NIHR GOSH BRC Translational Research (Non-Clinical) PhD Studentships 2024

The NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR GOSH BRC) PhD Studentship Programme aims to fund three highly motivated non-clinical PhDs students to support the training and development of the next generation of translational researchers. The studentships will be full time and begin on 1 October 2024. They will be based at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH), which together form the largest concentration of children's health research in Europe.

The NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR GOSH BRC) is a collaboration between GOSH and ICH. The NIHR GOSH BRC provides cutting-edge facilities and world-leading expertise and access to over 200 rare disease patient populations allowing our staff and NHS, university, and industry collaborators to conduct pioneering translational research into childhood illnesses. We were first awarded BRC status from the NIHR in 2007 and, in 2022, we secured £35 million for our fourth term until March 2028. In this fourth term, as part of a wider national collaboration - a BRC National Paediatric Excellence Initiative has been set up between GOSH BRC and children’s hospitals in Birmingham, Sheffield, and Liverpool.

The GOSH BRC has five main research themes:

• Gene, Stem and Cellular Therapies (GSCT) - focuses on innovative gene, stem and cellular therapies that can overcome the limitations of current treatments for a wide range of children with rare inherited and acquired disorders.
• Genomic Medicine (GM) - uses cutting-edge genetic technology and novel computational methods of analysing large datasets to improve genetic diagnosis of disease and delivering effective interventions pre and postnatally to reduce the burden of childhood disease.
• Accelerating Novel Therapies (ANT) - develops and delivers innovative treatments that will overcome the paucity of precision therapies for rare childhood diseases.
• Applied Child Health Informatics (ACHI) - uses advanced data analysis methods, leveraging GOSH’s electronic patient data and/or routinely collected administrative data, to improve the management of children with rare and/or complex disease.
• Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TERM) – develops pioneering techniques to repair and reconstruct tissues and organs to improve life expectancy and quality of life for children with tissue and organ failure.

These are complemented by the BRC Central Development Hub which provides support for our Career Development Academy, alongside other activities including Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE); Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI); the BRC Junior Faculty; and Business Development. The BRC is committed to high quality postgraduate education with a diverse range of opportunities, and with GOSH and ICH, have a strong track record of training and support for students and supervisors.

The BRC’s Career Development Academy and the ANT and TERM BRC research themes are advertising three-year full time non-clinical BRC PhD Studentships beginning on 1 October 2024. Successful students will be appointed and registered as UCL PhD students and will be based at GOSH and/or ICH. Some projects may have a member of the supervisory team and/or time in the studentship at one of our partner sites within the Paediatric Excellence Initiative (Alder Hey, Birmingham and Sheffield Children’s Hospitals). We have funding for up to three studentships - two within the TERM theme and one within the ANT theme mentioned above.

The student will receive a starting stipend of £21,181 per annum (includes London weighting) as well as the cost of tuition fees for UK students, and £5,000 contribution towards the running costs of their project. Applicants are required to apply to undertake a specific project, with students selecting a first and second choice project (in priority order). Further details about each of the projects included in the project portfolio. Applicants are strongly recommended to contact supervisors for any projects they are interested in to discuss the project in further detail. Contact details for supervisors can be found in the guidance document.

Applicants should have or expect to receive a first class or upper second-class degree in a relevant discipline or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. Applicants should also be able to provide recent evidence that their spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the studentship for which they have applied, if they are not nationals of a majority English speaking country, in line with UCL PhD entry requirement (the English language requirements page will provide further information).

If you are interested in submitting an application, please read the following documents:

Guidance Document - provides further information about the call and includes the application form

PhD Project Portfolio - provides further details about the available projects

Reference Form - for two referees to complete

Once you've read the documents, to apply for the studentship:

• Complete the ‘NIHR GOSH BRC PhD Translational Research (Non-Clinical) Studentships 2024 - Application Form’, which can be found at the end of the Guidance Document. Send the completed Application Form as a word document and a copy of your CV to brc@gosh.nhs.uk.
• Separately, you should arrange directly with your two referees to provide a reference once you have submitted your application. Please ask your referees to use the Reference Form and to send the reference by email to brc@gosh.nhs.uk.
• The deadline for applications and references is Wednesday 15 May 2024.

Following submission of applications, there will be several stages to the process of selecting students, including shortlisting and interview stages. Further details are provided in the guidance document.

Please contact brc@gosh.nhs.uk if you have any questions.