cambridge maths phd application

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The Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS) at Cambridge has a large number of faculty, postdocs and graduate students, with active research groups across the spectrum of mathematics. Strengths include:

• algebra (group theory, representation theory);
• algebraic geometry (higher-dimensional algebraic geometry, algebraic cycles, abelian varieties, mirror symmetry, geometric aspects of representation theory);
• analysis (geometric analysis, PDEs, mathematical relativity, discrete analysis);
• category theory (logic, proof theory, topos theory, higher-dimensional category theory)
• combinatorics (random structures, combinatorial number theory, Ramsey theory, graph theory)
• differential geometry (dynamics, low-dimensional topology and knot theory, gauge theory, Riemannian geometry, symplectic topology);
• number theory (algebraic number theory, Iwasawa theory, computational number theory);
• probability and statistics (including financial mathematics, operational research, stochastic methods, transport and networking problems).

More detailed information can be found on other departmental webpages. If you have interests in these areas, particularly in the areas of expertise of departmental members, consider coming to Cambridge for a postdoc. (Related research groups at Imperial College, London and at Oxford are close, and there are close links -- including shared participation in some seminars -- with these departments, which adds to the richness of the local mathematical community.) There are various kinds of postdoc available, suitable for people at different levels, and requiring different application procedures. Some more information on each is available below.

• HERCHEL-SMITH POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS: A Fellowship in Mathematics is advertised as part of a University wide scheme. We expect to appoint one or more positions each year. The postdocs are tenable for 3 years and are on a competitive salary scale. The positions carry no teaching obligations, and are purely intended for research, although opportunities to give Masters-level or graduate-level courses are available. Applications from all areas of pure mathematics will be considered. Applicants should be towards the end of their PhD or within the first 2-3 years of postdoctoral research. Further particulars will be given on the departmental vacancies page when applications are open, which is typically around late October.
• COLLEGE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS: These are prestigious postdocs, funded directly by the Cambridge Colleges. Holders of the positions are fully integrated into DPMMS, with office space in the department as well as their college. The precise details of these positions vary from college to college, and their availability varies from year to year. Typically, colleges offer up to 4 positions, for a tenure of 3 or 4 years. All positions are research positions, with few or minimal teaching obligations; the positions are associated with membership of a college, and typically come with accommodation and other perquisites. In some but not all cases there may be criteria of eligibility (e.g. citizen of an EU member state, or graduand of a UK university, etc). All such positions are advertised in the Cambridge University Reporter: www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/current/weekly/ ; check regularly to see if there are openings in Mathematics. Note that although these positions are competitive across subjects, mathematicians are often successful: in a typical year there are 3 or more pure mathematicians appointed to such positions from the various colleges. For a further view see Professor Körner's unofficial
• Guide for Mathematicians Seeking a Cambridge Research Fellowship
• 1851 ROYAL COMMISSION RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS: 2-year postdoctoral fellowships in mathematics and biological/physical sciences, which can be held at any UK university. Applicants should recently have completed or be about to complete a PhD: there are strict eligibility criteria (UK or Commonwealth national, or citizen of Ireland or Pakistan). Further information and application deadlines can be found here.
• MARIE-CURIE POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS: 2 year research-only postdoctoral positions, funded by the EU (to a generous salary), available to EU nationals to work in a country which is neither the country of their PhD nor their home country. Open calls for applications -- which are often but not always present -- can be found with some effort via the website ; follow links for Individual Researchers. Marie-Curie grant applications are made jointly with the department, and are directly linked to the research of a specific member of faculty. The first stage in applying is to make contact with such a potential supervisor and discuss possible projects and establish whether or not there is support for and scope for a plausibly successful application.
• ROYAL SOCIETY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS: Unique 8 year research-only fellowships. These are suitable for outstanding young mathematicians who have completed their PhD and already done one postdoc. Applications must have emphatic support from DPMMS; if you are interested in applying, contact a member of the department in a related subject. Further information is available from their website :     The deadline is typically in very early November of the preceeding year. Results are only available in April, but who else is going to give you 8 years money with no obligations?

POSSIBILITIES NEARBY: Imperial College London is only an hour from Cambridge, also has outstanding research groups in various fields (including the geometry group led by Simon Donaldson), and we often travel to and from one another's seminars. Oxford is slightly further but by no means inaccessible. Why not try applying there too? More information can be found on the websites https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mathematics/research/opportunities/ , and www.maths.ox.ac.uk/ . Example opportunities include:

• Chapman Fellowships at Imperial
• Colleges at the University of Oxford also offer Junior Research Fellowships, details are usually available via the Gazette www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/ .

Related sites

• Statistical Laboratory
• Faculty of Mathematics
• Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences

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Graduate Applications

The CQIF includes four members of DAMTP Faculty, two affiliated members, and several senior researchers.

We always have to turn away some outstanding applicants: if you are considering applying to us you should also apply widely elsewhere. Applicants who are not UK citizens should also carefully consider the information about funding below, and note the very early deadlines for applications for funding from Foundations and Trusts. Applications to start a PhD in October 2022 will be considered from November 2021 onwards.

Successful applicants are likely to have a first class undergraduate degree in mathematics, physics or computer science, and should ideally also have an M.Sc. or equivalent qualification. Candidates considering applying directly from an undergraduate degree are encouraged to consider applying first to take Cambridge's one-year Masters-level course, the Master of Advanced Study in Mathematics (Part III of the Cambridge Mathematics Tripos). The course includes one or more lecture courses on aspects of quantum information and foundations, as well as courses on a wide variety of other topics in theoretical physics and pure and applied mathematics.

