Integrative Physiology (Biomedical Sciences - Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences) PhD, MScR

PhD degree

Postgraduate students carry out their studies within a research group under the supervision of an academic staff member (their ‘primary’ supervisor). In addition, students are assigned a personal PhD thesis committee comprising their primary supervisor, one or more assistant supervisors and another academic staff member, who provide advice and mentoring, and monitor progress. Supervisors maintain the highest standards of research training with a strong research output in leading international journals.

In their first year, students have the opportunity of participating in relevant taught modules of a number of associated MSc courses. Students attend research seminars and can attend generic skills training programmes provided by the Institute for Academic Development. Postgraduates also have the opportunity to act as demonstrators for undergraduate teaching.

All students are encouraged to present their findings at national and international conferences and to publish their findings in international journals, in advance of submission of their PhD theses for examination.

MSc by Research

Our MSc by Research in Integrative Physiology is a full-time 1-year research project done under the supervision of a CDBS Researcher. This programme has no formally taught component and is therefore only suitable for highly motivated students with a clear idea of their research interests and goals, with significant theoretical or practical knowledge of a chosen field. An MSc by full-time research provides an excellent training in laboratory research and a strong grounding for further study at the level of PhD. Initial enquires should be made directly to Dr. Paul Skehel Paul.Skehel@ed.ac.uk.

MSc students will work full-time on their research project with the additional option of taking selected transferable skills courses. Each student will have two supervisors. After 3 months study a short presentation and report of completed and proposed work will be made to the supervisors, and at the end of the year a dissertation will be submitted and assessed for the award of MSc.

If you're interested in applying for the MSc by Research, please review the Research Profiles and recent publications from members of the CDBS:

• Visit CDBS website

A preliminary email briefly outlining your research interests and identifying up to three potential supervisors from the CDBS should be sent directly to Dr Paul Skehel. If appropriate, students will then be invited to submit a short 400-word general outline for a potential MSc project with specific supervisors. Applicants progressing to this point will then be guided to make a formal application on this page. Please note that the MSc by Research has additional programme costs of £5,000.

Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment for all aspects of modern molecular, cellular and systems biology to facilitate their research objectives. These are located both within the Central area campus and at the Little France campus. Extensive collaborations exist with the wider biomedical and clinical communities helping ensure you are supported in a world-class research environment.

Research is mainly funded by grants from the MRC, the BBSRC and industrial companies.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree or its international equivalent.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 65 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 7 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Additional programme costs

Additional research costs will vary depending on the nature of the PhD research project.

Living costs

You will be responsible for covering living costs for the duration of your studies.

Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan

  • family support

• personal savings

• income from work

• employer sponsorship

• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Featured funding

• Edinburgh Neuroscience funded PhD projects
• College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine funding opportunities

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK's governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your residency status.

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding