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The Medical Research Council has awarded Oxford nine industrial collaborative (iCASE) DPhil studentships starting October 2023. These are available across various departments in the Medical Sciences Division.

Each MRC Enterprise studentships will provide full University fees (period of fees liability, typically three years), a UKRI-level stipend with £2,500 per year enhancement (four years),  a research training support grant (RTSG) of £5,000 per year (four years) and a travel allowance of £300 per year (four years).

There are 32 projects which students can choose to apply for across the Medical Sciences Division and only nine DPhil studentship places. The admission process is highly competitive and will in most cases nvolve two rounds of interviews for those reaching the second stage of the selection process.

Our department’s iCASE projects are listed below:

  • Development of Methods to Assess Intracranial Vessel Stiffness as a Measure of Vascular Disease – Prof Peter Jezzard, Prof Thomas Okell, Dr Aaron Hess, collaborating with Dr Alastair Webb;
  • Highly Accelerated Magnetic Resonance Angiography using Deep Learning – Prof Thomas Okell, Prof Mark Chiew, Prof Peter Jezzard;
  • Development of a semi-automated CT-brain analysis tool for application to real world clinical cohorts – Prof Sarah Pendlebury, Prof Mark Jenkinson; 
  • Characterisation and treatment of patient iPSC-derived retinal organoids as an in vitro model of inherited retinal disease – Prof Robert E MacLaren.

If you are interested in applying for an iCASE DPhil studentship place for one of the above projects, please read the information below.

How to apply for iCASE

You should complete a standard DPhil application, stating the name of the project you would like to be considered for and the supervisors’ names in the relevant application sections. There is no need to include a project proposal with your application as you are applying for a studentship for a specific project. 

How to apply for both iCASE and ALSO standard DPhil admission

You are allowed to submit one application for both an iCASE application and a standard DPhil application. However, please note that for a standard DPhil application, you must secure the support of a prospective supervisor for your project before applying. For more information about this, please see the section on our prospective students' page about finding a supervisor.

When completing your application form, state both your own project title and the iCASE project you are applying for. In the supervisors’ names’ section, list your proposed DPhil supervisor(s) and include the word iCASE. Once received, your application will be considered for both iCASE and standard DPhil admission at the same time.