Applications from graduate students to research centres in DAMTP are handled by the Board of Graduate Studies in the first instance, and then administered by the department. Applications for PhD places should thus be made to the Board of Graduate Studies in the first instance, specifying an interest in working at the CQIF in DAMTP. The information needed can all be found on this page . Note that the timetable for applications has some very early application deadlines.

The University's admissions process is quite slow and, beyond the initial acknowledgment of receipt of your application, past experience suggests it could be as late as May before you hear any more from the University. Once the application process has started, your application can be tracked using your self-service account .

Applications for the Part III course should also be made to the Board of Graduate Studies. The information needed can be found on this page .

Our standard method of funding UK and EU graduate students is by grants from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. These are allocated by the department, mostly after the Part III results in mid to late June. EPSRC studentships provide full support for UK students, and cover tuition fees for EU students from outside the UK.

There are some other possible sources for funding (which are not generally restricted to EU students): for example the Gates Foundation, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, and a small number of the wealthier Cambridge Colleges. Decisions on these scholarships are made in May. Unfortunately (at least for us!), these funding sources are entirely outside our control or influence; in particular there is nothing we can do to get a decision from them sooner than May. Applications to these organisations and institutions need to be made separately. The University's Board of Graduate Studies web pages --- reached from the above-mentioned links --- have some information; anyone needing clarification or advice should contact either them or the relevant organisation. We have no independent sources of support for non-EU students.

While we try to be helpful where possible, there is normally little that we can add to the information given here. We cannot generally comment in advance on the chances of any individual application to the CQIF being successful or offer advice in putting together an application. Applicants may find it helpful, though, to look at the information on our group web pages, and especially useful to look at some of the recent papers of CQIF members, which can mostly be found on the quantum physics archive . (Some recent papers are also linked from CQIF members' personal pages on this site.)

We normally interview  selected candidates once applications have been reviewed: the timetable for these varies from year to year.

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Overview of the Application Procedure

Welcome to the MIT Mathematics Graduate Admissions page. This page explains the application process in general. For complete details, go to the on-line application which is available mid-September to December. These instructions are repeated there.

MIT admits students starting in the Fall term of each year only. Admission is to the PhD program only; there is no Masters program. There is no separate application for financial support; all admitted students are offered support.

Submitting GRE scores is entirely optional: We will accept scores if submitted (and are most interested in the Math Subject test result, if any) but it will not hurt your application if not included.

To apply, follow these steps:

Fill out the on-line application by 23:59, EST, December 15.

You will be submitting:

• Field(s) of interest
• Personal information/addresses
• International student data
• Three or more names and e-mail addresses of letter writers
• Educational and work history, including IELTS/TOEFL scores (preferably from this year), and honors
• Grades in math/science/engineering courses and overall
• Statement of objectives
• Outside financial support and potential outside support
• Credit/debit card payment of $75
• The Math department requires applicants to upload an electronic copy of undergraduate transcripts. Hard copies of official transcripts are not required at the time of application.

Arrange for submission of (official reports only)

• Letters of recommendation
• For international students, IELTS (or TOEFL iBT)

We recommend that before November 15 you notify your letter writers that you will be needing evaluations from them, so that they have time to prepare them and submit them by December 15. Once you have submitted your on-line application, instructions to your letter writers will be generated for you. You are responsible for making sure that your letter writers have copies of these instructions.

You self-reported your grades in step 1, but we require an official transcript for all admitted students. If/when we request this, arrange for an official copy of your college transcript to be sent to:

Academic Services, Room 2-110 Dept of Mathematics, MIT 77 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge MA 02139-4307 USA

TOEFL reporting codes Institution code: MIT = 3514 Mathematics Department code: 72

International Students

IELTS is the English language proficiency test we prefer, but we also accept the TOEFL iBT . (On the other hand, we generally do not accept the TOEFL PBT.) To have IELTS results reported, indicate "Mathematics Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)" on your IELTS test application; no code or address is needed. To have TOEFL iBT results reported, use the codes above (3514 for MIT, and 72 for Mathematics).

If you are an international student, you should take the IELTS (or TOEFL iBT) by December 31. If you will receive an undergraduate degree from an English-language university in an English-speaking country after attending it for at least three years, then the Math Department will waive the English language proficiency test requirement.

Paper Forms

If for some reason, you are unable to use the on-line system, you may use paper forms. But note that on-line documents allow us to consider your application more quickly and conveniently. Your letter writers may also use paper forms, if necessary.

Please address questions about the application process to [email protected] . You can find more information about MIT graduate admissions in general at the MIT Graduate Admissions site .

Computational Science and Engineering

Students with primary interest in Computational Science may also consider applying to the interdisciplinary Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) program, with which the Mathematics Department is affiliated. For more information, see https://oge.mit.edu/programs/computational-science-and-engineering-phd/ .

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The skills I gained throughout the year prepared me well for further research not only in Mathematics Education, but also in other fields.

Overview of the course

This advanced course of study and research is one of the few specialised Mathematics Education Programmes anywhere in the world. It is open to any researcher or professional, whether your interest is primary, secondary or tertiary education.

Working closely with leading researchers and educators whose focus is enhancing teaching and learning practice in Mathematics, you will learn to interpret and engage critically with key ideas and debates in the field. The course combines:

• Taught sessions. • Course assignments with personal support. • Student-led seminars and project workshops.

You will acquire new research skills, enhance your own thinking and practice, and develop fresh ideas that will enable you to innovate and lead positive change in your own setting.

This is a part-time course. It is ideal for researchers, teachers, school leaders, and other professionals looking to take the next step in their career in Mathematics Education. Many of our students are working professionals who continue in full-time posts while studying.

Why choose us?

