PhD scheme
PhD scheme
Information about our PhD scheme, how to apply, and details of our current students.
Supporting postgraduates is a key part of the Euan MacDonald Centre’s mission. We are passionate about encouraging, training and equipping the MND researchers of the future.
The Centre has an active community of postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers who benefit from sharing knowledge with other MND researchers and people living with MND by attending Centre events and MND-related conferences.
Euan MacDonald Centre funded PhDs
Through the generosity of our donors and fundraisers, the Centre normally funds one or two non-clinical PhD studentship per year.
Applications for Centre-funded PhDs normally open in the Autumn of each year for programmes starting the following September.
A range of projects is offered by Centre Principal Investigators, based at a University in Scotland. Project choices usually include basic (laboratory), clinical and social science.
The best student is chosen on the basis of application, interview and references, and then chooses the project he or she is most interested in.
What does the studentship include?
- UKRI-equivalent stipend for 3.5 years
- University tuition fees
- a generous allowance for travel and consumables
- oversight by a second supervisor and thesis committee
- access to all training and support available to postgraduates at the chosen University
An enriched experience
Because Euan MacDonald Centre funded students become part of our wide-ranging multi-disciplinary network, we are able to offer additional experiences and training that include opportunities to:
- shadow an MND Nurse Specialist, meet people with MND, and attend an MND clinic and/or home visit
- attend and present at six-monthly seminar afternoons featuring a wide range of Centre research
- obtain bursaries to present data at national and international MND-related meetings
- gain experience in public engagement by participating in open days and MND Awareness events.
- access the Centre’s communications pipeline to promote the student’s research
How to apply and deadlines
Example projects
The following projects were on offer for 2024 entry:
Supervisor(s) | Location | Project title |
Ilary Allodi | St Andrews |
Investigating the role of Munc 13-1 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis |
Seth Grant & Bhuvaneish Selvaraj | Edinburgh |
Repairing synapse damage in MND |
Leeanne McGurk | Dundee | Elucidating how the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases control the progression of motor neuron disease |
Lyndsay Murray | Edinburgh | Investigating Strategies to Promote Axon Regeneration in Motor Neuron Disease |
Chris Sibley | Edinburgh | Investigating the role of TDP-43 and mis-splicing in MND pathogenesis |
Judith Sleeman | St Andrews | Analysis of the roles of protein arginine methylation in motor neuron disease using quantitative proteomics |
Alumni destinations
This is what the previous Euan MacDonald Centre-funded students have gone on to do after completing their PhD.
Name |
Studentship dates |
Destination |
Anna Sanchez-Avila | 2019-2023 | Postdoc in MND resarch, SITRan, Sheffield |
Emily Beswick | 2019-2023 | Research assistant, EDoN (Early Detection of Neurodegenerative Diseases) |
Owen Kantelberg | 2018-2023 | Business Manager, LifeArc Technology Transfer team |
Bethany Waddington | 2018-2022 | Lecturer, University of Glasgow |
Brenda Murage | 2017-2022 | Analyst in the banking sector |
Rachel Kline | 2017-2021 | Postdoc on biomarker discovery, University of Edinburgh |
Claire Hetherington | 2016-2023 | Deputy Lab Manager, BioGrad, Liverpool |
Natalie Courtney | 2015-2018 | Postdoc on presynaptic dysfunction in Huntington's disease, University of Edinburgh |
Hannah Shorrock | 2014-2017 | Postdoc on SCA8 at Centre for NeuroGenetics, University of Florida |
Chris Crockford | 2014-2017 |
Management/research support in the third sector |
Current PhD students
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Euan MacDonald Centre-funded PhD student
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Euan MacDonald Centre-funded PhD student