First, discuss your proposed project with a potential supervisor. In most cases you will need to secure funding from outside the Department, though studentships are occasionally available. Please discuss your plans for funding with PIs you approach with your project idea.

Once you have found a supervisor who is interested and has agreed to take on your project, then you make your official application to the University. Instructions on how to do this are here: How do I apply? | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

If you want to apply for University funding, please be aware of the early deadline for submitting your application – by mid-October for some US-based candidates, and early January if you are elsewhere. Please see the funding FAQs below for more information.

General application deadlines for the current academic year can be found in the course directory by searching for the course you intend to apply for. Course Directory | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

• The Department has a number of different research themes, and the pages for these can be found here: Clinical Themes – Department of Surgery (cam.ac.uk)
• A list of our academic staff can be found here: Staff – Department of Surgery (cam.ac.uk)

Once you have identified someone who you think would be interested in supervising your planned project, you can contact them directly via their University email address.

If no-one in the Department directly matches your research interests, you may want to look at other Clinical School departments. The Clinical school has a wide array of staff and specialities, and what you are looking for may not be in the Department you initially expected. Cross-departmental work is also possible. A list of all the Clinical School departments and institutes can be found below:

Departments, Institutes & Units – School of Clinical Medicine (cam.ac.uk)

Course fees for the current and upcoming academic year are available on the course directory here:

MPhil  MPhil in Medical Science (Surgery) | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

PhD  PhD in Surgery | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

MChir Master of Surgery | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

The maintenance cost is an estimate of what your total annual living costs will be when in Cambridge. You are not required to pay this amount to the University, but you are asked to guarantee that you can afford this.

• All students who study in the Department must have their own funding, either through a scholarship, grant or a studentship agreed with your Supervisor. Some students self-fund but it is rare due to the costs involved.
• The University and Colleges offer a large amount of funding to Postgraduate students each year. This includes substantial full scholarships, as well as a number of smaller awards from colleges or for specific subject areas. If you wish to be considered for this, you must make your application in plenty of time. To gain funding for academic year 24/25, you must make your official application to the University before 5^th January 2024. This means having discussed and agreed a project with a supervisor before this date.
• You can find further information about the funding available at the following pages:
• Search – Postgraduate Funding Search (cam.ac.uk)
• Funding overview | Postgraduate Admissions (cam.ac.uk)
• Studentships are sometimes available, and are associated with particular projects. These are advertised on the Funding Portal and the University Jobs page.
• Some students will finance their studies via a Fellowship during their clinical training.

The majority of central funding is offered in March and April. However, some Research Councils may offer as early as February and other funding offers (for example from the Cambridge Trust) may be as late as July. If you have not heard by the end of July, you should assume you have not been successful in securing University funding.

• To study in the Department you must meet the University’s minimum academic and language requirement. Details of this can be found here:Entry requirements | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)
• If you believe that you would be suitable for the course but there is an element of the requirements you do not meet, we would be happy to discuss this with you: clusterPG@medschl.cam.ac.uk
• In terms of exact experience and qualifications, students in the Department come from a variety of backgrounds, both clinical and research based.
• It is not possible to study our courses as a remote or distanced-learning course – you must be resident in Cambridge, or nearby enough to attend in-person.
• Please be aware that many factors are taken into account when considering whether to accept a potential student, of which the academic requirement is only one. Suitability for the course, relevant experience, references and availability of a suitable supervisor are also important considerations that will determine whether or not an offer is made.

-All MChir applicants must be current surgical trainees based in the East of England. This is to allow the balance of in-person lab and clinical work, co-ordinated between both clinical supervisors and your supervisor based in the Department of Surgery. The MChir cannot be studied remotely.

If you are unsure about your eligibility for the MChir, please contact the Postgraduate Administration team: clusterPG@medschl.cam.ac.uk.

All of our courses are available part-time. Your plans for part-time study will need to be discussed and agreed with your supervisor prior to an offer being made. Further information about studying part-time can be found here: Part-time study | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

Students who are intercalating from another programme e.g. students part way through a medical course are welcome to apply for an MPhil. There is often greater time pressure for intercalating students, so this is something to be aware of and discuss in detail with your proposed supervisor before applying.

The following links should be useful to anyone applying to study in the Department:

School of Clinical Medicine Website: School of Clinical Medicine (cam.ac.uk)

Postgraduate Study in the Clinical School: Postgraduate study – School of Clinical Medicine (cam.ac.uk)

Postgraduate Funding Search: Search – Postgraduate Funding Search (cam.ac.uk)

International Students: International Students | (cam.ac.uk)

Course Directory – find information about all the courses on offer at the University: Course Directory | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

Finance for Postgraduate Students: Finance | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

Postgraduate Open Day 2023: Postgraduate Open Days | Postgraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)

If there is any information you are unable to find here, you are more than welcome to contact the Postgraduate Administration team with your enquiry: clusterPG@medschl.cam.ac.uk

Alternatively, you can fill out the Enquiry form here on the Department website.