• Join a dedicated Mathematics Education course, run by specialists involved in cutting-edge research and policy work.
• Collaborate with students from diverse settings, who share a passion for improving teaching and learning in Mathematics.
• Enjoy personalised support and mentoring, with one-to-one supervision.
• Experience a teaching approach that is active, participatory, inclusive and research-orientated.
• Participate in the Faculty’s Mathematics Education research cluster.
• Benefit from numerous intellectual and social opportunities in the friendly and diverse Faculty community, and across the University of Cambridge.

How is the course organised?

Students on the 2yr MPhil course complete the course part time over two years. For those who have completed the PGCE or PACES at the Faculty the course will be over one year. You will have one teaching session per week on a Wednesday afternoon from 2pm into early evening. Example topics:

• mainstream curricular topics including arithmetic, algebra, geometry, probability and statistics;
• mathematical activities including problem solving, modelling, proving;
• mathematics pedagogy and learning;
• teacher knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes;
• current policy issues, such as international comparisons, social justice, gender and mathematics education and use of resources in mathematics education.

In advance of sessions, students are expected to read pre-set material intended to provide a context or focus for discussion. Sessions are organised in ways that draw explicitly on important research literature in mathematics education and on students' diverse backgrounds and experiences. All students are expected to contribute to, and to learn from, the discussions and activities during the sessions.

Research Methods

Alongside these modules, you will benefit from Research Methods teaching.  It covers a broad range of social science research methods and is essential for Masters level understanding and critical engagement with the research literature in many specialist areas and in education more generally. Through this you will acquire the skills necessary for designing, conducting, analysing, interpreting and reporting a research study for thesis.

Who are the course team?

• Professor Andreas Stylianides
• Dr Julie Alderton
• Dr Steve Watson

Where do our students go?

Some have pursued doctoral studies in mathematics education and hold academic positions around the world; others have continued their careers as teachers of mathematics in primary or secondary schools, having developed new, research-informed perspectives into mathematics teaching and learning; while others have taken on mathematics education leadership positions in local or national contexts.

What our students say

Read about our student experiences and feedback from those that attended the course at the Faculty of Education, Cambridge.

Quotes from our students.

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How to apply for a PhD

PhD Student Applications

PhD Applications

The postgraduate research degree offered at the School of Mathematics is the PhD.  The PhD programme is three years in length with an additional year to write up and submit your thesis should it be needed. However, please note if you are offered a fully funded place, you will receive four years of funding (stipend and all fees). The students admitted typically have an MSc degree, or 1 st  class honours degree (or its international equivalent). From the start of their studies, they are assigned a main supervisor with whom they work closely throughout their degree programme and a second supervisor who provides additional help and pastoral support. Applications are invited for PhD studies for September each year. Occasionally students are admitted at other times of the year by special arrangement.  To request the possibility of admission at another time of the year, please  email  the Graduate School with further details of your request. 

All applications received by  22 January 2024 will receive full consideration for funding.  Later applications will be considered until all positions are filled.

If you are applying for EDCS or the China Scholarship, please ensure you check the relevant application deadline. These scholarships do require a separate application.  The deadline for EDCS applications is 19 February 2024.

We accept applications from students who have secured external funding at all times of the year - Please make this clear on your application, and if you are in contact with a potential supervisor.

How to Apply

Step 1: meet our entry requirements.

Our minimum entry requirements are a 1 st  class Honours degree (or its international equivalent) OR a 2:1 Honours degree (or its international equivalent) plus a Masters degree (or its international equivalent) in a relevant subject. Typically, candidates have a good understanding of the field they propose to study, and some research experience.

Students applying for a research degree should identify their research interests and determine in which  research group  they wish to carry out their work. They are encouraged to contact staff members prior to their application in order to identify possible research projects and supervisors. However, it is not essential for you to have secured a supervisor before submitting your application. You can note proposed supervisor(s) on your appliction form.

Non-UK candidates may be required to provide a evidence of proficiency in the English language. For full details on English language requirements, please see this page . Applicants must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of their English language ability:

an undergraduate or masters degree, that was taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country as defined by UK Visas and Immigration ( UKVI list of majority English speaking countries ) 

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component
• TOEFL-iBT : total 92 with at least 20 in each section
• PTE(A) : total 61 with at least 56 in each of the Communicative Skills scores
• CAE and CPE : total 176 with at least 169 in each paper
• Trinity ISE : ISE II with distinctions in all four components

Degrees taught and assessed in English must be no more than 3.5 years old at the date of the beginning of your degree programme. English language test certificates must be no more than 2 years old at the beginning of your degree programme, or 3.5 years for CAE & CPE.

Step 2: Apply online

Make an online application to the appropriate PhD programme(s) (see below) . You will be asked to upload documents at the start of the application process. 

The documentation that we require you to upload to your application is:

• Interim or final transcript(s)  - (depending on what stage you are at in your studies) of your Undergraduate Degree, and Masters Degree, if applicable.
• Final degree certificate(s) - for your Undergraduate Degree, and Masters Degree, if applicable.
• Two academic references to be provided directly by referees. Enter their names and email addresses in the required areas, and an automated email will be forwarded to them requesting a reference upload. We will not accept references uploaded by applicants.
• A CV - You can upload this in the place of a research proposal, which is not required for your application.
• English Language Test Certificate (where applicable) - please see here . 

Where you are asked for your project proposal, you may ignore that request, the School of Mathematics does not require a research proposal . Although the EUCLID application system will request that you upload one, you can just ignore this request. The reason that you will be asked for one is that the system applies to all Schools throughout the University and some Schools do require a research proposal. In the place of a research proposal, please upload an up to date CV. There is no need to upload any certificates for the degree you are currently studying (if you have not been issued one) - instead, official interim transcripts will be required.

Official translations of any documents not in written English are required. 

