The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham, and Mason Science College, making it the first English civic or 'red brick' university to receive its own royal charter. The University have a long and proud history of firsts, at the University of Birmingham; they were the first – and are now one of the largest - civic universities in the UK.

At Birmingham, the institution teach and research across the full breadth of academic disciplines, creating a vibrant community with multi-disciplinary opportunities for research and education. The University is a truly international community consisting of more than thousands of staff, students, and alumni. The student community is not only one of the largest of any UK university, it is highly diverse, with 82 per cent of home undergraduate students from state schools, 32 per cent from a BAME background, and 35 per cent in the first generation of their family to attend university.

Our Cancer and Genomics PhD/MSc by Research in the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences will provide you with the skills needed to contribute to research in the areas of cell and molecular biology, immunology and virology.

Our extensive research programme brings together scientists and clinicians to define basic mechanisms of cell and molecular biology, and then determine how the normal programme of cell growth and differentiation is usurped in cancer.

You will work amongst the very best researchers to produce original and distinctive globally leading research, with the ultimate goal to design and rigorously assess new and proven cancer treatments. In so doing, you will play a significant role in accelerating the ultimate control of cancer.

Our PhD/MSc by Research program is intended for students who wish to obtain high quality research training that will enable them to conduct independent investigative research.

By studying in the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences you will be joining over 100 postgraduate research students covering a wide range of topics including:

translational and fundamental aspects of cancer
cancer biology
genomics
epigenomics
genome biology
genetics of rare diseases
You will work closely with your supervisory team who will help you clarify your project and support your development. Your thesis will represent an original contribution to knowledge and demonstrate independent judgement.

For all you need to know about our staff, news, research areas and the impact of our research visit the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences.

Why study this course?
When you join your programme you will become part of the Graduate School within the College of Medical and Dental Sciences giving you access to:

Supervision from leading academics to support you through your research programme including research techniques and training.
Training and development courses to enable you to gain research and generic (transferable) training skills
Opportunities to attend and take part in Research Poster festivals and other postgraduate activities to boost your academic and networking skills
An allocated academic mentor so you can access pastoral support
State-of-the art facilities to support a range of teaching, learning and research activity with access to dedicated write up rooms, libraries, and computer facilities.
You will also become part of the wider University of Birmingham postgraduate research community located at Westmere House where you have access to training and skills development, careers and employability advice, wellbeing and counselling services as well as welcome activities and events.

Ask a student mentor
The best people to ask about postgraduate study are the students that have done it. Our mentor scheme enables you to directly contact student mentors with any questions that you have about studying here and will offer help and advice from a student perspective. Please feel free to contact the mentors directly using the question box on their profile page.

You will need to book the accommodation after you have been accepted.

You can choose to live on campus or off campus in private accommodation.

• Make a booking online after you have been accepted (in this case please let us know your choice when you apply).
• Register when you arrive - its not possible to reserve a room before arriving. You can arrive a few days before and book it