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There are two schemes through which our academics may work alongside a Crick PI to supervise a student: the PhD programme (two routes: joint HEI-Crick funded and core-Crick funded), plus the Doctoral Clinical Fellows scheme. 

The content on this page is for academics interested hosting a student, submitting a project proposal and/or undertaking supervision duties. For individuals and clinicians wishing to undertake a PhD, please see the regular PhD programme and Doctoral Clinical Fellows sections of this site.

PhD Programme: jointly HEI-Crick funded

As part of this scheme, the HEI and Crick academics work together to produce a joint project proposal and once recruited to, act as coprimary supervisors with equal scientific input. The host department covers the tuition fees and 50% of costs (stipend and consumables).  These students normally split their time between their 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ and Crick supervisor’s labs 50:50, though this may vary according to how the science and project develop.

When: The call for joint HEI-Crick funded PhD project proposals usually opens to academics in May and closes in mid-June.

Apply: If your department opts-in to this scheme, you will be notified that the call for joint project proposals is open via departmental comms.

Full details on the Crick PhD Programme are available on .

PhD Programme: core-Crick funded

These students are based full time at the Crick, but encouraged to be part of the 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ community. This scheme is for 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ faculty who would like to become the university secondary supervisors of Crick-based students registering at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ. This role is slightly different to the 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ second supervisor role. University secondary supervisors join the student’s Thesis Committee and meet with the student at 6 key progression points during the PhD, to provide scientific advice and guidance as the PhD project develops, and to monitor progress. They also meet with the student and Crick primary supervisor at least once a year to discuss the project, and provide links to and knowledge of university resources.

The host department covers the tuition fees but does not contribute towards the project costs (stipend and consumables). This role allows our academics to foster links with the Crick community.

When: Crick GLs approach 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ PIs with regard to being a second supervisor from October each year, after the Crick confirms which GLs will be recruiting a student in the following academic year.

Apply: To be considered by Crick Group Leaders as a second supervisor during project recruitment, please inform the Crick-911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ Interim Partnership Manager, Dr Angela Kingman.

More information:

To view the core-Crick funded projects that are available for students to apply to, and which may require a HEI second supervisor, please visit the

Doctoral Clinical Fellows 

When: Preparations for 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ involvement with projects commence in March

Apply:  911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ PIs will be contacted in March and asked to submit an Expression of Interest form if they are interested in being a university secondary supervisor to a Crick doctoral clinical fellow. Information submitted will be sent to Crick group leaders so that they can reach out to interested 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ PIs if their area of research/specialism matches their project proposal. 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ PIs are also welcome to contact Crick group leaders directly if they are interested in becoming a university secondary supervisor to a doctoral clinical fellow.

More information: Doctoral Clinical Fellows carry out exciting research projects while following the Crick's clinical PhD programme over a three-year period rather than the traditional four-years. Fellows are based at the Crick with a Crick primary supervisor and a university secondary supervisor.

Fellows may spend some time in their secondary supervisor’s group at the university, depending on the nature of the project and supervisory arrangements.

University secondary supervisors will either:

• Join the fellow’s three-person thesis committee, which will meet the student at five specific points throughout the programme to provide scientific advice, expertise and guidance, and to assess student progress independently of the primary supervisor and research group, or,
• Be more involved in the fellow’s on-going project development and supervision, in which case an additional partner university faculty member will be invited to join the thesis committee.

Fellows will be registered for their PhD at, and normally employed by, the partner university which also provides appropriate clinical links for the fellows. The host department is reimbursed by the Crick for the fellow’s full salary and costs.

Further information about the scheme can be found on the . 

Our Doctoral Clinical Fellows: The following individuals have been awarded Doctoral Clinical Fellowships featuring second supervisors from 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ.

• , Oncolytic vaccine treatment of ovarian cancer: finding targets for combination therapies, with  (Crick) and Hani Gabra (Department of Surgery and Cancer), 2016.
• Robert Gray, Mechanisms and impact of plasma membrane polar head recycling in M. tuberculosis, with  (Crick), Ed Tate (Department of Chemistry) and  (Crick), 2019.
• , Elucidating protective mechanisms of T-cell responses against tuberculosis in human cohorts, with  (Crick) and Xiao-Ning Xu (Department of Infectious Disease), 2019.
• Stefania Drymiotou, Oncolytic Vaccinia virus therapy of ovarian cancer: finding novel targets for combination therapies, with  (Crick) and Iain McNeish (Department of Surgery and Cancer), 2020.
• Shuli Svetitsky, Discovering the genetic mechanisms of type I interferon production and increased risk of autoimmunity in plasmacytoid dendritic cells, with  (Crick) and Wendy Barclay (Department of Infectious Disease), 2021.
• Timesh Pillay, Structural and biochemical analysis of Salmonella effector functions and their interaction with host proteins, with  (Crick),  (Department of Infectious Disease) and  (Crick), 2021.
• Rebecca Hulbert, Analysis of congenital heart defects in down syndrome using induced pluripotent stem cells, with  (Crick), Andreia Bernardo (National Heart and Lung Institute) and  (King’s College London), 2022.
• James Barnacle, Multiomic approaches to understand the pathogenesis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, with  (Crick) and Brian Robertson (Department of Infectious Disease), 2022.

Selected profiles of some of the Crick Doctoral Clinical Fellows can be viewed on the .