UCL Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science
The UCL Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science is an opportunity for students to train in a wide range of fields relevant to mental health research.
This programme, funded in 2019, is the first of its kind in the UK, representing an investment of over £5m by the Wellcome Trust. It is based in the UCL Institute of Mental Health, and will recruit six students per year from 2020-2024. The final cohort has now been recruited and the programme is no longer accepting applications due to cessation of funding.
About the programme
Mental illness is very common and a major public health problem. Over half of adult disorders begin by age 15, and one-in-four people in the UK has experienced clinically relevant symptoms within the past year. Treatments help many but do not work for a large proportion of people and, so far, have failed to reduce prevalence.
The UCL Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science is an exciting opportunity for students to train in a wide range of the latest methods and techniques in mental health research. This programme, funded in 2019, is the first of its kind in the UK, representing an investment of over £5 million by the Wellcome Trust. It is based in the UCL Institute of Mental Health and recruits six students per year from 2020 to 2024.
The programme will provide a platform for the interdisciplinary research we need to translate findings from work on mechanisms and risk factors into novel treatments and prevention strategies.
The different themes of the programme are:
Identification of the biological, neural and cognitive processes that drive and maintain the symptoms of mental illness from childhood to old age, particularly drawing on UCL’s world-leading neuroscience. Includes research in: molecular genetics, cellular and systems neuroscience; pharmacology; cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging; and cognitive psychology.
Understanding risk factors for mental illness using epidemiological methods, using birth cohorts to identify social and environmental determinants of mental illness, and genetic epidemiology. Incorporates the rapidly developing field of mental health data science, including new remote data capture approaches and the application of novel machine learning methods to large datasets.
Development, targeting and evaluation of new treatments and preventative interventions for mental illness, including experimental medicine and clinical trial methodology. Builds on knowledge relating to modifiable risk factors and causal mechanisms, enabling the development, implementation and targeting of more effective interventions.
Central to our ethos is the co-production of research with people with lived experience of mental illness. We provide training in co-production, involve lived experience researchers at all stages of the research process, and have lived experience representatives on student thesis committees.
Our ultimate objective is to train outstanding scientists and policy leaders for whom interdisciplinary working is the norm and who can communicate their findings to a wide audience so that their research delivers change.
We offer six fully-funded studentships per year. Funding includes:
- A stipend for four years at Wellcome Trust rates (see Wellcome Trust website London rates)
- UCL Tuition fees (UK and overseas rates as applicable)
- Research consumable costs
- Travel allowance
- Training expense allowance
At the end of the programme, students can apply for ‘transition funds’ to support their transition to the next career stage, whether in academia or another sector. During this period, students can disseminate research findings or take up to 6 months of internships outside academia (e.g. healthcare, the media, teaching, policy, and the commercial and charitable sectors). The funds can only be accessed after the students have submitted their thesis.
This studentship is also available on a part-time basis. If you wish to undertake this option, please indicate so in your statement of motivation.
Through this programme, students can join the UCL-NIMH Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience, which would involve conducting part of their training at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), situated near Washington, DC. This would extend the studentship to a fifth year. For students opting to pursue this opportunity, their stipend and research expenses would be supported by the NIH during the period spent there.
Overseas applicants (EU and non-EU) are eligible and will not be required to pay additional tuition fees.
Contact details
Director
Jonathan Roiser: j.roiser@ucl.ac.uk
Co-directors
Alexandra Pitman: a.pitman@ucl.ac.uk
Sunjeev Kamboj: sunjeev.kamboj@ucl.ac.uk
For general information:
mhphd@ucl.ac.uk
Student Website
Visit our student-led website to found out more about the students on the programme:
Blogs
Read the latest blogs written by our PhD students whilst studying on the programme:
Lived Experience Advisors - paid opportunities
New opportunities for 2026 will be posted in November/December 2025.