Psychiatry (Research)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The DPhil/MSc by Research in Psychiatry offers the opportunity to gain transferable research skills alongside knowledge and expertise in one of a range of research fields ranging from molecular biology to brain imaging and from behavioural research to epidemiology.

The DPhil/MSc by Research in Psychiatry is designed to allow you to develop the skills required to become an independent researcher, as well as acquiring expertise within a particular research area. DPhil students will have a supervisor from within the department and may have a co-supervisor/advisor from within the department or from elsewhere, such as the Departments of Experimental Psychology, Clinical Neuroscience and Pharmacology and/or the Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (fMRIB).

Working on a project of your own under the guidance of a supervisor provides you with a primary learning experience. You are encouraged to take advantage of the comprehensive, flexible training programme offered by the Medical Sciences Graduate School which includes general and specific research skills and more advanced academic courses.

You may also be required to undertake one or more training courses related to your area of research. In addition to this, the department organises opportunities for students to meet together and to present their research to their peers, enabling you to benefit from feedback and to begin networking with students in other research areas.

You will be based in Oxford for the three to four years of your DPhil but you can be based elsewhere in the world during the data collection phase of your research for a maximum of one year.