PhD Student Recruitment 2026 – OPEN
Now open for applications – close on 28 November 2025 at 1700 hrs
PhD Student Recruitment 2026 – OPEN
Now open for applications – close on 28 November 2025 at 1700 hrs
CRUK 4 Year PhD Studentships 2026
See below for details of available projects
We are pleased to announce the following exciting postgraduate opportunities within the CRUK Manchester Institute for intake in 2026! Six studentships will start in October 2026 and one will start in April 2026.
We welcome applications from enthusiastic and ambitious candidates with a strong academic track record to our PhD programme. Applicants should hold or expect to graduate with a First or minimum Upper-Second class undergraduate honours degree (or equivalent from a non-UK university) in a relevant subject and Masters level and/or other laboratory research experience in cancer. Laboratory research experience as part of, or outside of, a university degree course or a Master-level degree in a relevant subject is advantageous but is not a conditional requirement in making an application.
Applications close on 28 November 2025 at 1700 hrs
Available projects
Samra Turajlić
Engineering and Targeting Recurrent Aneuploidy in Cancer using a novel method
Justin Loke & Tim Somervaille
Dissecting the Biology of High-Risk Leukaemia through CRISPR Engineering
Caroline Dive & Kathryn Simpson
Role of the metastatic niche in organ-specific SCLC metastasis
Sylvain Delaunay
Dissecting the control of dietary nutrients on cancer progression through RNA maturation
Evangelos Giampazolias
Decoding Gut Microbiome Functions in Cancer Immunity
Mark Williams
Inducing leukaemic differentiation to prevent post-transplant relapse
Santiago Zelenay
Characterising the Immune Response to Immunotherapy in Malignant and Healthy Tissue
Pastoral care
Student welfare is a key component to our PhD programmes
General enquiries
Why choose Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute?
The Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, an Institute of The University of Manchester, is a world-leading centre for excellence in cancer research. The Institute is core funded by Cancer Research UK (www.cancerresearchuk.org),
the largest independent cancer research organisation in the world.
We are partnered with The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe, which is located adjacent to the CRUK MI Manchester Institute in South Manchester. These factors combine to provide an exceptional environment in which to pursue basic, translational and clinical research programmes.
Benefits
Find out how contributions to the Institute are recognised with a generous benefits package
Wellbeing
Our mission is to promote and enhance wellbeing through the development of a proactive and enabling culture.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Read about our commitment to creating an environment where diversity is celebrated and everyone is treated fairly
Personal Development
To enable you to excel in your role and continue to develop, we offer a variety of training and support opportunities
Institute life in Manchester
We strive to make our community a welcoming, caring and enthusiastic one, fuelling ambition with opportunities for training and mentoring to help us all achieve our personal and professional goals.
“We are so pleased to have received the funding to enable us to test our hypothesis in the lab. If we can create a new medicine that can precisely target a specific type of cell within the tumour, and restore anti-cancer immune responses, this will be a game-changer for oesophageal cancer patients “
Sara Valpione
Former Institute Clinical Fellow and now Clinician in Residence within the CRUK National Biomarker Centre
“My charity bake sales – known as “David’s Great British Bake Off” – are always a hit, home baked products taste so much better than shop bought and are greatly appreciated by staff!”
David Jenkins
Purchasing Officer
“We’ve seen some remarkable responses, with an improvement for some patients within days. This is an early phase trial so there’s a lot more work to do. But the data we have so far is very encouraging and could help many thousands of people in the future”
Tim Somervaille
Senior Group Leader
“It is a pleasure to introduce my team who work to deliver our research goals. We work in a friendly and collaborative environment, supporting each other’s projects. “
Amaya Virós
CRUK Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellow
“We are so pleased to have received the funding to enable us to test our hypothesis in the lab. If we can create a new medicine that can precisely target a specific type of cell within the tumour, and restore anti-cancer immune responses, this will be a game-changer for oesophageal cancer patients “
Sara Valpione
Former Institute Clinical Fellow and now Clinician in Residence within the CRUK National Biomarker Centre
“My charity bake sales – known as “David’s Great British Bake Off” – are always a hit, home baked products taste so much better than shop bought and are greatly appreciated by staff!”
David Jenkins
Purchasing Officer
“We’ve seen some remarkable responses, with an improvement for some patients within days. This is an early phase trial so there’s a lot more work to do. But the data we have so far is very encouraging and could help many thousands of people in the future”
Tim Somervaille
Senior Group Leader
“It is a pleasure to introduce my team who work to deliver our research goals. We work in a friendly and collaborative environment, supporting each other’s projects. “
Amaya Virós
CRUK Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellow