BHF Discovery Research PhD Studentships

BHF Discovery Research PhD Studentship

Funds doctoral cardiovascular research positions focused on discovery innovation to strengthen real-world implementation.

The British Heart Foundation Discovery Research PhD Studentship funds a named student to undertake a three-year non-clinical PhD in cardiovascular science at an established UK research institution. The September 2026 round closes on 16 September 2026 at 17:00; the following round closes 3 March 2027. Late submissions are not accepted. Funding covers the student's stipend at current BHF rates, home-rate tuition fees, research consumables typically under £18,000 per year, and up to £3,000 in travel support for conferences across the full three-year award.

A named student must be identified at the time of submission; applications for an unfilled position are not accepted. The student must hold, or be expected to hold, at least a high upper second-class BSc, or an MSc with merit or distinction. The primary supervisor must devote a minimum of 10% of their time to supervision, hold a permanent post at the host institution for the full studentship duration, and have previously supervised at least one student to completion or near completion. A second supervisor must also be named in the application. Top-ups for studentships that have already started are explicitly excluded.

Applications are submitted through the online portal at researchgrants.bhf.org.uk and consist of an online form, a single-PDF research case of maximum six A4 pages (Arial 12pt), a student CV, academic references, and supervisor letters. External peer review informs the BHF committee decision. The research case must be a hypothesis-driven project within cardiovascular discovery science. This scheme is one of BHF's principal mechanisms for training the next generation of non-clinical cardiovascular researchers, complementing the Clinical Research Training Fellowship and the longer-term Programme Grant mechanisms.