About the programme

The Wellcome Trust PhD Programme for Primary Care Clinicians will support the development of a strong cohort of clinical academics, through providing high quality training in internationally renowned applied research units and supporting capacity development in a critically important but still under-resourced field. ‌

The Wellcome Trust PhD Programme unites four of the strongest primary care departments, bringing together expertise in a wide range of methodologies and covering the most important clinical areas.  The four host departments  - Keele, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford and Southampton are leading members of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research and have a strong track record in collaborative research and developing clinical academic careers.

As members of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, Fellows will benefit from having the opportunities to participate in doctoral exchange programmes, attend the annual training meeting and be provided with networking opportunities with the top primary care English primary care research departments. Each of the participating departments have NIHR accredited clinical trials units which provide a range of methodological expertise to support clinical research and all have close links to the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC), providing the opportunity for rapid implementation of key research findings into clinical practice and to form strong collaborations with NHS organisations.

Fellows will have access to extensive research resources including completed cohort study and clinical trial data, the Sri Lankan twin registry and 'big data' such as the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We have established international links with low and middle income countries including Sri Lanka, Mali, Sudan, South Africa, Uganda and Botswana.