Wellcome PhD Fellowships for Health Professionals
Registered healthcare professionals, including doctors in all specialties and GPs. Exact career-stage/grade rules vary by programme.
Cannot apply directly to Wellcome: must apply to one of the designated Wellcome-funded PhD programmes. Each programme sets its own eligibility criteria and research remit.
Clinical salary + home-rate PhD fees + research expenses + training + essential travel. No universal fellow-level research-cost cap published – budget is managed through individual programme.
Current open programmes:
| 4ward North – Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield | OPEN – Stage 1 deadline 28 Sept 2026. 27 fellowships over 5 years. |
https://www.4wardnorth.org.uk/ |
| GW4-CAT / GW4-HP2 – Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Bath | OPENING SOON: Webinar 22nd Sept 2026. | https://gw4-cat.ac.uk/ |
Other programmes which are currently closed:
| Liverpool Clinical PhD Programme – Health Priorities in the Global South – Liverpool & LSTM | CLOSED: No application call in 2026. | https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/infection-veterinary-and-ecological-sciences/research/liverpool-centre-for-global-health-research/liverpool-clinical-phd-programme/ |
| CREATE – PhD Programme in Global Health Research in Africa – LSHTM, KCL, QMUL, City St George's/Sussex partners + African institutions | CLOSED: All UK fellowships now recruited for current programme. | https://www.create-phd.org/ |
| ECAT-i – Edinburgh Clinical Academic Track Inclusive | CLOSED: 2026 medical recruitment completed; next round to be confirmed. | https://medicine-vet-medicine.ed.ac.uk/ECAT |
| Cambridge–East Anglia–Wellcome Sanger PhD Programme for Health Professionals | CLOSED: 2027 Sanger process TBC. | https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/phd-programmes/clinical-phd-programme/ |
| HARP – Health Advances in Underrepresented Populations & Diseases – QMUL & City St George's | CLOSED: Recruitment page active; dates currently TBC. Optional pre-doctoral year available. | https://harpphd.org/ |