The Wellcome Sanger Institute is offering 12 fully funded studentships on its 4-Year PhD Programme, starting in October 2027. The studentships cover University of Cambridge tuition fees and a tax-free stipend for four years, regardless of nationality, and successful students graduate with a Cambridge PhD. Applications for the 2027 intake close at 9am GMT on Tuesday 24 November 2026.
The Sanger Institute is one of the world’s leading genomics research centres, and its PhD programme is built to give students both bench and data skills. If your interest in dementia sits at the genetic or cellular end, from risk genes to single-cell atlases of the brain, this is one of the best-resourced places in the UK to do a doctorate, with sequencing and computing power most PhD students never get near.
How the programme works
You apply to the programme rather than to a particular supervisor. The first eight months are spent on three rotation projects in different research groups, and every student must do at least one computational rotation and one experimental lab rotation. You write up or present a poster at the end of each one, and choose your final PhD lab by mutual agreement with the supervisor during the third rotation.
Each student has a Sanger Faculty supervisor and a co-supervisor from the University of Cambridge, plus a thesis committee that meets at least once a year. Students are registered with the University and become members of a Cambridge College, which gives access to University courses, libraries and the careers service. Alongside the research there’s a training programme covering computational skills, bioinformatics, statistics, next-generation sequencing, research ethics, scientific writing and public engagement.
If you’re still weighing up whether a PhD is the right next step, our explainer on the different types of doctorate and our guide to choosing a Master’s in dementia are good places to start.
What the studentship covers
Funded students receive:
- University of Cambridge tuition fees, whatever your nationality
- a tax-free stipend for four years, which for students starting in October 2025 ran from £25,270 in the first year to £26,980 in the fourth
- reimbursement of visa and Immigration Health Surcharge costs for international students
- up to £1,500 a year to attend national and international scientific meetings
Students who already hold their own external studentship funding still have to apply to the programme in the usual way and go through the same selection process.
Who can apply
The programme is open to applicants worldwide. You’ll need to hold, or be about to achieve, a first or good 2:1 degree, or an equivalent overseas qualification. If you’ve studied outside the UK and EU and have GRE scores, include them. If English isn’t your first language you’ll need to meet the University of Cambridge’s English language requirements, but only if you’re offered a place, not before you apply.
The Institute takes a flexible approach to career and study gaps for caring responsibilities, illness or disability, and students can pause their studies for parental leave and use the onsite nursery.
How to apply
Applications go through the Sanger Institute’s own online form, and there’s no application fee. You’ll need to:
- give details of your academic qualifications
- describe your relevant research or work experience, including undergraduate or Master’s projects (max 200 words)
- choose three Faculty members whose research interests you
- outline your research interests and how they fit with the Institute’s (max 200 words)
- write a personal statement on your experience, interests and career goals, and why you want to train at Sanger (max 400 words)
- name two academic referees (one can be the supervisor of an industrial or research placement)
- upload your university transcript(s) as a PDF
Your referees are emailed once you submit, and applications without both references aren’t processed. Last year references were due just one week after the closing date, so don’t leave it to the last minute. If you’re selected, you then apply for admission to the University of Cambridge through its Applicant Portal.
Our blog on how to make your PhD application stand out is worth a read before you start on your statements.
Key dates
- Application deadline: 9am GMT, Tuesday 24 November 2026
- References: deadline to be confirmed. Last year it was one week after applications closed
- Interviews: dates to be confirmed. Last year shortlisted candidates were interviewed in person in late January, with video interviews available beforehand for anyone who couldn’t make the day
- Start date: October 2027
Full details are on the Sanger Institute 4-Year PhD Programme page, and you can email questions to the Postgraduate Programme Office at gradoffice@sanger.ac.uk.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/phd-programmes/4-year-phd-programme/)