PhD Studentship: The Oxford Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Training Programme (ILESLA)

4 Year, full-time PhD studentship

Eligibility: Home UK/EU and International applicants

Bursary p.a.: The stipend is at the UKRI rate (currently £21,805 for the academic year 2026/27), plus £2000 per annum uplift.

University fees and bench fees: The studentship covers bench fees, stipend, and tuition fees. Visa and associated costs are not funded. International applicants can visit https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/isat/ for further information.

Closing date: 6 January 2027 – 12:00 midday UK time 

Interviews: expected to take place late February/early March 2027

Start date:  September 2027 

Project Title: The Oxford Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science training programme (ILESLA)

Director of Studies: Andrew Jones, Associate Professor 

Supervisors: Dependent on the project that is determined during the first year of your programme

Project Description: 

The 4 year MPhil/PhD provides the opportunity to undertake research across the full breadth of biological and environmental science. The tailored programme includes taught courses in interdisciplinary skills. Two exploratory research projects are taken in Year 1, with prospective supervisors, before choosing the 3 year research project. A 12 week professional internship during the research project provides work experience. 

We offer a place on the BBSRC/NERC funded ILESLA training programme in the areas of plant cell biology, mammalian cell biology, molecular biology, parasitology, developmental biology, bioinformatics, conservation, ecology and bioimaging. The successful candidate will enjoy access to our state-of-the-art facilities, including laboratories and bioimaging suite. A candidate admitted through Oxford Brookes University must undertake one rotation project at Brookes and another at any of the partner organisations. The PhD project must include a supervisor from Oxford Brookes.

The programme is supported by the BBSRC and NERC through a Landscape Award with additional support from within the Partnership.

Entry requirements:

A first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in a relevant academic subject (e.g. biochemistry, biology, chemistry, geology, geography, physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science).

International applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 7.5 and no score below 7.0, issued in the last 2 years prior to the date of entry to the programme, by an approved test centre. Please contact us via ilesla.oxford.brookes@brookes.ac.uk to check equivalency that can be accepted by Oxford Brookes University.

UKRI eligibility criteria apply.

Application process:

When you are ready to apply, read all the instructions carefully and apply through the University of Oxford via the above 'Apply' button.

An application fee waiver can be obtained by candidates who are applying to Oxford Brookes University and/or the Open University, where they are not also applying to the University of Oxford. Details are provided on the University of Oxford webpage.

Queries can be directed to Oxford Brookes University via ilesla.oxford.brookes@brookes.ac.uk.

Applicants should indicate the theme to which they are applying, on their application as well as any supervisors that you are particularly interested in working with. A list of potential supervisors is available on request to ilesla.oxford.brookes@brookes.ac.uk.

Queries about the programme can be directed to Dr Andrew Jones (a.jones@brookes.ac.uk) and also Prof Verena Kriechbaumer (vkriechbaumer@brookes.ac.uk). 

Details of Open Days for applicants can be found on the ILESLA website.

Part time study is only available to Oxford Brookes students with Home fee status.