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
Applications are now open for two PhD studentships starting in October 2026. The projects are listed below. Should you wish to be notified about future PhD opportunities, please subscribe to our mailing list.
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
Funding
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.
Available opportunities
Black Leaders in Cancer & Convergence PhD Studentships
We are currently inviting applications for two funded studentships offered through a joint recruitment call between the Black Leaders in Cancer Studentship and the Convergence PhD Programme. View available projects and find out how to apply.
Closed: Investigating the cytoprotective role of the ectonucleotidase CD38 in immune responses to cancer
Primary supervisor: Dr Erik Wennerberg Primary site: Sutton Funded by ICRClosed: Investigating the cytoprotective role of the ectonucleotidase CD38 in immune responses to cancer
See full project detailsClosed: Triple Negative Breast cancer control of the immune tumour microenvironment in metastasis
Primary supervisor: Professor Victoria Sanz-Moreno Primary site: Chelsea Funded by UKRIClosed: Triple Negative Breast cancer control of the immune tumour microenvironment in metastasis
See full project detailsClosed: Structural study of cotranscriptional spliceosomes stalled by antitumor compounds
Primary supervisor: Professor Vlad Pena Primary site: Chelsea Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Closed: Structural study of cotranscriptional spliceosomes stalled by antitumor compounds
See full project detailsClosed: Hyper-activation of oncogenic signalling to treat colorectal tumours
Primary supervisor: Professor Trevor Graham Primary site: Sutton Funded by MRC iCASE Award (Merck)Closed: Hyper-activation of oncogenic signalling to treat colorectal tumours
See full project detailsClosed: Developing novel mRNA vaccines against cancer associated mis-splicing events to enhance therapy response
Primary supervisor: Dr Rachael Natrajan Primary site: Sutton Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Closed: Developing novel mRNA vaccines against cancer associated mis-splicing events to enhance therapy response
See full project detailsClosed: Developing Direct-to-Biology for Molecular Glue Discovery
Primary supervisor: Professor Zoran Rankovic Primary site: Sutton Funded by MRC iCASE award (AstraZeneca)Closed: Developing Direct-to-Biology for Molecular Glue Discovery
See full project detailsClosed: Enabling novel E3 ligases for targeted protein degradation therapeutics
Primary supervisor: Primary site: Sutton Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Closed: Enabling novel E3 ligases for targeted protein degradation therapeutics
See full project detailsClosed: Exploring the interplay between histone acetyltransferase complexes in acute myeloid leukaemia
Primary supervisor: Dr Alex Radzisheuskaya Primary site: Chelsea Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Closed: Exploring the interplay between histone acetyltransferase complexes in acute myeloid leukaemia
See full project detailsClosed: Decoding the ALT Pathway: Identifying Synthetic Lethal Targets and Biomarkers for Precision Cancer Therapy
Primary supervisor: Professor Wojciech Niedzwiedz Primary site: Chelsea Funded by MRC iCASE Award (Merck)Closed: Decoding the ALT Pathway: Identifying Synthetic Lethal Targets and Biomarkers for Precision Cancer Therapy
See full project detailsClosed: Modifiable lifestyle factors and breast cancer survival and recurrence
Primary supervisor: Primary site: Sutton Funded by Breast Cancer NowClosed: Modifiable lifestyle factors and breast cancer survival and recurrence
See full project detailsClosed: Metabolic MRI of paediatric-type diffuse high grade glioma and its response to therapy in vivo
Primary supervisor: Professor Simon Robinson Primary site: Sutton Funded by Medical Research Council - Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP)Closed: Metabolic MRI of paediatric-type diffuse high grade glioma and its response to therapy in vivo
See full project detailsClosed: Enhancing immune responses to radiation with spatiotemporal dose modulation and drug combinations
Primary supervisor: Dr Magnus Dillon Primary site: Sutton Funded by CRUK RadNetClosed: Enhancing immune responses to radiation with spatiotemporal dose modulation and drug combinations
See full project detailsClosed: Molecular investigation on MuvB oncogenic complexes
Primary supervisor: Dr Claudio Alfieri Primary site: Chelsea Funded by ICRClosed: Molecular investigation on MuvB oncogenic complexes
See full project detailsClosed: Development of small molecules targeting the TRF1 subunit of the telomeric Shelterin complex
Primary supervisor: Professor Sebastian Guettler Primary site: Sutton Funded by MRC iCASE Award (Merck)Closed: Development of small molecules targeting the TRF1 subunit of the telomeric Shelterin complex
See full project detailsClosed: Development of automatic plan-of-the-day selection tools for radiation therapy of pelvic cancer
Primary supervisor: Professor Helen McNair Primary site: Sutton Funded by Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)Closed: Development of automatic plan-of-the-day selection tools for radiation therapy of pelvic cancer
See full project detailsClosed: Development of a microbeam-FLASH irradiator for pre-clinical radiation therapy research
Primary supervisor: Professor Uwe Oelfke Primary site: Sutton Funded by ICRClosed: Development of a microbeam-FLASH irradiator for pre-clinical radiation therapy research
See full project details