About our studentships

• Studentships can be based in any department of the University as long as research projects align with our Centre themes and meet the other requirements set out below under 'Research areas'
• PhD candidates will be jointly supervised by two investigators, where at least one should be from the BHF Cambridge CRE list of eligible supervisors
• Each studentship provides a maintenance stipend, University tuition fees at the home rate, and an amount per year towards other costs (e.g. consumables, services, travel)
• Only full-time students are accepted, due to the duration of the funding award
• Next intake October 2026 (advertised from 10 September 2025; application deadline 23 November 2025) 

Eligibility and how to apply

Before you can start a PhD at Cambridge you will need to

• Meet the requirements of the university
• Make a successful application to a course via the University's Applicant Portal. A course may have its own specific requirements as to research topic, for example, or may mean a PhD based in a specific University department - usually the one where your proposed PhD supervisor is based
• Prove you can fund your PhD, i.e. maintenance costs, fees and any other costs such as lab consumables, visas etc. You can search for funds via the applicant portal (relevant funds are presented when you search for a course) or via the postgraduate funding search. 

The BHF CRE interdisciplinary studentship in cardiovascular science provides funding for a PhD but also has subject and other requirements and is awarded through a competitive process that includes an interview. The first step is to apply for it via the Applicant Portal. The postgraduate study website has details on applying (for funds) through the Applicant Portal but please note that you should apply by our deadline, even if this is earlier than your course deadline.

Applicants for a BHF CRE interdisciplinary studentship:

• Should have obtained an honours degree (at least equivalent to a UK 2.1) or a Master’s degree in a scientific discipline that is relevant to the PhD project
• Should, before applying, contact one or more potential supervisor(s) to discuss research interests and possible projects and for help to develop their research proposal
• Must propose a project that is in line with the Centre's research and is interdisciplinary in nature (see 'research areas' below) and which is endorsed by one or both proposed supervisors, including at least one eligible supervisor. No formal letter from a proposed supervisor is required; endorsement can be asserted by you but will be checked
• Are welcome to apply for this studentship if they hold 'overseas' status but will need to secure additional funding to cover the difference between home rate and overseas rate fees
• Should apply for this studentship and for a relevant course via the University's Applicant Portal. Our advice is to apply for course(s) and for funding at the same time, or as soon as possible after making your first applications.

For PhD candidates starting in October 2026, interviews will be held during December 2025. Interviews are usually in-person but can be held remotely if that is not possible. Studentships will be advertised via the applicant portal from 10 September 2025.

Please contact Jane Sugars if you have any questions about the process or about your eligibility. 

Research areas

Projects must be in an area of cardiovascular science relating to one or more of the BHF Cambridge CRE themes and should cross traditional research disciplines and/or involve two or more themes. Awards are made based on academic merit but, in addition to traditional biological sciences, we are particularly keen to recruit mathematical, computational and physical scientists to train in cardiovascular informatics, statistics and imaging to build capacity in these areas.

The BHF Cambridge CRE has five themes:

• Mobilising and translating discoveries from multi-omic cohorts
• Targeting inflammation in cardiovascular disease
• Advanced therapeutics for cardiac repair and regeneration
• Cardiometabolic syndromes: Exposome and molecular mechanisms linking Obesity, Diabetes, HFpEF, NAFLD, and NASH
• Applied Cardiovascular Health Research

See the Centre's lead researchers.