PhD: Frontotemporal Dementia (John Clifton Legacy)

UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology offers a funded 3-year PhD studentship in frontotemporal dementia, the John Clifton Legacy Studentship, starting February 2027.

The Queen Square Institute of Neurology is pleased to offer up to one 3-year non-clinical PhD studentship in Frontotemporal Dementia starting in February 2027. This PhD studentship is available thanks to a generous donation of the late Professor John Clifton, who has left a legacy of in his will to the Queen Square Institute of Neurology to support research related to neurodegenerative disease, with a preference for research into the causes and treatment of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).

Programme Structure

There will be a range of projects to choose from, each lead by a primary supervisor based at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (see below for example projects). Students will embark on their 3-year PhD by registering for the Feb 2027 cohort.

You will have five formal thesis committee meetings spread out over the duration of your research degree. You will also have access to a wide range of training courses offered by UCL’s graduate school and your department, as well as being encouraged to attend conferences and external meetings.

Transfer from MPhil to PhD: this takes between months 12-18 for full-time students, and between months 18 and 42 for part-time students.

From the student’s first day, the IoN has several support systems in place for students. Each PhD student cohort is invited to the PhD induction programme which consists of several events including: PhD Student Induction, Ten Steps to Success in your PhD, Time and Supervisor Management, Scientific Writing Skills, Academic Presentation Skills, Active Bystander Training and Getting started with your systemic search.

There is also an IoN PhD buddy scheme for new PhD students. This is particularly useful for students who are new to UCL or the IoN and would like to have a point of contact who knows the IoN well and has already completed the first year of their PhD. The new student will be paired with a year 2 PhD student and the aim of the scheme is to provide guidance during the first year of the PhD and provide some tips on the best way to settle in and make the most of the IoN.

For each student cohort, there is the opportunity to engage in some social activities such as pub quizzes, away days etc. This is led by an experienced PhD student or a postdoctoral researcher and will contribute to enriching the first year of each student’s PhD even further.

In addition to all of the above activities, the Student Union, Doctoral School and Faculty of Brain Sciences also host their own induction events for research students so there are plenty of opportunities to meet a wide range of students across UCL.

For academic support and pastoral care, each student is allocated a Research Department Graduate Tutor (RDGT) who is independent from the Supervisory team and will be able to provide confidential space to listen to any concerns or answer any questions.

Sample projects, others available:

• Karen Duff – Understanding the basis of synaptic loss in 4R FTD
• Francesca Magrinelli, Henry Houlden, Arianna Tucci – Using long-read sequencing to investigate C9orf72 in frontotemporal dementia: repeat length, interruptions, expressivity, and correlation with clinical phenotype
• Adrian Isaacs, Selina Wray – Investigation of the molecular mechanisms causing C9orf72 FTD
• Jonathan Rohrer – Using novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques in frontotemporal dementia to improve therapeutic trial design
• Oscar Marcelo Lazo – Cellular mechanisms for Rab10-driven neurological resilience to ApoE ε4 in dementia
• Selina Wray, Jonathan Rohrer – The E3 ubiquitin ligase CHIP: a key regulator of tau proteostasis in human neurons?
• Jason Warren, Martina Callaghan, Jonathan Rohrer, John Hardy – New MRI functional biomarkers of FTD proteinopathies
• Giampietro Schiavo, Oscar Marcelo Lazo, Andre Teixeira Lopes – Leveraging Rab10-driven neurological resilience as a novel therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease

Funding

Eligibility

Students must have achieved at least an upper 2:1 in their undergraduate degree. An MSc is not a pre-requisite.

Overseas students may apply but will receive funding at Home rates. As such they will need to show evidence of their ability to pay the fee shortfall for the full duration of the study.

How to Apply

An application is made by emailing your CV, two letters of support from academic referees, academic transcripts and a personal statement. Your personal statement should be no longer than one side of A4. We require that these FIVE documents are submitted in one merged PDF file labelled as SURNAME_FIRST NAME_FTD_QSION.pfd. No other documents will be accepted.

All enquiries regarding the programme should be made to ion.pgr@ucl.ac.uk.

Closing date: 4pm, Friday 6th November 2026.