
Applications closed
Applications to our doctoral clinical fellows programme are now closed.
Doctoral clinical fellows
We look for exceptional clinicians to gain a broad and deep interdisciplinary research experience.
Introduction
Fellows carry out exciting research projects for three years while following the Crick's clinical PhD programme, which is a three-year version of our PhD programme.
Eligibility
We are looking for talented and motivated clinicians who are passionate about research, have a strong academic track record and have the potential to pursue a career as an academic clinician.
Applicants for this competitive programme are expected to have:
- a medical, dental or veterinary degree (awarded by summer 2021 at the latest),
- previous wet or dry lab research experience (desirable), and
- continuous full General Medical Council (GMC) registration or equivalent (eg GDC registration, RVCS registration, equivalent national registration outside the UK).
Applications are welcomed from:
- candidates from all medical and surgical specialties
- candidates with a background in dentistry
- candidates with a background in veterinary medicine
Applicants should be in a training position (not necessarily with a training number). Candidates at consultant grade will not be considered.
These are full time research positions with limited participation in clinical activities.
Funding & partners
Funding
The positions are fully funded for three years. Successful candidates will receive a salary commensurate with their current experience, paid on the clinical academic scale.
Funding for our 2021 fellowships is available via the following routes:
- The Crick
- The Crick in association with The Royal College of Surgeons of England, via a fellowship available to surgical trainees who are Members of The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Partners
The Crick’s clinical PhD programme is run in collaboration with five institutions:
The programme
Clinical PhD trainees at the Crick thrive in an academic environment underpinned by world-class technical expertise in areas ranging from computational biology and genomics to cell and structural biology and imaging. This provides a firm foundation for clinicians with future academic career paths in mind.
They follow, or have access to, a three-year version of the Crick's PhD programme, which provides extensive scientific and general skills training and clinical mentoring.
As the fellows are enrolled in a full time PhD programme, there is limited participation in clinical activities.
Lesley Sheach quote

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Crick and have received incredible support and guidance from the education team, my supervisor and thesis committee over the past 3 years. I can’t imagine a better environment in which to work and undertake a PhD and I will miss it greatly.
Applications
Before beginning an application you should read:
- the information on this page
- the information on the ‘for applicants’ page
- the available doctoral clinical fellow positions
Applications must be submitted through our recruitment system.
- You must complete all required sections of the application form in full.
- Your application must be submitted by the deadline: 12 noon (GMT), Thursday 12 November 2020.
- Late applications will not be accepted.
- References should be received by Thursday 19 November 2020. Your application may still be considered if references are not received by this deadline. However, no applicant will be invited to interview unless references have been received.
After the reference deadline, your application will be available to the following people:
- members of the Crick’s Academic Training Team (junior researchers) and the Crick’s senior clinical management team for the purposes of checking eligibility;
- all recruiting supervisors, and also, potentially, relevant members of their groups for the purposes of shortlisting.
Shortlisted candidates’ applications may also be available to the following people:
- members of the Crick’s clinical steering committee for the purposes of final shortlisting;
- relevant funding partners for the purposes of checking eligibility for funding.
You will be notified of the outcome of your application by 4 January 2021.
We had hoped to be able to run the interviews in person at the Crick in January 2021. However, given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we have decided to run the interviews virtually.
Candidates on the final shortlist will be invited to a formal panel interview taking place virtually via Zoom on Thursday 28 January 2021. Prior to this, candidates will also be invited to participate in virtual ‘lab visits’ with the labs of the group leaders who have shortlisted them, and invited to attend two information sessions; one with the Crick’s academic training team to learn more about the Crick’s doctoral clinical fellows programme and the other with current doctoral clinical fellows.
Key dates
1 October 2020
Applications open
12 November 2020
Application deadline (12 noon GMT)
19 November 2020
Deadline for referees to submit references
By 4 January 2021
Shortlisted candidates invited to interview
28 January 2021
Panel interviews
Mid-September 2021
Programme start
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