PhD Studentships

Apply for funding to support a PhD student in your lab to undertake a specific research project and develop skills to kickstart their career in blood cancer research.

Introduction

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new PhD studentship scheme. Blood Cancer UK has a long legacy of supporting researchers at this stage in their careers. Many of our former PhD students have gone on to have long, successful, and impactful careers as blood cancer researchers. We are excited to once again be able to play a role in developing the careers of the next generation of research leaders.

A researcher in a lab, conducting an experiment using a pipette.

Key dates

Round open: Thursday 3rd September 2026

Deadline for submission of applications: 3pm on Thursday 3rd December 2026

Applicants notified of outcomes: March 2027

Grant amount

Studentships will be awarded for 3-6 years (full time or part time) with a fixed award value of £150,000.

We aim to fund up to four PhD Studentships in 2026-2027.

The award should be used to cover the student stipend (at minimum this should be in line with the levels set by UKRI), home student tuition fees, research expenditure and travel to conferences to disseminate the research.

Remit and eligibility

The lead supervisor should be the lead applicant and should be proposing a novel research project that is in line with our overarching strategic aim and with at least one of the three priority research themes from our new research strategy:

Prevention
Early detection and predicting outcomes
Treatment

The lead applicant should usually have a permanent or long-term rolling contract, with their salary paid by the host organisation for the duration of the award. However, early career researchers at the host institution who have a guaranteed salary funded by a fellowship or other grants for the duration of the studentship are also eligible to apply as lead applicants.

The application should also include at least one co-supervisor who can either be based at the same institution as the lead supervisor and student or at another institution. If an early career researcher is applying as lead applicant at least one co-supervisor with a tenured role based at their host organisation should also be included.

Applicants can either apply with a named student or recruit a suitable student after the studentship is awarded.

The studentship should provide the student researcher the training opportunities needed for them to successfully complete a PhD and reach the next stage in their career.

For more information on the full remit and eligibility criteria, head to page 2 in the application guidance document.

How to apply

All applications must be submitted via the new Blood Cancer UK Grants Portal. The form is now live. Guidance on using the new portal can be found in the guidance document below.

No applications will be accepted after the deadline. Applicants must submit their application ahead of this deadline leaving sufficient time for the required signatories to approve the application.

Assessment process

All proposals submitted for this call will be reviewed by members of our Fellowships Committee and Research Involvement Network.

Assessment criteria used to make scoring and funding decisions will include: Proposed project, Environment and the Training & development plan.

Recommendations from the Committee will be sent to our Board of Trustees for final approval.

More information on the assessment criteria can be found on page 3 of the application guidance document.

Terms and conditions

Please make sure to read the application guidance document in full to ensure you have understood all of the requirements for this funding scheme.

Grants will be awarded in line with Blood Cancer UK’s Grant Terms and Conditions