All applicants to the Midlands MHN PhD Programme are required to submit an expression of interest (EOI) form. The form allows us to review academic and professional eligibility for the programme.

The form also comprises of an equalities monitoring and widening participation section. This section is used to monitor and improve our equal opportunities policies, and used for reporting to Wellcome as part of our grant commitments. 

Prior to submitting an expression of interest form candidates are asked to complete the following:

• Read the available information on our website regarding PhD suitability.
• Assess your eligibility for the programme against our eligibility criteria.
• Take the time to review the available projects for this year and identify suitable opportunities that align with your research interests.
• We discourage PhD ‘shopping’ but advise that you reach out to lead supervisors to discuss your suitability for their project. When making initial supervisor contact, please complete and attach an initial contact form to your email.

Submission deadline is 12:00pm GMT Monday 24th November 2025.

If you have submitted an expression of interest form it will be assessed for eligibility against our professional and academic criteria. You will receive an email notifying you of your EOI outcome by no later than Friday 28th November 2025.

Those that have been assessed as initially eligible, will move on to stage two.

Stage two is the full application. All initially eligible candidates will be invited to submit a full application from Monday 1st December 2025.

An offline version of the application form will be made available. Please note that application submissions will only be accepted via the official online submission link that is sent to those identified as initially eligible.

We encourage all applicants to work with your chosen lead supervisor to create a strong submission for the project as listed on the website.

For all applicants invited to submit a full application we will be running a series of sessions designed to support you with your application. (More information to come)

All applications must be submitted by 12pm GMT (midday) Friday 30th January 2026.

All applications received by the deadline will be assessed and candidates will be shortlisted for interview.

Interviews are scheduled to take place across a two week period from Monday 9th March 2026. Invites will be sent by email at least 10 working days before your scheduled date.

More information will be made available to successfully shortlisted candidates.