ACED PhD Studentships

ACED PhD Studentships

Call for PhD Principal Supervisors

ACED will soon be inviting applications for CRUK ACED funded PhD studentships. Studentships will be available at each UK ACED Centre to begin in autumn 2026. Following selection and recruitment, successful ACED PhD students at each Centre will be responsible for selecting the principal supervisor of their choice from a list of approved ACED Member PhD Supervisors.

If you wish to be included as a Manchester ACED PhD supervisor, please complete this brief ACED PhD Supervisor expression of interest form no later than Friday 29th August 2025.

To be considered you must meet the eligibility criteria for a University of Manchester Lead PhD Supervisor (please see University of Manchester Requirements for further details)

Each studentship will be up to 4 years in duration and provides funding for tuition fees, student stipend and running expenses. The first year of the studentship will involve the PhD student working with their Principal Supervisor to co-develop the PhD project and select a suitable Co-Supervisor from another ACED Member Centre. Co-Supervisors are intended to provide expertise in a different field to the Principal Supervisor in a complementary discipline based on the needs of the project.

Throughout the first year, ACED students from across all Centres are encouraged to undertake practical training through rotations in different research groups across their own or other ACED Centres. ACED PhD Student, Lucie Gourmet, has recorded a short video describing the rotations she undertook during her first year. As a cohort, all ACED students are required to undertake a virtual training programme, covering a variety of areas of research relevant to early detection. This will be equivalent to 30 one-hour training sessions spread across the first year and culminating in the annual Early Detection Summer School.

If you wish to be added to the list of approved ACED PhD Supervisors for consideration, please complete the ACED PhD Supervisor Expression of Interest form no later than Friday 29th August 2025.

If you have any questions please contact Martin Bone martin.bone@manchester.ac.uk

ACED PhD Programme

ACED is committed to training the next generation of early detection cancer scientists and leaders of tomorrow within a supportive and flexible training environment. As such, the ACED PhD Programme provides unique support by offering a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional approach to training by offering a number of funded four-year PhD studentships available to be recruited via a central ACED selection process across the UK ACED Centres in Manchester, Cambridge and UCL. 

You can find out more about our ACED PhD Studentships and projects on the CRUK Manchester Centre Research Opportunities webpage.

Hear from current ACED students who are at various stages of study on the ACED-Funded PhD Students webpage.