On the application form, where it asks for funding information - please enter 'School of Mathematics'. Each application will automatically be considered for one of our scholarships. Please indicate any other potential source of funding you have, have applied for or are intending to apply for (see Step 3).  If you have secured external funding, please provide evidence of the funding along with your application.

Step 3: Funding

Please review and apply for all applicable sources of funding noted on the What funding is available for your PhD  page.

Please apply via the research pages below:

• Algebra PhD
• Analysis PhD
• Applied and Computational Mathematics PhD
• Geometry and Topology PhD
• Mathematical Physics PhD
• Optimization and Operational Research PhD
• Probability & Stochastic Analysis PhD
• Statistics PhD
• Mathematics Education

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Study medical sciences for the first 3 years, then apply your knowledge as a clinical student on a placement for the last 3 years.  

The key to being a great clinician is combining practical skills with an excellent grounding in the science underlying practice. This course gives you just that.  

The course lasts 6 years: 

• for the first 3 years you focus on scientific principles underlying medicine, alongside a clinical strand. You’ll also get to conduct a full-body dissection, which very few medical schools offer 
• the last 3 years you apply that knowledge to medical practice as a clinical student, spending much of your time learning directly from patients in GP surgeries and hospitals 

You’ll also have opportunities to pursue research and project work throughout the course. 

This course is for you if:  

• it’s your first undergraduate degree  
• it’s your second degree – you’ll complete the first half of the course in 2 years instead of 3. You can also  apply to study the Medicine course for graduates .  

If this is your first degree and you successfully complete the first 3 years of the course, you’ll graduate with a BA (Hons) degree.

If you successfully complete the full course, you will graduate with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB, BChir).

Teaching and facilities

Clinical teaching is delivered on the wards and in general practice. There are also additional opportunities to attend general and specialist outpatient clinics.

The course is based in Cambridge. Some of the course is also delivered in regional hospitals or practices, to take advantage of the different educational opportunities they offer.

This Cambridge Medical course embodies teaching from world experts, progressive technology and modern facilities.

Along with all other students at Cambridge, you'll also have access to:

• our impressive Cambridge University Library, one of the world’s oldest university libraries

Course costs

When you go to university, you’ll need to consider two main costs – your tuition fees and your living costs (sometimes referred to as maintenance costs).

Your living costs will include costs related to your studies that are not covered by your tuition fees. There are some general study costs that will apply for all students – you can find details of these costs here .

Other additional course costs for Medicine are detailed below. If you have any queries these costs, please contact the Department.

To buy and maintain essential equipment for the course, the estimated cost is £60. Equipment includes:

• University approved scientific calculator
• Safety glasses
• Dissecting instruments

You will also need:

• Theatre clogs – estimated contribution £10
• Stethoscope – estimated cost £60 to £100. This is only required for the clinical part of the course (years 4 to 6)

Placements – years 1 to 3

Costs for the Preparing for Patients modules vary and are detailed below. You are expected to cover the costs detailed below, plus basic subsistence costs.

• Preparing for Patients A (year 1) – travel costs, approximately £25
• Preparing for Patients B (year 2) – one week of College accommodation, approximately £130
• Preparing for Patients D (year 3) – travel costs, approximately £25

Clinical placements – years 4 to 6

Clinical placements start from year 4 of your course and will vary from student to student. You will be on placement at hospitals across the East Anglia Region.

 The types of cost you will be expected to cover and those covered by the School of Clinical Medicine are detailed below.

• The School will pay the cost of one return journey for each clinical placement.
• Costs of accommodation near the clinical placement hospitals are covered by the School.
• You are expected to cover basic subsistence costs during your placements.

Optional study abroad – year 5

In year 5 there is an opportunity to go abroad for 7 weeks. If you do, the estimated cost is around £3,000. College and national grants may be available to help you cover these costs.

Course funding

You may be able to get funding from the NHS to help pay for your studies. Find out more about the NHS Bursary .

Becoming a doctor

As a graduate you’ll be able to get provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC has certain expectations about attitudes, behaviour and performance of medical students.

Read about registering as a doctor on the General Medical Council website .

You can then go anywhere in the country to complete two years as a junior doctor. These are known as Foundation Years. At the end of these two years you can register with the GMC as a doctor.

Read about the foundation programme on the UK Foundation Programme website .

If you’re graduating from 2025 onwards, you’ll need to take the Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA).

This is a test introduced by the General Medical Council to test the core knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to practise safely in the UK.

Read about the medical licensing assessment on the General Medical Council website .

Your future career

We enable students to develop the excellent communication, clinical, interpersonal and professional skills required for good medical practice.

As a graduate you’ll be ready for a range of careers across:

• general practice
• other specialities

If you’re interested in an academic research career, our MB/PhD Programme leads to the MB, BChir and PhD degrees. Read about the MB/PhD on the School of Clinical Medicine website .

The first 3 years involve lectures, practical classes that include dissections, and small-group supervisions. There are typically 20 to 25 teaching hours each week.

The last 3 years focus on learning in clinical settings: at the patients’ bedside, in outpatient clinics and in GP doctor surgeries. Teaching is supported by seminars, tutorials and discussion groups.

Your ongoing progress is reviewed each week and term by your College supervisors.

Formal assessment, which determines your ability to proceed with the course, includes written and practical examinations, coursework submission and clinical assessments.

Practical work is undertaken and assessed in all years of the degree programme.

You won't usually be able to resit any of your exams, except for professional qualifying exams.

Year 1, 2 and 3 – pre-clinical studies

Years 1 and 2.

This is the pre-clinical part of the course where you study core medical science and clinical medicine.

We’ll provide you with the scientific basis that will allow you to develop your medical career to the full.

