PhD: Brain Resilience, Vascular Health and Early Neurodegeneration

A competition-funded PhD at the University of Cambridge asking why some people stay cognitively healthy despite brain pathology and genetic risk, while others go on to develop dementia. Open to UK and international applicants. See more funded PhDs.

Some people keep their thinking and memory intact into later life despite building up Alzheimer’s pathology and carrying a high genetic risk. Others don’t. Based in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and supervised by Dr Kamen Tsvetanov, this project sets out to understand the mechanisms behind brain resilience during ageing and early neurodegeneration.

The group combines multimodal neuroimaging, cognitive assessment, physiological measures of vascular health, genetic data and large longitudinal cohort studies, to work out how neural, vascular and genetic factors interact to shape cognitive ageing and dementia risk.

What the project could focus on

Your project can centre on one or more of these closely linked themes:

• Brain resilience, and how cognition holds up despite neurodegenerative pathology and genetic risk
• Vascular contributions to cognitive ageing and dementia, including how cardiovascular health interacts with genetic susceptibility
• Advanced statistical, computational and AI methods for understanding disease heterogeneity and progression
• Better functional neuroimaging, by bringing vascular and neuronal measures together

The group is particularly interested in how vascular health modifies genetic susceptibility to dementia, which biological pathways support resilience despite pathology, and imaging and computational markers that improve early detection and prediction of disease progression.

The research environment

You’ll join an interdisciplinary team working alongside neuroscientists, clinicians, computer scientists, engineers and population health researchers. Depending on your interests and background, you can build your project around neuroimaging, vascular physiology, computational neuroscience, machine learning or dementia research.

Who should apply

You’ll need a background in at least one quantitative area, such as neuroscience, psychology, engineering, physics, mathematics, statistics or computer science. Programming experience (for example Python, R or MATLAB) and a genuine interest in quantitative approaches to brain health and disease are essential.

Funding

This is a competition-funded project for entry in October 2027, offered at PhD or MPhil level. To be considered for Cambridge funding, including the Cambridge Trust and Gates Cambridge, you must apply by the funding deadline and list all the funding you are eligible for in your application. US applicants for Gates Cambridge (round 1) must apply by 14 October 2026. The main funding deadline, including Gates Cambridge round 2, is 8 December 2026. Applications made after these dates are not eligible for the Cambridge funding competition, and there is no funding for Lent or Easter 2027 starts. You can also check the Cambridge Postgraduate Funding Search for other sources of support.

How to apply

Apply through the University of Cambridge online portal, either for the PhD or the Research MPhil, naming Dr Tsvetanov as your proposed supervisor. If you’d like to talk through which theme suits your background, get in touch with him before you apply.