Clinical Medicine (Research)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). 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.

As a DPhil in Clinical Medicine student, you will conduct research in basic science and/or in clinical medicine. The degree will provide you with research skills, in-depth knowledge, understanding and expertise in your chosen field of research.

Research subjects cover a broad spectrum of sciences related to medicine and include: behavioural science, bioinformatics & statistics (including modelling and computational biology), cell and molecular biology, clinical epidemiology, drug discovery, genetics and genomics, global health and tropical medicine, immunology, integrative physiology (systems biology), microbiology, protein science and structural biology, and transcription biology.

Doctoral students within the Nuffield Department of Medicine carry out research in a single laboratory and there is no period of rotation between laboratories. All doctoral students develop their skills through a range of research training and skills development in their first year of full- time study or first two years of part-time study, by attending compulsory and optional training in laboratory techniques and generic skills, including scientific writing and statistics, while also working at the bench.

You will have access to, and be encouraged to attend, the lectures and seminars that individual research groups or groups with common areas of interest organise for their own members and others. This is will depend on the specific unit/area within which you are housed. Medical Grand Rounds are also held in the graduate centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital. You will have access to the other departmental seminars announced via email.

You will also have access to doctoral training and research methods provision available across the Medical Sciences Division. The aim is to tailor this training to individual needs and bring all students up to satisfactory level in background knowledge. Later training is focused on the skills required for a successful career in independent research.

You may be required to attend fieldwork / laboratory / training sessions on dates to be determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.

Research groups
The Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM) comprises research groups in several institutes and laboratories, including:

Experimental Medicine Division
Translational Gastroenterology Unit
The Peter Medawar Building
Modernising Medical Microbiology
NDM Research Building
Big Data Institute - NDM (BDI)
The Target Discovery Institute (TDI)
Centre for Translational Immunology
Old Road Campus Research Building
Jenner institute
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Centre for Medicines Discovery (CMD)
Pandemic Sciences institute (PSI)
Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health
Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) - Thailand
Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) - Vietnam
Oxford Centre for Global Health Research (OCGHR) - Oxford
KEMRI–Wellcome Trust Collaborative Research Programme – Kenya
Centre for Human Genetics (CHG)
Division of Structural Biology (STRUBI)
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute (CAMS COI)
Oxford Particle Imaging Centre (OPIC)
Oxford Protein Production Facility (OPPF)
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Physiology (CCMP)

Students housed within the NDM-BDI can describe their DPhil subject as Biomedical Data Science. Those within Tropical Medicine and associated within the Africa and Asia Programmes (MORU, OUCRU and KEMRI) can describe their DPhil subject as Tropical Medicine and Global Health.

In exceptional cases, students may be admitted to study for the MSc by Research degree.

For the full description, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas