Wessex One Health Doctoral Landscape Award Scholarships

Wessex One Health BBSRC Doctoral Landscape Award scholarships (2025)

Our new doctoral programme funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) will train students in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity.

What you get

PhD studentships cover four years of UK or International PhD fees and a tax free maintenance allowance (currently £19,237 in 2024-5) plus some research costs.

Type of award

PhD scholarship

PhD project

About Wessex One Health (WOH)

WOH brings together the expertise of our three university partners and four major UK institutes with national capability for working on high consequence pathogens, to provide a broad training and research experience for students, with the following highlights:

  • Wide range of research projects to choose from
  • Cross-institutional supervisory teams
  • Opportunities to train at high containment
  • Cohort training in genomics, bioinformatics, applied AI
  • Cohort-building activities across all partners
  • Opportunities for studentships working with industry (CASE)
  • Wide range of short industrial placement opportunities.

WOH Partners

All the projects offering laboratory rotations are listed on the WOH website

Eligibility

Who we are looking for

You will have the ambition, motivation and scientific curiosity to research new approaches to combatting infectious diseases in the themes of:

  • Detection, prevention and intervention
  • Microbial evolution and drug resistance
  • Understanding disease spread
  • Infection and cellular biology. 

You will have or expect to have an MSc, and/or a first or upper second honours degree in a relevant subject. We welcome applications from graduates of all universities, and from candidates already in work, or returning after a career break.

Note: Lab experience is desirable but not essential as all successful applicants will be trained in basic lab skills where applicable.

The Scholarships are open to both UK and International applicants but 70% of each cohort of students must be UK and some of the host laboratories have further nationality or residency requirements for their researchers, so bear this in mind when selecting your four project preferences.

In order to be eligible to apply for the necessary security clearance, applicants for projects with Dstl must be a UK national, currently resident in the UK, and have resided in the UK continuously for the past five year. Applicants for projects including laboratory work at APHA, UKHSA or Pirbright Institute must be currently resident in the UK and have at least three years continuous UK residency. Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance is required prior to commencing work at all the above laboratories. Candidates need to ensure that they are eligible for security clearance. It is up to each person applying for a studentship to ensure they meet the residency criteria. Please contact the supervisors of your chosen project if you have any questions. 

The University Admissions team will check your application in detail but in general you count as a UK student if you are 

  • a UK national who has been living in the UK or EU for the three years prior to starting your course;
  • an EU national with Settled Status;
  • an EU national with Pre-Settled status who has been living in the UK or the EU for 3 years prior to starting your course;
  • a student with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK;
  • an Irish National (due to a reciprocal agreement with the UK)

All other students (e.g. EU nationals moving to the UK to start their PhD) will count as Overseas students.

 

 

Number of scholarships available

17 PhD studentships are available for October 2025 start across the consortium.

Deadline

28 February 2025 23:45

How to apply

Please apply by submitting an application form and completing our EDI survey.

Prospective students are asked to select up to four projects from those available below and if invited for interview are strongly encouraged to contact prospective supervisors ahead of interview. 

  • Submission deadline: Midnight, Friday 28 February 2025
  • Shortlisting: by 10 March 2025
  • Interviews: Online, week beginning 24th March 2025.

For further information on the programme or application process, email WOH@surrey.ac.uk. 

For further information on individual projects, email supervisors, their email addresses can be found in the projects listed below. 

Contact us

For Sussex-specific enquiries contact pgr-scholarships@sussex.ac.uk

For further information on the programme or application process, email WOH@surrey.ac.uk. 

 

You might also be interested in

WOH webinar

  • Date: Thursday 6 February
  • Time: 1300hrs (GMT)

The WOH director, Professor Gill Elliott (University of Surrey), will hold a webinar online on Thursday 6 February when there will be an opportunity for prospective applicants to find out more about the WOH programme and its partners, and to talk with current PhD students from some of our locations.

Register your place

Timetable

The timetable is as follows:

Deadline for online application:               February 28th 2025 - 23:59

Invitation to interview:                              By 10th March 2025

Interviews Online:                                    w/c March 24th 2025

 

Availability

At level(s):
PG (research)

Application deadline:
28 February 2025 23:45 (GMT)

Countries

The award is available to people from these specific countries: