Application Guidance

The majority of applicants to the DPhil in Clinical Neurosciences apply to work with a specific Principal Investigator (PI) on a predefined project.

Typically, these projects are not advertised and prospective students should make direct enquires with the PI whose area of research they are interested to see if they will be offering projects or accepting students for entry in October 2027.

It is a departmental requirement that these discussions take place in advance of submitting any application.

Any application received without a project and agreed supervisory support will be rejected.

How should I approach a potential supervisor?

Many DPhil courses and other types of course recommend that you contact a potential supervisor before applying. This is often important because the University needs to ensure it has a supervisor available who would be able to support the specific project that you would like to pursue. The 'how to apply' section of the course page will indicate whether this is required, recommended or not necessary.

If you do need to contact a supervisor, you should start by exploring the research interests of academic staff on the academic department's website to determine whether there is someone suitable. You would then typically contact them by email, we recommend a brief self-introduction, explanation of your research interest, and why you want to study with the PI and their group. You may include your CV or short biography.  A personalised message is more likely to receive a reply. You should explain what you are interested in researching and why you would be particularly interested in working with them. This should be concise, as our academics are very busy, but you will need to explain how what you are looking to pursue fits their research interests.

Most NDCN PhD projects (known as a ‘DPhil’ at Oxford) are arranged directly between the prospective student and their proposed supervisor. DPhil supervisors are typically a Principal Investigator, or ‘PI’, in the department, i.e. someone who leads their own research group, but may not be a PI. 

The most important consideration for any prospective DPhil student is the subject of their study. The research we undertake at NDCN, while falling under the umbrella of Clinical Neuroscience, encompasses a huge range of subjects, from neurodegeneration and cognition, to autoimmunity and pain. You can get a flavour of the activities of many of the research groups here: https://www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/research

First step

Some students may have a specific research question in mind; others may know the field of study they wish to enter or have a specific research group with which they wish to study. In all cases, your first step will be to contact someone in one of the research groups to express you interest in undertaking DPhil study at NDCN.

How to communicate

Most supervisors will expect to be contacted by email. Researcher email addressed can be found on their University website. You can also find their contact details on recent publications from the lab. We recommend a brief self-introduction, explanation of your research interest, and why you want to study with the supervisor and their group. You may include your CV or short biography. As with most forms of communication, a personalised message is more likely to reach through and receive a reply.

Research groups – especially those with well-known, globally recognised principal investigators – often receive many more expressions of interest than they can offer projects to. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t receive a reply or are told that the supervisor cannot offer to supervise you as a DPhil student. It is perfectly fine to reach out to more than one supervisor. Polite persistence can pay off.

The Research Proposal

Once in correspondence with a particular supervisor, they may ask for further details about you and/or your research proposal (if you have one). The research proposal is a key part of your DPhil application and is one of the metrics by which you will be assessed by the admissions panel. A research proposal is a 500-word document where students set out their research question, why it is important, and the rationale for their scientific approach (i.e. what experiments they will undertake). Most supervisors will assist students in refining the research proposal. Projects must be novel and feasible to accomplish within the timeframe of study (no more than four years for DPhil).

The Application

By this stage, you will have confirmed the support of a supervisor, who will act as your DPhil supervisor should you be accepted onto the programme. In addition to your research proposal, you will also submit a Personal Statement, and other necessary personal information. Once received by the department, the admissions team will contact the named the supervisot to confirm that they are happy to act as your supervisor and have the resources to support your proposed research project. Your application will then go through a shortlisting process, after which point the top-ranked candidates will be selected to attend an interview. Your proposed supervisor will have no role in the assessment of your application.

The Award

If successful at interview you will be contacted by the Admissions team who will officially offer a place on the course, which you will need to formally accept. You should contact your supervisor to advise them of the outcome.

Funding

All students who apply by the December deadline will automatically be considered for graduate scholarships. In addition, there are a range of funding opportunities available to successful applicants from under-represented or under-privileged backgrounds. See: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/fees-and-funding/funding/under-represented-groups and Increasing access | Oxford University.