The main areas of learning are covered by courses in:

• Functional Architecture of the Body, where you examine and dissect the human body, and includes living anatomy, and the use of modern imaging techniques
• Homeostasis, which covers the physiological systems that underpin the body's regulation of its internal environment and its responses to external threats. You also have related practical classes in experimental physiology and histology (the microscopic structure of tissues)
• Molecules in Medical Science, which examines the chemical and molecular basis of how cells and organisms work
• Biology of Disease, dealing with the nature and mechanisms of disease processes
• Mechanisms of Drug Action, which provides an understanding of the basic mechanisms of drug action at the levels of both drug-receptor interactions and the effects on body systems
• Neurobiology and Human Behaviour, covering the structure and function of the sense organs and central nervous system, the effects of drugs on brain function, and various psychological aspects
• Human Reproduction, where you look at the biology of the human reproductive system, its social context, and its influence on demographic trends
• Head and Neck Anatomy, where you learn about the structure and organisation of the human head and neck. There is a focus on the relationship of structure to function

The clinical strand of Years 1 and 2 involves:

• Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice, covering epidemiology and how it is applied in medicine
• Social and Ethical Context of Health and Illness, which is an introduction to the broader cultural aspects of healthcare and the medical profession in Britain, working with patients and colleagues, both in hospital and in the community
• Preparing for Patients involves meeting patients in general practice in the first year, in a hospital setting in second year, and through visiting community-based health-related agencies in second and third year

This is the pre-clinical part of the course where you specialise in one of a wide range of other subjects. You might see this referred to as intercalation, to qualify for the BA degree.

Options include:

• Year 3 Biological and Biomedical Sciences subject in Natural Sciences
• Year 3 Natural Sciences subject
• A subject less related to Medicine, such as Anthropology, Management Studies, History of Medicine or Philosophy

Preparing for Patients continues in your third year, regardless of the subject you choose to study. During this year, you visit community-based agencies.

For further information about the first 3 year of the course see the Faculty of Biology website .

Year 4, 5 and 6 – clinical studies

Your time on clinical placements will be shared between:

• Cambridge Biomedical Campus
• Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• other regional hospitals and GP practices throughout the East of England

Throughout your clinical studies, you will build on your biomedical science education and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to practise clinical medicine.

Through all clinical years, the course is built around many major themes, including:

• communication skills, patient investigation and practical procedures
• therapeutics and patient management
• core clinical science, pathology and diagnostic reasoning
• evaluation and research
• professionalism and patient safety
• improving health

Following an introductory course, each of the three years has its own focus:

Year 4 is about core clinical practice.

Year 5 is about specialist clinical practice.

Year 6 is about applied clinical practice.

During clinical studies, you have weekly small-group clinical supervisions with junior doctors to develop and monitor your clinical skills.

For further information about this course see the School of Clinical Medicine website .

Changing course

It’s really important to think carefully about which course you want to study before you apply. 

In rare cases, it may be possible to change course once you’ve joined the University. You will usually have to get agreement from your College and the relevant departments. It’s not guaranteed that your course change will be approved.

You might also have to:

• take part in an interview
• complete an admissions test
• produce some written work
• achieve a particular grade in your current studies
• do some catch-up work
• start your new course from the beginning 

You can also apply to change to:

• Management Studies at the Judge Business School

You can't apply to this course until you're at Cambridge. You would usually apply when you have completed 1 year or more of your original Cambridge course.

You should contact your College’s Admissions Office if you’re thinking of changing your course. They will be able to give you advice and explain how changing courses works.

Minimum offer level

A level: A*A*A IB:  41-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level Other qualifications : Check which other qualifications we accept

You can't apply to this course if you: 

• will not be 18 years old at the start of November of year 1. This is due to national restrictions 
• have failed or been excluded from another medical school

We strongly recommend:

• that you get some work experience before you apply. This can be paid or voluntary, in a health or social care organisation
• that you look at free resources available online. See the Medical Schools Council work experience guide for more information

Subject requirements

To apply to any of our Colleges for Medicine, you will need A level/IB Higher Level or the equivalent in:

• Mathematics
• Biology or Human Biology
• Further Mathematics

You will usually need A*/7 in Chemistry and another science or mathematics subject.

These subject requirements are provisional for 2025 entry. Please check back in April 2024 for confirmed details.

If you’re studying IB, we ask for Analysis and Approaches for this course. But Applications and Interpretations will also be considered. Please contact the College you wish to apply to for advice.

Chemistry, Mathematics and Further Mathematics may not always be the best combination of subjects for this course. Candidates taking these 3 A levels only are advised to contact a College before applying.

What Medicine students have studied 

Most Medicine students (who had studied A levels and started at Cambridge in 2017-19) achieved at least A*A*A*.

The majority of IB students achieved at least 44 points overall and/or grades 777 at Higher Level. 

All A level entrants had studied Chemistry and most had usually studied at least one of: 

• Mathematics 

Check our advice on choosing your high school subjects . You should also check if there are any required subjects for your course when you apply.

Offers above the minimum requirement

The minimum offer level and subject requirements outline the minimum you'll usually need to achieve to get an offer from Cambridge.

In some cases, you'll get a higher or more challenging offer. Colleges set higher offer requirements for a range of reasons. If you'd like to find out more about why we do this, check the information about offers above the minimum requirement on the entry requirements page.

Some Colleges usually make offers above the minimum offer level. Find out more on our qualifications page .

All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges. Please contact the relevant College admissions office if you have any queries.

Admissions test

You will need to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test .

You will need to register in advance for this test.

Visit our UCAT page for more information .

Submitted work 

You won’t need to submit any written work before your interview. You may be asked to do some reading instead, but we will let you know if this is the case.   

Extra requirements if you get offered a place 

If you get offered a place on this course we’ll need to check a few extra things with you. We’ll explain what you need to do when we send the offer letter out to you.  

