University is currently accepting applications for up to 4 funded full-time PhD Research Studentships. Read more

Supervisor: Dr J Parker

17 May 2024 PhD Research Project Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

University of Leeds Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Research degrees in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies

The School of Languages, Cultures and Societies is one of the UK’s leading centres for research and teaching in languages and cultures. Read more

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Arts Research Programme

NIHR Leeds BRC: Utilising genetic and genomic predictors of vasculitis and disease/treatment complications for application in routine clinical practice

Supervisors: Prof A Morgan, Dr MM Iles, Dr R Mujica-Mota

There is substantial interest in using genetic biomarkers to predict those most at risk of disease and treatment complications; this is one of the focuses of Our Future Health, a national study aiming to recruit 5M participants ( https://ourfuturehealth.org.uk/ ). Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Using health data to flip the inverse care law in polymyalgia rheumatica

Supervisors: Dr S Mackie, Prof A Clegg, Dr K Best

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a common inflammatory musculoskeletal disease affecting older people. It is treated in primary care with long-term corticosteroids (prednisolone). Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Using early simulation modelling to estimate the health care system impact of new technologies and inform technology development

Supervisors: Dr A Vargas-Palacios, Dr D Meads, Prof H Pandit

Evidencing the value of new technologies is an important step in securing market access and allowing patients to benefit from innovations. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: The microbiome and the promotion of bowel cancer: The key to understanding causation and prevention of this important disease

Supervisors: Dr K Marks, Dr H Wood, Dr N West, Prof P Quirke

Bowel cancer is the second commonest cause of cancer death in the UK and affects 1.9 million people annually worldwide. Its cause is still unknown but recent work by Wood et al. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Targeting systemic inflammation to treat joint pain

Supervisors: Prof P Conaghan, Dr S Kingsbury

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the commonest arthritis and affects >530 million people globally; prevalent cases increased 113% since 1990. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Network meta-analysis methods for assessment of complex interventions in the early phase setting

Supervisors: Prof D Stocken, Mr N Corrigan, Dr R Walwyn

Rehabilitation aims to enhance and restore functioning and quality of life and treatment interventions can be multiple and varied, for example, medication, physiotherapy, nutrition, life style interventions, devices. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Multimodal predictive modelling of outcome in patients with gastrointestinal cancer

Supervisors: Dr H Grabsch, Dr N West, Dr D Magee

Worldwide, cancer of the upper (oesophagus, stomach) and lower gastrointestinal (colon and rectum) tract is newly diagnosed in 3.6 million patients every year and 2.2 million patients die from this disease every year. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Methods to improve research recruitment prediction in complex trials: improved learning from pilot or early phase work

Supervisors: Prof D Stocken, Mr N Corrigan, Miss J Croft

Recruitment to research studies can be challenging and it is recognised that site level barriers can be unique, widespread and varied with no universal solution. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Incorporating patient and health care preferences early in the innovation pathway to inform technology development

Supervisors: Dr D Meads, Dr P Cocco

The resources and time required to move from early biomedical research to clinical trials can be substantial. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Improving understanding of the use and interpretation of risk prediction tools

Supervisors: Dr N Rousseau, Prof D Stocken, Prof DC Cairns

There are many risk prediction tools developed but only a fraction make it to routine clinical use. The reasons are multiple, for example some are geographically specific, many remain unvalidated, some lack clinical utility. . Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Improving hip replacement surgery for at risk patient cohort

Supervisors: Dr R K Wilcox, Dr S Williams, Dr A Jones, Prof A Redmond

More than 10% of the UK population aged over 45 have hip osteoarthritis and there are nearly 100,000 total hip replacement (THR) surgeries performed every year. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Exploring the impact of 'hidden' antibiotic resistance

Supervisors: Prof A O'Neill, Dr K Davies, Dr J Sandoe

Antibiotics make possible the treatment of life-threatening infections and have added over a decade to average human lifespan. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: Development and application of fast Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging methods for metabolic profiling

Supervisors: Prof S Plein, Prof J Schneider

Altered metabolism is a hallmark of many disease states, including cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions. Importantly, metabolic profiles may be patient-specific and may for example indicate susceptibility to treatment or malignancy. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

NIHR Leeds BRC: An interferon diagnostic to inform early detection and prevention strategies in Ana positive CTDs

Supervisors: Dr F Del Galdo, Dr R Ross

Type I interferons (IFN) play a role in a wide range of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), and strong evidence suggests that measurement of IFN activity could have clinical value, although testing has not progressed into clinical settings. Read more

26 May 2024 PhD Research Project Competition Funded PhD Project (UK Students Only)

University of Leeds Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Research degrees in the School of Music

Whether you’re looking to begin your academic career or want to develop your skills and expertise for a career in industry, studying a research degree will be a journey that will stimulate your passion for your subject and push you to reach your potential. . Read more

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Arts Research Programme

University of Leeds Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Research degrees in the School of Design

Our PhD course will allow you to become an expert in a specialist area and gain high-quality research training in Design. Your PhD can be taken full-time (three years standard, four years maximum) or part-time (five years standard, seven years maximum). Read more

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Arts Research Programme

University of Leeds Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures

Research degrees in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies

The research focus of the School allows us to offer expertise in a wide range of interdisciplinary fields, including world-wide art history, critical analysis and theoretical cultural studies, as well as fine art practice in all media. Read more

Funded PhD Programme (Students Worldwide) Arts Research Programme