Postgraduate Research Degrees at the CVR
There has never been a more important time to carry out research on viruses. Viral diseases impact many millions of people each year and are a significant global challenge to human health and prosperity. To meet this challenge, we are training the next generation of leaders in virus research. If you want to learn how to carry out original and impactful scientific research, and if you are fascinated by viruses and the problems they cause, we would love it if you joined our research community as a postgraduate research (PGR) student.
PGR students at the CVR come from both academic and clinical backgrounds and can study for either an MScR degree (1 – 2 years) or a PhD degree (3 – 4 years if full-time). For an overview of Postgraduate Research at the CVR, including the research groups and topics covered, please download our Introduction to Postgraduate Research booklet.
CVR PhD Student Videos
Here's what our PGR students have to say about their time at the CVR:
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Alex Hardy |
Jordan Clark |
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Muhamad Afiq Aziz |
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The CVR – an Interdisciplinary Centre for Training in Virus Research
The CVR is a world-leading institution dedicated to understanding and preventing viral illness. The centre is home to one of the largest interdisciplinary communities of virus researchers, providing expertise and experience across multiple academic and clinical disciplines that allow us to tackle the most important challenges in virus research. It spans a complex of buildings that seamlessly blend purpose-built virus containment facilities with state-of-the-art electron microscopy, imaging and sequencing facilities, insectaries, molecular biology laboratories and bioinformatics teams. Our research addresses questions related to a wide range of important human and animal pathogens, from influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2 to the arboviruses that cause dengue and Rift Valley fever.
Nurturing the next generation of leaders in virus research is a key mission of the CVR, and we offer training in virus research from leaders in their fields. Our interests range from classical human pathogens to emerging viruses and arboviruses, with research areas covering antiviral responses, virus-host interactions, molecular virology, structural virology, clinical virology, vector-biology, virus evolution and virus discovery. We can provide training in disciplines from structural biology and molecular biology through to epidemiology, as well as offering projects in data-driven and computational approaches to virus research, including mathematical, machine learning and statistical approaches to understanding virology and modelling infection at different scales. Projects that span disciplines, such as applications of artificial intelligence to virus sequence and structural data, are supported and encouraged. Furthermore, the CVR is embedded within the School of Infection and Immunity within the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) at the University of Glasgow, providing excellent research opportunities to foster multi-disciplinary collaborative projects.
Join us to learn how to apply your own talents, skills and experience to understanding, and controlling, some of the world’s most important pathogens.
Funding Opportunities for Postgraduate Research at the CVR
An overview of the course structure for PhD and MScR degrees, including tuition fees for self-funded students (PhD studentships typically cover the costs of tuition) can be found here.
PGR students at the CVR can be funded through a variety of different routes. Click the links below for more details of:
- The CVR PhD Programme
- CVR Clinical Research Fellowships
- The Wellcome Trust Integrative Infection Biology PhD
- MRC Doctoral Training Programme in Precision Medicine (subject to project availability)
- The China Scholarship Council
Self-funded research applicants are encouraged to consider the university’s Integrated PhD programme.
We are pleased to consider applicants who wish to apply for externally-funded PhD scholarships. Please contact potential supervisors directly to discuss this.
Regardless of the route taken, all of our new PGR students form a single cohort and have access to the same training and support from the CVR.
The CVR PhD Programme
CVR Clinical Research Fellowships
The CVR Postgraduate Research Experience
We want all of our students to get the most out of the complex, rich and varied training process of doing a postgraduate research degree. Find out more about different aspects of the PGR experience here in the sections below.
Supervision and Support
All CVR PGRs are provided with support and training through the MVLS Graduate School. You will be supported by at least two academic supervisors (which can include a second supervisor based outside of the CVR), and also meet regularly with two independent assessors to ensure that you are receiving the support you need to progress with your degree. The CVR’s PGR Development Committee and PGR Reps meet regularly to develop actions to improve the training environment for PGRs in the Centre.
Specialised Training
Postgraduate research at the CVR begins with the ‘CVR Introduction to Virus Research’ course. This innovative two-week course is not a conventional taught course, but a preparation for carrying out your own virus research work. Scientists from across the CVR and the wider university use their own research to explain the many different approaches that can be used for studying viruses here, and staff and students share their experience of everything from navigating literature to managing mental health and wellbeing. As well as providing an overview of modern virus research and allowing new students to get to know the groups and people they will be working alongside during their postgraduate research, the course allows our students to form a supportive cohort of new virology researchers in the CVR before beginning their own research work.
Transferable Skills Training
As a member of the University of Glasgow postgraduate community, you will have access to a wide range of training opportunities and a professional support network to ensure you get the most out of your time here.
A Global Impact
As a member of the CVR community our students are encouraged to make a difference. Virology expertise can be urgently required during outbreaks worldwide. Several CVR PhD students volunteered their services during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and were presented with the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa in recognition. More recently, multiple PGR students volunteered to be part of the CVR’s COVID-19 response. We always encourage our students to use their expertise for the benefit of humanity and the CVR is proud of the contributions made by our current and former students in response to viral outbreaks.
Public Engagement and Communication
It is important that scientists engage the wider community with their research, and CVR PGR students have a wealth of opportunities to develop their public engagement and communication (PEC) skills. The Centre has its own digital science communication platform called Research Goes Viral. This platform is led by CVR staff and students and everybody is welcome to get involved. Digital content such as videos, podcasts and blog posts are created to promote research and collaborations, celebrate awareness days and other events, and explore the career of international virologists who visit the CVR.
The CVR has a very successful engagement programme which includes varioius flagship projects which involve citizen science with extensive partnership organisations, public involvement with charity and clinical partners and the development of science-art collaborations and resources. We also lead activities at science festivals and larger engagement events.
Staff and students at the CVR also have opportunities to engagement in widening particiaption activities to ensure that science knowledge and opportunties are accessible for everybody, despire their background. This often involves visiting schools and communities with activites and engaging with people of all ages.
The Centre's PEC Programme includes a wide variety of activites, from digital blogs to stand up comedy, so everybody feels comfortable to get involved.
Beyond the CVR
The CVR is an active part of a wider community of virus researchers, and opportunities exist for collaborative research projects with our partner institutions. It is expected that where possible all PhD students will attend a relevant international conference, ideally within 18 months of commencing their PhD.
The Wider Environment
Glasgow is a vibrant and friendly city on the west coast of Scotland, with excellent connections to other areas of the UK and Europe. The fourth largest city in the UK and the largest in Scotland, Glasgow has an exciting student and cultural life. The CVR itself is based in the beautiful Garscube campus, easily accessible from the city centre but with views across parkland out to the Campsie Fells. Sports facilities within and outwith the University host a huge variety of activities, while the nearby countryside offer outdoor pursuits such as water sports and mountaineering, and there is easy access to Scotland’s stunning Highlands and Islands. The city regularly hosts major events that showcase the region across the world. The University of Glasgow is part of the Russell Group of elite UK institutions, regularly ranked among the best universities in the world, and we are proud of the contribution our PGR students make to this.