PhD studentships 

Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research is an independent charity dedicated to funding research that will help to improve quality of life for people living with a spinal cord injury (SCI).

There are around 50,000 people living in the UK with SCI, many of whom will experience complications from their injury. We fund research in the following areas, each of which affects the quality of life of people living with SCI. We hope that this research leads to new treatments and therapies, deepening of understanding, and dissemination of best practice in these areas:

• Urinary Tract Infection
• Pressure Ulcers
• Neuropathic Pain
• Assistive Technology Primarily for Upper Limb function

Eligibility and application process

Our PhD studentships enable high quality graduates to develop the skills to build an independent career in academic research related to one of our priority areas. We provide grants of up to £100,000 normally for up to 3 years, to support course fees, living costs, and research costs.

Research projects should aim to have clinical impact and a stated intention of disseminating the results of the work. Our emphasis is on the treatment of people with spinal cord injury which is non-progressive and we expect proposals to have this as their primary focus.

All applications are assessed on quality, feasibility and clinical impact by our independent Scientific Advisory Board. SMSR is a proud member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and follows its best practice standards for peer review, ensuring that decisions on research funding are made in a fair and transparent way.

Success rates

Our first application round closed in November 2020. We awarded one PhD grant with a value of £95,269. We received 6 applications, giving a success rate of 17%

For more information on any aspect of our PhD programme, please contact Derek Cutler, Research Grants Manager [email protected] / tel: 07930 494681