See all our PhD projects:
Fully-funded PhD projects
Apply for our fully-funded PhD projects in subjects including chemistry, biology, computer science, and physics.
PhD opportunities for science graduates
We are now accepting applications for our 2025/2026 PhD studentships and the projects can be browsed below. You will also find a link to further information about our application process and our mailing list, should you wish to be notified about future PhD opportunities.
Stipends
The ICR's current student stipend is £26,505 per year. Studentships awarded by the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre, which is a partnership of the ICR and Imperial College London, instead includes a stipend paid at the Cancer Research UK rate of £24,219 per year.
Find out about our application process Mailing list
Available opportunities
You can view details of the 2025/2026 projects below.
Funding for our PhD projects comes from a variety of different sources, including some funded programmes, such as the MRC Doctoral Training Partnership and the CRUK Science Centre at the ICR and Imperial.
Please note, the advertised funder may change prior to registration.
Folate-Degrader Conjugates (FDCs) for Tumour-specific Targeting
Primary supervisor: Professor Zoran Rankovic Primary site: Sutton Funded by MRC iCASE award (AstraZeneca)Folate-Degrader Conjugates (FDCs) for Tumour-specific Targeting
See full project detailsEnabling Oral Delivery of VHL-based PROTACs Through Formulation and Prodrug Design
Primary supervisor: Professor Swen Hoelder Primary site: Sutton Funded by MRC iCASE CRODA PharmaEnabling Oral Delivery of VHL-based PROTACs Through Formulation and Prodrug Design
See full project detailsStructural dissection of β-catenin ubiquitylation by cryo-electronmicroscopy
Primary supervisor: Professor Sebastian Guettler Primary site: Chelsea Funded by CRUKStructural dissection of β-catenin ubiquitylation by cryo-electronmicroscopy
See full project detailsRegulation of the β-catenin destruction complex by deubiquitylation
Primary supervisor: Professor Sebastian Guettler Primary site: Chelsea Funded by CRUKRegulation of the β-catenin destruction complex by deubiquitylation
See full project detailsNew strategies for exploiting the fitness costs of drug resistance in cancer
Primary supervisor: Professor Trevor Graham Primary site: Sutton Funded by Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network 2025New strategies for exploiting the fitness costs of drug resistance in cancer
See full project detailsTowards non-invasive monitoring and prediction of cancer evolutionary dynamics from cfDNA
Primary supervisor: Professor Trevor Graham Primary site: Sutton Funded by Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network 2025Towards non-invasive monitoring and prediction of cancer evolutionary dynamics from cfDNA
See full project detailsOptimising radiotherapy dose-fractionation and volume for maximal synergy with immunotherapy
Primary supervisor: Dr Navita Somaiah, Dr Erik Wennerberg Primary site: Sutton Funded by CRUK RadNetOptimising radiotherapy dose-fractionation and volume for maximal synergy with immunotherapy
See full project detailsCell cycle regulation of the WEE1 kinase
Primary supervisor: Professor Jonathon Pines Primary site: Chelsea Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Cell cycle regulation of the WEE1 kinase
See full project detailsDevelopment of the next generation circulating tumour DNA tests in gastrointestinal cancers
Primary supervisor: Professor Michael Hubank Primary site: Sutton Funded by NIHRDevelopment of the next generation circulating tumour DNA tests in gastrointestinal cancers
See full project detailsTargeting Urea Cycle Dysregulation as a Tumour Specific Vulnerability in Lethal Prostate Cancer
Primary supervisor: Dr Alec Paschalis Primary site: Sutton Funded by ICRTargeting Urea Cycle Dysregulation as a Tumour Specific Vulnerability in Lethal Prostate Cancer
See full project detailsThe Multiscale Vulnerability Map: Cross-Discipline Multimodal Mining Reveals Colorectal Cancer's Hidden Weak Points
Primary supervisor: Professor Anguraj Sadanandam Primary site: Sutton Funded by MRC iCASE Award (Merck)The Multiscale Vulnerability Map: Cross-Discipline Multimodal Mining Reveals Colorectal Cancer's Hidden Weak Points
See full project detailsTargeting AMPK as a metabolic vulnerability of metastatic cancer cells
Primary supervisor: Professor Joanna Loizou Primary site: Sutton Funded by ICRTargeting AMPK as a metabolic vulnerability of metastatic cancer cells
See full project detailsThe Role of Early Plasma Cell Infiltration in Breast Cancer Immune Responses
Primary supervisor: Dr Esther Arwert Primary site: Chelsea Funded by ICRThe Role of Early Plasma Cell Infiltration in Breast Cancer Immune Responses
See full project detailsRedox control of DNA replication: how mitochondrial ROS tune replisome function to preserve genome stability
Primary supervisor: Dr Jörg Mansfeld Primary site: Chelsea Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Redox control of DNA replication: how mitochondrial ROS tune replisome function to preserve genome stability
See full project detailsOvercoming oncogenic androgen receptor signalling to transform the care of lethal prostate cancer
Primary supervisor: Dr Adam Sharp Primary site: Sutton Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Overcoming oncogenic androgen receptor signalling to transform the care of lethal prostate cancer
See full project detailsComprehensive multi-omics profiling of “islands of resistance” tumour cells to uncover aromatase inhibitor resistant subclones in oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer
Primary supervisor: Dr Maggie Cheang Primary site: Sutton Funded by MRC iCASE award (AstraZeneca)Comprehensive multi-omics profiling of “islands of resistance” tumour cells to uncover aromatase inhibitor resistant subclones in oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer
See full project details