Postgraduate research degrees

Join our Cardiovascular Science PhD programme. Tackle real research challenges, upgrade from MPhil, and build a career in cardiovascular medicine, academia, or clinical research.

The research degree programme at the Institute of Cardiovascular Science aims to provide interesting, challenging and excellent training for exceptional students so that they may successfully pursue careers in research, training or cardiovascular medicine. Students are initially registered for an MPhil, upgrading to a PhD subject to satisfactory academic progress. For a successful upgrade to PhD, the students must prepare a written report, give an oral presentation and pass an oral examination.

Both MPhil and PhD students investigate a relatively narrow topic, but it may be examined in a broad field of study. Where students need to spend periods carrying out work in laboratories outside of UCL, or collecting data from overseas, that will contribute directly to their thesis, they may do so provided their study leave plans are approved in advance.

Research themes

  • Ageing
  • Arrhythmias
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Cardiac Development 
  • Cardiomyopathies
  • Cerebrovascular Disease
  • Congenital Heart Disease
  • Epidemiology
  • Genetics 
  • Haemodynamics
  • Imaging
  • Ischaemic Heart Disease
  • Metabolism (diabetes and obesity)
  • Prevention
  • Regenerative Therapy 
  • Surgery
  • Vascular Biology and Physiology


All MPhil/PhD students are expected to undertake 10 days of generic skills training each year over their three-year programme, which is logged and audited electronically. This will include, for example, courses on research design and statistics, ethical and legal issues, presentation skills, thesis production and career planning.Science graduates must have a good first degree (2:1 or better) or equivalent.

A clinical candidate must have a registrable qualification appropriate to the programme to be followed, awarded by a UK university or a university outside the UK in Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Studies.

If you are interested in doing a PhD in cardiovascular science, please look at our research pages and identify what area you would like to work in and see if we have an academic who would be able to supervise you in this area. It is advisable to contact your proposed supervisor informally before applying for your PhD to see if they would be able to supervise your proposed research project. On your application form, you need to detail your proposed research project and supervisor. 

UCL provides comprehensive guidance for prospective graduate students on the UCL Graduate Degrees' website, and there is a particularly helpful guidance document on contacting potential supervisors.

Please note that for some lab-based research projects, there will be an Additional Fee Element ('bench fees') on top of your student fees. Your proposed supervisor will be able to advise you if such fees apply to your research project.

How to apply

If you would like to send an enquiry, please submit a formal online application to UCL for consideration, which should include a 3-4 page research proposal. You should also check the general entry requirements for Graduate Research Programmes, Information by Country, where applicable.  

Should you have any queries regarding the registration process, please contact ics-postgradresearch@ucl.ac.uk in the first instance.