SPCR Studentships in Primary Health Care
PhD Studentships in Primary Care 2026
Applications are invited from individuals with a strong academic record who wish to develop a career in primary care research. Awards are offered at all nine Universities within the NIHR School for Primary Care Research: Bristol, Exeter, Keele, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Southampton and University College London (UCL).
Applicants must have a first degree in a discipline relevant to primary care research and will be expected to complete a PhD/ DPhil during the award period. The precise academic qualifications required depend on the university and training offered. This award will fund tuition fees to the value of home fees; students with overseas status are welcome to apply but will need to fund the remainder of their fees from alternative sources.
The awards offer traditional project-specific training in areas of particular importance to primary care and awarded to applicants from diverse backgrounds including e.g., medical statistics, social sciences, health economics, health psychology.
Studentship awards include fees and an annual tax-free stipend (plus a London weighting for QMUL and UCL and college fees in Oxford).
Each university runs its own recruitment process. For the majority, this will happen in the Spring, for an October start date.
| Institution | Application Deadline | Title | PDF Information / Link |
| University of Bristol | CLOSED on Monday 2 March |
Improving the system within which families access childhood and adolescent vaccination programmes: A co-design study incorporating systems thinking |
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| University of Exeter | TBC | ||
| Keele University | TBC | ||
| University of Manchester | Monday 4 May | Pharmacy at the Deep End: Exploring Community Pharmacy’s Role in Reducing Health Inequalities in Deprived Areas of England at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com | |
| University of Oxford | 12 noon (UK time) Friday 15 May 2026. | NIHR SPCR/ARC TV Doctoral Award: Enhancing NHS health checks through novel point-of-care testing and digital health technologies to improve prevention of multiple long-term conditions — Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford | |
| University of Nottingham | TBC | ||
| Queen Mary University of London | TBC | ||
| University of Southampton | TBC | ||
| University College London | 12:00 GMT on Monday 23 March |
NIHR School of Primary Care Research (SPCR) PhD Studentship opportunity at UCL |