We believe that a 4-year PhD programme provides the best training opportunities.
The application process for the 2027 intake of the Wellcome Sanger Institute 4-year PhD Programme is now open. The closing date is Tuesday 24 November 2026 (09:00 am GMT).
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend interviews on Monday 25 January 2027. If shortlisted candidates are unavailable on the 25 January, they can be interviewed via a series of videoconference interviews during the preceding two weeks.
If you have not heard from us by Monday 11 January 2027 you should assume you have not been shortlisted
Overview
Students apply to the programme rather than to specific Faculty members, and spend the first eight months of the programme undertaking three rotation projects in different research groups. This ensures exposure to different disciplines in genomics, and allows the students to gain a better overall picture of the scientific nature of the Institute and the different technologies that are available. In particular, all students are required to carry out at least one computational/informatics rotation and one experimental laboratory rotation. This helps students to develop wide ranging skills both at the bench and in data analysis. Students are required to write a short report or prepare a poster, and make a presentation to the group, at the end of each project. Selection of the final PhD project laboratory is by mutual consent between the student and supervisor and takes place during the third rotation period.
Monitoring of each student’s progress is achieved through the submission of a project report or the preparation of a poster for each rotation, their first year report, their third year thesis plan and by thesis committee meetings which take place at least once per year.
During their PhD, students are expected to attend training courses in transferable and general research skills, participate in the students’ journal club, present their work regularly and attend seminars.
Students offered one of our 4-year PhD programme funded studentships will obtain full financial support, including University tuition fees, regardless of nationality. There are 12 funded studentships available across all our research areas. Any students with their own external studentship funding are still expected to apply to the 4-year PhD Programme in the usual way.
For information on how to make an application to our 4-year PhD Programme, please click on Find Out More in the Application Process button at the top of this page.
Please visit our potential supervisors page for information on Faculty members and their research areas.
Students at the Wellcome Sanger Institute are awarded a University of Cambridge PhD degree.
The Wellcome Sanger Institute was granted affiliation with the University of Cambridge as a ‘University Partner Institution’ in 1995. All postgraduate students at the Institute are registered with the University and are members of a Cambridge College. This allows our students to take an active part in the University’s academic and social life and brings many benefits such as access to events/courses run by University departments and the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences, and access to University facilities such as the library and the careers service.
Once a student has been selected for our 4-year PhD Programme they have to apply for admission to the University.
The University of Cambridge has a vibrant and diverse international student community and welcomes talented students from around the world. There’s lots going on in the University, Colleges and city, and with students accounting for about a fifth of the city’s overall population, Cambridge is a great place to be a student. See the University’s Student Life pages for more information.
If you have questions about what it’s like to study at Cambridge, you can chat to a student ambassador.
Financial support
Our funded studentships provide full financial support, including University tuition fees, regardless of nationality. Visa and immigration health surcharge costs will be reimbursed for international students. Current tax-free stipends paid by the Wellcome Sanger Institute are shown below.
| Financial support as of October 2026 | |
| Year | Stipend |
| 1st year | £25,649 p.a. |
| 2nd year | £26,228 p.a. |
| 3rd year | £26,806 p.a. |
| 4th year | £27,385 p.a. |
Supervision and monitoring
Each student has a PhD supervisor from within the Institute’s Faculty who provides day-to-day supervision of their research. They also benefit from a co-supervisor (academic adviser), selected from the University of Cambridge, who works in a similar or complementary discipline and meets regularly with the student.
Postgraduate students at the Institute are monitored and managed by the Committee of Graduate Studies, which meets regularly, together with support from dedicated administrative personnel. Monitoring of each student’s progress is achieved through the submission of a project report/poster for each rotation, their first year report, their third year thesis plan and thesis committee meetings which take place at least once per year.
The thesis committee, which consists of the principal supervisor, the co-supervisor (academic adviser) and one or two additional Sanger Institute Faculty members, primarily serves as a scientific advisory board for the student throughout their PhD work. Its function is to offer comments, advice and support to the student in order to ensure that the thesis can be completed in an appropriate time frame and with the best possible output. In addition to the student’s own research group, the thesis committee provides an independent forum for scientific discussion.
Students are expected to complete their research and submit their thesis within the 4-year time frame of the award. At this point each student must give a formal Sanger Institute seminar.
Training opportunities
Students on our 4-year PhD Programme are expected to attend training courses in transferable and general research skills such as:
- Health and safety
- Postgraduate lecture series (approx 30 lectures by Sanger Faculty members)
- Computational skills
- Bioinformatics
- Next generation sequencing
- Statistics
- Responsible research and innovation, reproducible research, and ethics
- Presentation skills
- Scientific writing skills
- Communication and public engagement
A wide range of additional courses are also run on site for which students are eligible. As members of the University of Cambridge, students have access to lecture courses run by University departments, courses run by the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences and University facilities such as the library and the careers service. There is also an excellent library on site at the Institute.
There is a fortnightly journal club which all students, except those in their final year, are expected to attend, and students are expected to participate in the programme of journal clubs and research talks within their own research division.
There is an active academic seminar programme on site. In addition, relevant seminar programmes within the University are widely advertised, and students are encouraged to attend.
All students have the opportunity to present their work regularly to their group. Approximately half way through their research, students have to present their work at a PhD Student Presentations Day. In the final year, once students have submitted their thesis, they are required to present their work at a Sanger Institute seminar. In addition, students are encouraged to present their work at both national and international scientific meetings, and we provide up to £1500 p.a. in years 2-4 to enable them to attend such meetings.
Students at the Institute are encouraged to organise their own events such as the Genomics at Scale Symposium. This meeting brings together students from the whole Cambridge area and gives them the opportunity to present their work to their peers and listen to a number of world renowned keynote speakers. Organising such a meeting (liaising with speakers, seeking sponsorship, managing logistical arrangements etc) allows the students involved to develop their networking, communication and management skills.
Every year the Wellcome Sanger Institute supports the visits of dozens of overseas researchers from across the globe to the Genome campus to collaborate, share insights and to undertake groundbreaking scientific research. Our reliable in-house service provides expert advice and guidance to support current and prospective staff, and visitors at various points of their journey. We are able to provide guidance through your entire journey, from initial visa application through to extensions and applications of Indefinite Leave to Remain, the service is proud to support your personal applications and those of your dependants and family members.
For more information about our immigration service visit: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/careers/global-mobility-and-immigration-service/