MB/PhD can normally be undertaken after completion of the BSc in Year 4. Exceptions to this rule apply to students on the Graduate Entry course and the Direct Entry clinical course.
The full regulations and eligibility criteria for obtaining permission to apply for MB/PhD [Word]

As an MB/PhD student, you will be registered in the Graduate School of Life Sciences and Medicine. This will require permission to exit the MBBS course for the duration of the PhD. Note that in order to re-enter the MBBS course after the PhD, MB/PhD students have to complete the research and thesis by the end of the 3rd year of the PhD.

If you are interested in studying for a PhD at this stage in your career, you should note that:

• It is your responsibility to find suitable supervisor and PhD project for yourself and to ensure that there will be sufficient funding to cover your postgraduate tuition fees, stipend and running costs of research project; in 2009/10, the minimum required funding for an MB/PhD was £20,440 for the first year, including the tuition fee and stipend (See the table below).  Please note that the required funding for an MB/PhD does not cover the laboratory (running) costs of research – these should be covered separately by your proposed supervisor.  You can expect the required funding for an MB/PhD commencing in July 2011 to be close to the above figure.

Table: 2010 - 2013 MB/PhD funding

• Each year, a limited number of MB/PhD studentships funded by the Divisions in the Faculty of Medicine will be advertised.  You can apply for any of these studentships and will be in open competition with other students on the MBBS/BSc course and, sometimes, with other graduate applicants. These studentships will be advertised by email and on the teaching intranet, Year 4, as they become available.

• Please note that it is possible to undertake an MB/PhD funded externally and not through a Division in the Faculty of Medicine; for example, a prospective supervisor may have a grant that covers the funding of a PhD student. If there is an academic member of staff under whose supervision you would particularly like to undertake an MB/PhD, you will have to explore the possibility with them.  Hence, if you wish to undertake an MB/PhD under the supervision of a particular academic member of staff, you will need to approach them about that possibility.

• MB/PhD research will take place in the divisions of the Faculty of Medicine and may (encouraged) or may not be based on an existing BSc project.

• For all PhD studentships, you should expect to receive a stipend and that your college fees will be met. You will need to discuss this with your potential supervisor and also how the running costs of your project will be met.

• It is also possible that individual supervisors may have funds available for PhD studentships. If you are offered such a place or have won external funding for a PhD yourself, then the same requirements and procedures apply.

Application procedure for MB/PhD:

• Obtain details of the studentship(s) of interest from the relevant contact person: What is on offer?

• Write to Dr Laki Buluwela, the Faculty of Medicine Academic Lead for Doctoral Degrees, to request permission to exit the MBBS course before accepting any offer of a PhD studentship. Your request will be considered in view of the criteria for satisfactory academic performance and lack of re-sits in Years 1-3: Am I eligible?

• Apply for the studentship after you have been permitted by Dr Laki Buluwela

• Successful applicants will be offered places for MB/PhD conditional upon meeting the requirement of obtaining at least a 2i in their BSc.

Re-entry of the MBBS course (Year 5)

• For re-entry to the MBBS course 3 years after exiting to undertake the PhD, it is an absolute requirement that your thesis is submitted before the start of Year 5 (i.e. end of June). Since this is a more rigid requirement than is applied to most PhD students, you are advised to discuss this with your potential supervisor(s).

• In order to re-enter the MBBS course, you will be expected to participate in occasional clinical teaching, usually at weekends, during your PhD. You are advised to discuss this with your potential supervisor(s).

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