PhD scheme
PhD scheme
Information about our PhD scheme, how to apply, and details of our current students.
UNFORTUNATELY WE WILL NOT BE OFFERING A STUDENTSHIP TO START IN AUTUMN 2021.
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?
- RCUK stipend for three years
- UK/EU University fees
- 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 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
- undertake a short placement with a Euan MacDonald Centre Principal Investigator of a different specialty
- 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
Sample projects
These projects were offered for 2019 entry.
1st supervisor | Second Supervisor | Location | Project title |
---|---|---|---|
Tom Gillingwater | Simon Parson | Edinburgh |
Developing the next generation of therapies for the childhood motor neuron disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) |
Simon Parson | Tom Gillingwater | Aberdeen |
Does human systemic cardiovascular pathology negatively affect treatment outcomes in SMA patients? |
Gillian Hunter | Tom Gillingwater | Glasgow Caledonian |
Investigating the role of histone ubiquitination in spinal muscular atrophy |
Chris Henstridge | Tara Spires-Jones | Dundee |
Synaptic localisation and transfer of TDP-43 in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |
Sharon Abrahams | Sharon Mulhern | Edinburgh |
Cognitive impairment, decision making and mental capacity in Motor Neurone Disease |
Lyndsay Murray | Tom Gillingwater | Edinburgh |
Investigating modifiers transcripts in models of motor neuron disease |
Martyn Pickersgill | Sarah Cunningham-Burley | Edinburgh |
Why (not) participate? An international comparative study of people with MND’s experiences of, and perspectives on, participating in research |
How to apply and deadlines
UNFORTUNATELY WE WILL NOT BE OFFERING A STUDENTSHIP TO START IN AUTUMN 2021.
If you would like to browse other University of Edinburgh neuroscience projects, please visit the EdNeuro.PhD gateway.
If you have any questions please Contact us.
Alumni destinations
Name |
Studentship dates |
Destination upon completion |
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 |
Natalie Courtney | 2015-2018 | postdoc on presynaptic dysfunction in Huntington's disease, University of Edinburgh |
Current PhD students
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