1 Year, partially funded MSc by Research Studentship: Cancer Diagnostics Development

1 Year, partially funded MSc by Research studentship (HEIF funding)

Eligibility: Home UK/EU applicants who must be permanently resident in UK (settled or pre-settled status)

Bursary p.a: No bursary is attached to this funding. Funding is for university course fees only.

University fees and bench fees: University fees and consumables costs will be met by the University for one year of the partially funded Studentship.

Closing date: Monday 16 June 2025

Interviews: 2 July 2025 

Start date: September 2025

Project Title: Cancer diagnostics development

Director of Studies: Dr Ryan Pink

Requirements:

Applicants should have a lower second-class honours degree or above from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or an acceptable equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 6.5 to 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued in the last 2 years by an approved test centre.

Eligibility is for Home fee status candidates only due to the conditions of the project funding.

Project Description:

The “blood biopsies” market for diagnosing, monitoring, and recurrence of cancer was valued at $8.74bn and offers the potential to save millions of lives through early cancer detection and treatment strategies. Dr Ryan Pinks lab is focused on the early detection of cancer extracellular vesicles in patient blood for diagnosis and prognosis. This commercially lead project will focus on the development of novel methods to improve cancer detection from patient blood samples through molecular biology techniques and modern sequencing technologies.

The successful candidate will be focused and inquisitive, able to follow a protocol tightly, have good documentation skills, and work well in a team. They ideally will have lab experience in standard molecular biology techniques such as cell culture and plasma handling, nucleotide extraction, microscopy, and a general understanding of sequencing, though much of this can be taught to someone with the right intellectual background.

How to apply: Contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk  for instructions on how to apply via the online application system.

Contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk  with any application queries.

Contact Dr Ryan Pink with any project queries: rpink@brookes.ac.uk  

Funding is for course fees, and consumables relating to the project, only. Candidates are responsible for funding their living costs for the duration of the MSc by Research programme. Visit this webpage for information: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/study/fees/living-costs   

Interview details: Interviews will be held online and are expected to take place on 2 July 2025    

Director of Studies: Dr Ryan Pink

Project Contact: Dr Ryan Pink rpink@brookes.ac.uk