PhD/MPhil Musculoskeletal

Visit our Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health postgraduate research events page to find out about upcoming open days and events.

• Browse our project listings and funded programmes to discover a project you’re passionate about and check you meet eligibility criteria.
• Understand how your project is funded and, if it’s listed as self-funded, consider our funding opportunities for self-funded projects or other funding opportunities .
• Speak to the listed supervisor about your suitability for their project or programme before you apply.
• Visit our ‘How to apply’ page to find out more and ensure you include all required supporting documents at the time of submission.

Visit our Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health postgraduate research page to find out more.

Before you start your application, you should:

• Discover more about the research area you’re interested in.
• Identify the programme or find the specific research project you'd like to apply for.
• Contact the listed project supervisor and speak to them about your suitability for the project.
• Understand how your project is funded and, if you are applying for a self-funded project, consider how you plan on funding your project and discuss this with the listed supervisor.

If you already have your own funding:

• Find a specific self-funded project and contact the project supervisor to talk to them about your suitability for the project; OR
• Determine your own research project and title, find a potential supervisor in this research area and contact them to discuss potentially supervising your research.

Supporting documents

You'll also need to make sure you have the following documents before you start your application:

• Personal statement
• Certificates and transcripts
• CV
• Confirmation of funding (if you are self-funded)
• English language ability
• Names and details of two referees to support your application

Visit our ‘How to apply’ page to find out more about the information required for each of these supporting documents.

Any missing information may delay the processing of your application.

Application deadlines

The deadline for applying for postgraduate research in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health depends on when you intend to start your research and how your project is funded.

If you are applying for one of our funded programmes, please refer to the deadlines detailed on the relevant page .

If you’re applying for a project that isn’t part of one of these programmes, our final application deadlines are:

• January 2026 entry: Wednesday, 15 October 2025
• April 2026 entry: Thursday, 15 January 2026
• September 2026 entry: Tuesday, 15 June 2026

Our PhD/MPhil Musculoskeletal programme enables you to undertake a research project that will improve understanding of Musculoskeletal.

Research in the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research (CfMR) is undertaken by established groups and independent researchers investigating genetic and epidemiological aspects of musculoskeletal conditions.

These include:

• rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
• osteoarthritis (OA)
• psoriatic arthritis (PsA)
• juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)
• systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
• myositis and scleroderma (Sc).

We have a strong track record of training students, and all of our senior staff have a hands-on approach to supervision.

We have a comprehensive programme of training and mentorship directed at all levels of career development. For postgraduate research students, we provide in-house training in generic lab skills, biostatistics and epidemiology.

Postgraduate research students are encouraged to take part in patient/public engagement and involvement activities (PPE/I) to discuss their research with members of the general public and patients.

Examples of research in genetics and genomics include the following.

• Identification and characterisation of genetic variants that influence susceptibility to rheumatological conditions including RA, JIA and PsA.
• Identification and characterisation of genetic and epigenetic variants that influence treatment response to methotrexate and/or biological therapy in rheumatological conditions including RA, JIA and PsA.
• Identification and characterisation of genetic/genomic variants that influence severity of rheumatological conditions. Investigating the function of genetic variants to refine the associated regions, and highlight likely causal variants, in loci with large, genetically intractable associations.
• Identifying key pathways involved in inflammation to identify novel targets to develop new drugs.
• Using stratified medicine and systems biology approaches to develop predictive and pharmacodynamics markers of treatment response.
• Characterising regulatory elements and causal mechanisms by which genetic variation contributes to phenotype.
• Applying gene expression profiling to predict treatment response in patients with RA.

Examples of research programmes in epidemiology include the following.

• Undertaking longitudinal observational studies, case control studies and intervention studies.
• Investigating the co-morbidities associated with inflammatory musculoskeletal disorders and their impact on quality of life and mortality.
• Investigating environmental and genetic risk factor for developing RA, JIA and PsA.
• Hosting national databases and monitoring drug safety (i.e. pharmacoepidemiology) in RA, JIA and SLE.
• Using of big data (eg CPRD) to address relevant epidemiological questions.
• Intervention studies of devices and the development of new models of outcome in osteoarthritis.
• Investigating and predicting long-term outcomes in patients with JIA and RA including pain, quality of life, and worker-productivity loss.
• Investigating the pathophysiology, epidemiology, measurement and treatment of systemic sclerosis and primary Raynaud's phenomenon.
• Using e-health data to investigate changes in disease activity over time.
• Investigating adherence to treatment in patients with RA.

Training and development

All of our postgraduate researchers attend the Doctoral Academy Training Programme delivered by the Researcher Development team . The programme provides key transferable skills and equips our postgraduate researchers with the tools to progress beyond their research degree into influential positions within academia, industry and consultancy. The emphasis is on enhancing skills critical to developing early-stage researchers and professionals, whether they relate to effective communication, disseminating research findings and project management skills.

Visit our PhD life page to discover life as a postgraduate researcher at Manchester or read our postgraduate research student blog .

Your postgraduate research degree will open up a range of career opportunities after you graduate. Find out more on the  Careers  page.