Everything you tell us will be confidential. Some of the usual extra checks include: 

• a criminal record check. In the UK this is called a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. International students will need an equivalent overseas check. Find out more about criminal record checks  
• vaccinations – you’ll need to be immunised against certain infectious diseases 
• blood test – to make sure you can safely take part in certain surgical procedures 
• occupational health assessment  
• if you have a disability, specific learning disabilities, SpLD or a long-term health condition we’ll discuss your needs with you

Declaring minor misdemeanours 

Minor misdemeanours will not necessarily prevent you from entering the medical profession. 

You should declare these in your UCAS application . We will send you the relevant forms to complete if you are offered a place. 

Selection requirements

You must be a keen scientist with a sound scientific understanding.

As selection for medical school implies selection for the medical profession, admissions decisions are informed by national guidance on what makes a good doctor. For example:

• the Medical Schools Council's Consensus Statement on the Role of the Doctor
• Guiding Principles for the Admission of Medical Students .

Professional expectations

The GMC has expectations regarding the attitudes, behaviour and performance of medical students.

Trainee doctors at Cambridge must satisfy the GMC's fitness to practise requirements, both when applying and throughout the course.

These requirements are in place to ensure the safety of patients.

If you have another undergraduate degree

If you want to study this course as your second degree you need to:

• have passes at A level (or equivalent), as listed on this page
• have at least a 2:1 at Bachelors level in any subject
• apply to study this course at Lucy Cavendish , St Edmund’s or Wolfson  Colleges

You can complete the course in 5 years, moving from the end of Year 2 to clinical studies.

Check the Second Undergraduate Degrees page for more information .

You may also be interested in the accelerated Graduate Course in Medicine (A101) .

Discover your department or faculty

• Visit the School of Clinical Medicine website - the School of Clinical Medicine website has more information about this course, facilities, people and research.

Explore our Colleges

• Find out how Colleges work - A College is where you’ll live, eat and socialise. It’s also where you’ll have teaching in a small group, known as supervisions.
• How to choose a Cambridge College thats right for you - If you think you know which course you’d like to study, it’s time to choose a College.

Visit us on an open day

• Book an open day - Get a feel for the city and the University.
• Find an event - We offer a range of events where you can find out more about Cambridge, Colleges, and your course. Many of our events have hybrid options so you can join us virtually.

Find out how to apply

• Find out how to apply and how our admissions processes work - Our admissions process is slightly different to other universities. We’ve put together a handy guide to tell you everything you need to know about applying to study at Cambridge.
• Improve your application - Supercurricular activities are a great way to engage with your chosen subject outside of school or college.

Discover Uni data

Contextual information.

Discover Uni allows you to compare information about individual courses at different higher education institutions.  This can be a useful method of considering your options and what course may suit you best.

However, please note that superficially similar courses often have very different structures and objectives, and that the teaching, support and learning environment that best suits you can only be determined by identifying your own interests, needs, expectations and goals, and comparing them with detailed institution- and course-specific information.

We recommend that you look thoroughly at the course and University information contained on these webpages and consider coming to visit us on an Open Day , rather than relying solely on statistical comparison.

You may find the following notes helpful when considering information presented by Discover Uni.

• Discover Uni relies on superficially similar courses being coded in the same way. Whilst this works on one level, it may lead to some anomalies. For example, Music courses and Music Technology courses can have exactly the same code despite being very different programmes with quite distinct educational and career outcomes. Any course which combines several disciplines (as many courses at Cambridge do) tends to be compared nationally with courses in just one of those disciplines, and in such cases the Discover Uni comparison may not be an accurate or fair reflection of the reality of either. For example, you may find that when considering a degree which embraces a range of disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry and geology (for instance, Natural Sciences at Cambridge), the comparison provided is with courses at other institutions that primarily focus on just one (or a smaller combination) of those subjects.You may therefore find that not all elements of the Cambridge degree are represented in the Discover Uni data.
• Some contextual data linked from other surveys, such as the National Student Survey (NSS) or the Destination of Leavers in Higher Education (DLHE), may not be available or may be aggregated across several courses or several years due to small sample sizes.  When using the data to inform your course choice, it is important to ensure you understand how it has been processed prior to its presentation. Discover Uni offers some explanatory information about how the contextual data is collated, and how it may be used, which you can view here: https://discoveruni.gov.uk/about-our-data/ .
• Discover Uni draws on national data to provide average salaries and employment/continuation data.  Whilst starting salaries can be a useful measure, they do not give any sense of career trajectory or take account of the voluntary/low paid work that many graduates undertake initially in order to gain valuable experience necessary/advantageous for later career progression. Discover Uni is currently piloting use of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data to demonstrate possible career progression; it is important to note that this is experimental and its use may be modified as it embeds.

The above list is not exhaustive and there may be other important factors that are relevant to the choices that you are making, but we hope that this will be a useful starting point to help you delve deeper than the face value of the Discover Uni data.

Key information

All Colleges, except Hughes Hall

Additional notes

• If applying as an  affiliated student , you must apply to one of Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund's or Wolfson Colleges.
• If you apply for both the standard Medicine course (A100) and the Graduate Course in Medicine (A101) , you must apply to the same College for both courses (ie Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund's or Wolfson).
• Only 22 places are available each year for overseas fee-status applicants.

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Wegrzyn awarded SMART Scholarship

PhD student Emily Wegrzyn has been selected for the prestigious Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program, which is funded by the Department of Defense. The primary aim of this program is to increase the number of civilian engineers and scientists in the U.S. 

