Postgraduate Studies Overview

The Department of Pharmacology admits 15-20 postgraduate (PhD and MPhil) students per year and offers comprehensive facilities for research in purpose-built laboratories situated near the other biological departments in the centre of Cambridge.The Department of Pharmacology has once again been ranked number one in the UK for 2027 by the Complete University Guide, in part due to its excellence in training the next generation of leaders. 

Research Studentships to study for the MPhil by research and PhD degree are awarded on a competitive basis and supported by research councils, medical research charities, industrial sponsors and by University schemes. In addition to these funding opportunities, the department may also offer studentships, including the David James Studentship. Please see our Postgraduate Admissions page for details on how to apply if you are a prospective student. 

Postgraduate Student Life at Pharmacology

As a postgraduate student at Cambridge, you will receive both support and room for intellectual freedom as you progress along your research journey, as briefly outlined below. For further details on the specifics of this process, please see Information for Current Postgraduate Students page. 

Structured Support

All students have a supervisor who helps craft the overall strategic direction of your research project, as well as an experienced Postgraduate Advisor from within the department. Postgraduate student are welcome to establish additional mentoring relationships with academic staff if they choose, and will frequently receive day-to-day technical and theoretical supervision from a more experienced postgraduate student of postdoc from the research group. Research groups typically hold regular (e.g. weekly) meetings in which results and ideas are discussed as a group and provide the postgraduate student opportunities for constructive feedback on their oral presentation. As outlined below, there are regular checkups on progress as the student progresses toward their degree. 

Extended learning

In addition to group meetings, the department invites leaders in the field to present at regular weekly seminars that take place on Fridays, followed by a catered lunch for any students wishing to meet the speaker to ask further questions. Postgraduate students are highly encouraged to attend these seminars to learn about the latest developments in the field and be exposed to research outside of their specific areas of interest, including seminars held in neighbouring departments. The department is highly collaborative, providing opportunities for interdisciplinary learning. The university also offers a wealth of training courses (Cambridge VPN connection required) that a student gains access to upon enrolling. 

Degree life cycle

All students will receive termly reports from their supervisor to help identify and resolve any issues as they progress toward their degree. Students pursuing an MPhil by research will write up their results in a report that is submitted and defended orally by both internal and external examiners. Students pursuing their PhD will write up a first-year report that is defended orally by internal examiners before the student is formally registered for the degree to ensure that they are on the right path for a successful PhD. Students will be asked to present their research as either a poster or oral presentation on at least a yearly basis, and all students will orally present their work to the department before submitting their theses.