Our PhD Programme

LRI students are registered for their PhD at University College London (UCL), which provides extensive academic, training and social facilities that many of our students take advantage of. Visit the UCL Graduate School website for more information about the School and its facilities.

The LRI PhD programme starts with a three-day induction course, to give the students a head start in getting to know each other, the LRI and its staff. Interactive sessions cover various topics including keeping on top of the literature, organising your lab work and lab book, getting the most out of journal clubs, and experiment design. Other key points in the student programme include the 10 minute talks that students give at the end of their first term, and the research seminars and reports that students complete in their second year as part of the process of upgrading their registration from MPhil to PhD.

Although our students spend most of their time at the bench carrying out experiments, there are plenty of other important activities too. Throughout their PhD programme, students receive tailored training on presenting and writing about their research, including specialized IT training and workshops on talking about science both to scientific and non-specialist audiences.

Students also benefit from the LRI's active seminar programme, which has contributions from distinguished international speakers and local scientists. In addition, there are student journal clubs, designed to help improve students' critical analyses of the scientific literature. Students also get to meet with visiting seminar speakers to discuss their work.

Attending scientific conferences provides valuable exposure to the wider scientific community, and is an exciting and important learning experience. During their PhD, all our students have access to funding which allows them to present their work at a scientific conference in the UK and an international meeting. All third year students attend the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference, the largest annual conference on cancer in the UK. Our students also participate in an International Student Conference, which is organized 'by students and for students' in conjunction with PhD students from other Cancer Research UK institutes and from top cancer research Institutes in The Netherlands, Italy and elsewhere in Europe.

The LRI Graduate Student Committee, made up of current LRI students, represents the student community within the institute and arranges various scientific and social activities, including the Student Christmas Lecture and party, and Student Summer Event.