Program Overview

Overview

The Department of Population Health Sciences is part of Bristol Medical School. Staff in the department participate in extensive national and international research collaborations and provide health policy advice for government organisations and international bodies. Staff and students in the department are also members of the cross-faculty Bristol Population Health Science Institute. Many Population Health Science members are also affiliated with the MRC Integrated Epidemiology Unit (IEU).

The department is multidisciplinary and includes statisticians, epidemiologists, geneticists, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, health economists, public health physicians, medical ethicists, data scientists, neuroscientists, and various community-based physicians and nurses. We are keen to attract graduates from all these disciplines to carry out postgraduate research.

Key Information

Programme Duration

• MScR: up to two years full-time; up to four years part-time.
• PhD: up to four years full-time; up to eight years part-time.
• MD: up to five years full-time; up to eight years part-time.
• PhD by Publication: up to one year; full or part-time.

Start Date

Start dates vary depending on funding source.

Application Deadline

Deadlines are advertised on the school website at various times throughout the year. We welcome enquiries at any time of the year.

Delivery Method

• Distance Learning
• On-Campus

Location

• Clifton

Awards Available

• PhD
• MD
• MSc by research

World-Leading Research

• The University of Bristol is ranked fifth for research in the UK (Times Higher Education).
• 94% of our research assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Entry Requirements

• An upper second-class honours degree (or international equivalent) or a lower second-class honours degree (or international equivalent) with a master's degree in a subject relevant to the proposed research.
• To register for an MD you must hold an MBChB.
• Applicants must have identified two potential supervisors who are willing to support the research proposal.

English Language Requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our profile level B.

Fees and Funding

Home Students

• Full-time: £4,850 per year
• Part-time: £2,425 per year

Overseas Students

• Full-time: £26,700 per year

Alumni Discount

University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study.

Funding and Scholarships

A selection of fully funded PhD opportunities are available within the department. Cross-institutional PhD studentships are available through the GW4 PhD Biomedical and Clinical programmes, enabling students to benefit from the diversity of expertise and resources across the GW4 network of universities.

Career Prospects

Most of our final-year research students express a wish to continue in research. The majority of recent PhD graduates now work in the academic sector, with others working in the health and private sectors.

Research Groups

Research in the Population Health Sciences department encompasses a number of academic areas:

• Epidemiology
• Health services research
• Research methods
• Primary care, public health and mental health
• Paediatrics and child health.

Many research groups, centres and units work across more than one of these themes, reflecting the highly multidisciplinary environment in the department.