Wegrzyn holds a BA in history and MA in intelligence studies from American Military University and MLS from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Her interest in librarianship started when she returned to college after serving in Iraq with the Army National Guard. While studying to become an X-ray technologist, Wegrzyn worked full time as a library assistant at the College of Coastal Georgia.

Wegrzyn's supervisory librarian, Duressa Pujat, told her that what she really wanted was to be a librarian and that she was a "natural." These words rang true to Wegrzyn, who finished her bachelor's degree and pursued library school.

Before completing her master's degree in library science, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hired her on a conditional basis for a position in the DC/Virginia area. When there was a vacancy at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Wegrzyn relocated to Champaign to be part of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), the research and development arm of the Corps. 

"As fate would have it, I transferred into a location that is also home to the nation's number one graduate program in library and information studies. Fortuitous!"

With the SMART Scholarship, Wegrzyn can keep her position as an ERDC librarian while she upgrades/upskills to her goal of earning her PhD and pursuing her own research—focused on applying information literacy approaches to disrupt adversarial information operations. In the future, Wegrzyn would like to explore ways that gamification can strengthen one's information literacy, and the potential for artificial intelligence to help verify information, boosting individual cognitive security.

The scholarship supplements her salary, allowing her to work less than full time, while pursuing her PhD full time. 

"This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and I had to go for it," said Wegrzyn of the scholarship. "Thankfully, I was selected. In all honesty, I was fully prepared to go for round two, maybe even round three if needed. As a retention scholar in the SMART program, I can stay right where I am at ERDC and the Corps of Engineers, but after finishing my PhD, I will have more research, leadership, and vertical movement opportunities."

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Jayadev Athreya held Jean Morlet Chair at CIRM

Created in 2013, the Jean Morlet Chair is a scientific program that welcomes internationally-acclaimed researchers for a six-month residence in the south of France, to conduct collaborative work in residence with a local project leader based at Aix-Marseille University and a thriving community of mathematicians. This international program aims to enhance synergies between academic departments and promotes links between established academics and early career researchers, postdoctoral students and PhD students. Jayadev Athreya served as Chair Jean Morlet in Autumn 2023, working with Nicolas Bédaride  at Université Aix-Marseille to conduct research on billiards in polygons and polyhedra, and also with artist Alison Martin to create mathematically inspired artworks.

Link to the semester program:  https://www. chairejeanmorlet.com/2023- athreya-bedaride-2nd-semester. html

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Pharmacy lab assistant accepted to M.D./Ph.D. program

Since the time she conducted her first research experiment as a student at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics, Darby Porter was hooked on research.

While completing her undergraduate studies in chemistry and neuroscience at the University of South Carolina Honors College, Porter joined the lab of Jun Zhu , Ph.D., in the College of Pharmacy. After graduating in 2023, Porter continued as Zhu’s lab assistant and has now been accepted into the Medical Science Training Program to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Porter joined Zhu’s lab after searching through the university’s research registry.

“I typed in drug discovery and drug design, and while I didn’t understand what much of it meant, I thought Dr. Zhu’s research was a good option because I knew what the main keywords were – dopamine and HIV,” she says.

Turns out, it was the perfect fit for Porter’s ambition to conduct research and do benchwork.

“I love conducting experiments and analyzing results,” she notes. “I love connecting the results from one experiment or set of experiments to a broader issue that is affecting people’s health. Being able to tie in what is happening at the molecular level with patients who are experiencing a disorder is a nice blend that I want to incorporate into my career.”

I love connecting the results from one experiment or set of experiments to a broader issue that is affecting people’s health.

Porter developed an interest in serving patients alongside her research while working at CAN Community Health, an HIV- clinic providing care to underserved health populations in the Columbia area.

Zhu noted Porter’s dedication to successfully conducting experiments as well as drafting manuscripts and grant applications.

“What distinguishes Darby from other students is her deep interest and passion about her work and the potential implications it may have on human health,” Zhu adds. “She is an example to students who want to develop their career in the field of biomedical science. For faculty, it is our responsibility to not only provide research training opportunities but also guide students for future career development.”

Porter will begin the arduous eight-year process of earning her M.D./Ph.D. in June, where she will begin her studies in translational research before starting her medical school studies in the fall.

“I think I want to eventually do clinical research,” she says, “The advantage of having an M.D. and a Ph.D. is that you can identify a therapeutic target on the bench and then develop some level of treatment while working with patients. I like the idea of working on one project and seeing it to completion.”

Topics: Research , Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences

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Applications are made and tracked via the Applicant Portal and offers are managed through the Self-Service account.

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Postgraduate applications to the University of Cambridge are made through the Applicant Portal.

You can create, submit and pay for your application through the portal, and indicate whether or not you wish to be considered for funding. You can also request references, manage your reference requests, and upload any other required supporting documentation. 

You can save your application at any stage and return later to compete it.

After you have submitted your application, complete with all the necessary supporting documents, the Applicant Portal will be where you go to track the progress of your application, and find out if you are made an offer.

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If you receive a conditional offer of admission, you'll be assigned a Self-Service account. Login instructions will be emailed to you an hour after you receive your official conditional offer email.

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It's important that you check your Self-Service account regularly as this is the primary way in which we will communicate with you.

Your Self-Service account allows you to:​

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Researching extreme environments

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A quick scan of Emma Bullock’s CV reads like those of many other MIT graduate students: She has served as a teaching assistant, written several papers, garnered grants from prestigious organizations, and acquired extensive lab and programming skills. But one skill sets her apart: “fieldwork experience and survival training for Arctic research.”

That’s because Bullock, a doctoral student in chemical oceanography at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), spends significant time collecting samples in the Arctic Circle for her research. Working in such an extreme environment requires comprehensive training in everything from Arctic gear usage and driving on unpaved roads to handling wildlife encounters — like the curious polar bear that got into her team’s research equipment.

