MD Medicine

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

Apply online

Before applying you must:

• Choose a programme or find a project you want to apply for and check you’re eligible.
• Speak to the listed supervisor about your suitability for their project or programme.
• Understand how your project is funded and, if it is self-funded, consider how you plan on funding it.
• Read 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:

• 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 or, if you are self-funding, you should have an idea of how you are funding your project and have discussed this with your supervisor.

If you already have 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 supervising your research.

Supporting documents

You'll also need to make sure you have the following documents before you apply:

• 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

You must submit your application for a postgraduate research programme before the relevant deadline to be considered. You will not be able to apply after these deadlines have passed.

• January entry: 15 October (of the year prior entry)
• April entry: 15 January (year of entry)
• September entry: 15 June (year of entry)

Our MD Medicine programme enables you to undertake a research project that will improve understanding of Medicine.

MD study at The University of Manchester is a challenging yet rewarding experience. You will have access to first-class facilities and work within a vibrant research community across the University and partner NHS Trust sites.

There are opportunities for MD students to transfer to the PhD programme following rigorous assessment at the end-of-year report stage of the programme. Any transfer to the PhD programme is dependent on continued funding for the period of the programme and your capacity to complete the extended PhD programme before any return to your clinical duties.

Applicants who are classified as overseas for tuition fee purposes may be eligible to pay the equivalent Home tuition fee rate.  To qualify for this, applicants must hold a valid NHS contract with a University of Manchester affiliated NHS Trust for each full 12-month registration period.  Applicants should note that this subsidised fee can only be applied to the MD programme and any change of programme will require the full international fee to be paid.

Applicants whose medical training was undertaken outside of the UK/Ireland must hold a medical qualification that is recognised for registration by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom and be currently working in the NHS with a potential supervisor.

North West Deanery trainees

The University of Manchester and its partner NHS Trusts have a wide range of research opportunities for North West Deanery trainees. Trainees need to have sufficient time out of the programme to fulfil the specified time commitment required for registration on an MD programme.

Trainees registered on a full-time research programme may, with approval from their supervisory team, undertake clinical duties limited to one clinical session per week and occasional weekend on-call duties.

Projects

MD projects may be specified in advance, with applications encouraged for pre-defined research studies. Alternatively, we encourage research proposals from applicants seeking MD places through direct contact with academics and research groups.

Often, the most rewarding projects are those developed in partnership between applicants and potential supervisors in overlapping areas of interest.

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.

Find out more about what it's like to undertake a postgraduate research degree at Manchester on the Doctoral Academy Blog and the support available through our Faculty Doctoral Academy.

You will have access to a range of  research and learning facilities  across the University and at some of our partner organisations.

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