To date, she has ventured to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, five times, where she typically spends long days — from 5:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. — collecting and processing samples from Simpson Lagoon. Her work focuses on Arctic environmental changes, particularly the effects of permafrost thaw on mercury levels in groundwater.

“Even though I am doing foundational science, I can link it directly to communities in that region that are going to be impacted by the changes that we are seeing,” she says. “As the mercury escapes from the permafrost, it has the potential to impact not just Arctic communities but also anyone who eats fish in the entire world.”

Weathering a storm of setbacks

Growing up in rural Vermont, Bullock spent a lot of time outside, and she attributes her strong interest in environmental studies to her love of nature as a child. Despite her conviction about a career path involving the environment, her path to the Institute has not been easy. In fact, Bullock weathered several challenges and setbacks on the road to MIT.

As an undergraduate at Haverford College, Bullock quickly recognized that she did not have the same advantages as other students. She realized that her biggest challenge in pursuing an academic career was her socioeconomic background. She says, “In Vermont, the cost of living is a bit lower than a lot of other areas. So, I didn’t quite realize until I got to undergrad that I was not as middle-class as I thought.” Bullock had learned financial prudence from her parents, which informed many of the decisions she made as a student. She says, “I didn’t have a phone in undergrad because it was a choice between getting a good laptop that I could do research on or a phone. And so I went with the laptop.”

Bullock majored in chemistry because Haverford did not offer an environmental science major. To gain experience in environmental research, she joined the lab of Helen White, focusing on the use of silicone bands as passive samplers of volatile organic compounds in honeybee hives. A pivotal moment occurred when Bullock identified errors in a collaborative project. She says, “[Dr. White and I] brought the information about flawed statistical tests to the collaborators, who were all men. They were not happy with that. They made comments that they did not like being told how to do chemistry by women.”

White sat Bullock down and explained the pervasiveness of sexism in this field. “She said, ‘You have to remember that it is not you. You are a good scientist. You are capable,’” Bullock recalls. That experience strengthened her resolve to become an environmental scientist. “The way that Dr. Helen White approached dealing with this problem made me want to stick in the STEM field, and in the environmental and geochemistry fields specifically. It made me realize that we need more women in these fields,” she says.

As she reached the end of college, Bullock knew that she wanted to continue her educational journey in environmental science. “Environmental science impacts the world around us in such visible ways, especially now with climate change,” she says. She submitted applications to many graduate programs, including to MIT, which was White’s alma mater, but was rejected by all of them.

Undeterred, Bullock decided to get more research experience. She took a position as a lab technician at the Max Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, where she studied methane emissions from seagrass beds — her first foray into chemical oceanography. A year later, she applied to graduate schools again and was accepted by nearly all of the programs, including MIT. She hopes her experience can serve as a lesson for future applicants. “Just because you get rejected the first time does not mean that you’re not a good candidate. It just means that you may not have the right experience or that you didn’t understand the application process correctly,” she says.

Understanding the ocean through the lens of chemistry

Ultimately, Bullock chose MIT because she was most interested in the specific scientific projects within the program and liked the sense of community. “It is a very unique program because we have the opportunity to take classes at MIT and access to the resources that MIT has, but we also perform research at Woods Hole,” she says. Some people warned her about the cutthroat nature of the Institute, but Bullock has found the exact opposite to be a true. “A lot of people think of MIT, and they think it is one of those top tier schools, so it must be competitive. My experience in this program is that it is very collaborative because our research is so individual and unique that you really can’t be competitive. What you are doing is so different from any other student,” she says.

Bullock joined the group of Matthew Charette, senior scientist and director of the WHOI Sea Grant Program , which investigates the ocean through a chemical lens by characterizing the Arctic groundwater sampled during field campaigns in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Bullock analyzes mercury and biotoxic methylmercury levels impacted by permafrost thaw, which is already affecting the health of Arctic communities. For comparison, Bullock points to mercury-based dental fillings, which have been the subject of scientific scrutiny for health impacts. She says, “You get more mercury by eating sushi and tuna and salmon than you would by having a mercury-based dental filling.”

Promoting environmental advocacy

Bullock has been recognized as an Arctic PASSION Ambassador for her work in the historically underresearched Arctic region. As part of this program, she was invited to participate in a “sharing circle,” which connected early-career scientists with Indigenous community members, and then empowered them to pass what they learned about the importance of Arctic research onto their communities. This experience has been the highlight of her PhD journey so far. She says, “It was small enough, and the people there were invested enough in the issues that we got to have very interesting, dynamic conversations, which doesn’t always happen at typical conferences.”

Bullock has also spearheaded her own form of environmental activism via a project called en-justice , which she launched in September 2023. Through a website and a traveling art exhibit, the project showcases portraits and interviews of lesser-known environmental advocates that “have arguably done more for the environment but are not as famous” as household names like Greta Thunberg and Leonardo DiCaprio.

“They are doing things like going to town halls, arguing with politicians, getting petitions signed … the very nitty-gritty type work. I wanted to create a platform that highlighted some of these people from around the country but also inspired people in their own communities to try and make a change,” she says. Bullock has also written an op-ed for the WHOI magazine, Oceanus , and has served as a staff writer for the MIT-WHOI Joint Program newsletter, “ Through the Porthole .”

After she graduates this year, Bullock plans to continue her focus on the Arctic. She says, “I find Arctic research very interesting, and there are so many unanswered research questions.” She also aspires to foster further interactions like the sharing circle.

“Trying to find a way where I can help facilitate Arctic communities and researchers in terms of finding each other and finding common interests would be a dream role. But I don’t know if that job exists,” Bullock says. Given her track record of overcoming obstacles, odds are, she will turn these aspirations into reality.

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