ntu phd

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PhD and Professional Doctorates

Make a difference with postgraduate research. Find out about our PhDs and Professional Doctorates and learn how to navigate your research journey.

At NTU, we provide a stimulating and supportive environment for you to thrive as a researcher. You can search our PhD projects, submit your own proposal, or undertake a Professional Doctorate in your field.

Come and be a part of our world-leading research.

Find your PhD

Search our current PhD projects by Academic School, and find out how to submit your own research proposal. With a host of funded and self-funded opportunities — plus full-time, part-time, and at-distance delivery options — we accommodate innovative new researchers, busy and established professionals, and international students looking to complete a PhD in the UK.

Professional Doctorates

View our Professional Doctorates - research-based qualifications designed for working professionals.

Your postgraduate research journey

We’re here to help you navigate your research journey. Find out what a research degree is, how to find a supervisor, and how to construct a research proposal.

Your journey into research

At the start of your research journey? Explore what research is, how to become a researcher and how choose a research question.

How to write a research proposal

Your research proposal is the most important part of your doctoral application. Get our advice on how to write yours.

Find a PhD supervisor

Your supervisor will be a subject expert and able to provide support throughout your PhD. Look through our staff directory and find your new mentor.

How to apply for a postgraduate research course

Ready to begin? Follow our step-by-step application guide for PhD research.

Funding your PhD research

Wondering how you'll fund your PhD or Professional Doctorate? Find out about your finance options, including loans, studentships and the alumni discount for eligible NTU graduates.

Fees and funding

Find out how much a PhD or Professional Doctorate will cost and the funding options available, including studentships, stipends, loans and doctoral awards.

Midlands4Cities

The AHRC-funded M4C scheme supports arts and humanities PhD students throughout their studies with funding, placements, training and more.

Fully funded PhD studentships

We offer fully funded PhD opportunities across all our Academic Schools. Applications usually open in October.

Postgraduate study at NTU

NTU is one of the UK’s most ambitious universities, and we’re proud of our globally-renowned research and industry links. We offer a supportive learning environment and unrivalled student experience. Discover why you should study your research course with us.

NTU Doctoral School

The NTU Doctoral School provides a multi-disciplinary home for all our researchers, here to support you throughout your entire doctoral degree. Explore our research community.

Why do a postgraduate degree?

Why should you study at postgraduate level? What are the benefits, and what are the key things to consider?

Why choose NTU for postgraduate study?

Find out what studying for a postgraduate degree at NTU can do for you and your career.

Research Reimagined

To us, research is about more than writing papers and proposing new ideas. By daring to think differently, we’re disrupting the research landscape and finding the answers to the questions that really matter.

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Doctor of Philosophy | Biological Sciences

Provided by

School of Biological Sciences (SBS)

Programme Type

Full-time, Part-time

Our graduate students enrolled in graduate programmes by research may be admitted on a full-time or part-time basis. They will receive supervision and guidance by faculty members to conduct research projects aligned to the overall objectives of their chosen laboratories. We also provide advanced learning and hands-on training through foundation courses and practical modules.

In addition to the research work, Ph.D. students are required to complete 4 course modules (12 AUs), Research Communication for Graduate Studies, Teaching Assistantship Programme and Transferable Skills Modules within stipulated period of the Ph.D. candidature. Graduate English Course may apply to some students. The final requirements include the submission of a Ph.D. dissertation and an oral examination.

Biological Data Science
Cancer and Cell Biology
Genes, Genetics & Genomics
Microbiology & Immunology
Neuroscience
Plant Biology
Proteomics and Protein Chemistry
Structural Biology & Drug Discovery
Traditional Chinese Medicine

For higher degrees by research, candidates may be admitted as full-time or part-time students. The minimum and maximum periods of candidature for both full-time and part-time are as follows: find out more.

Courses Offered in Semester 1 


(3 AU) Coordinator: Konstantin Pervushin	Tools For Structural And Computational Biology	This course consists of lectures, data analysis and group discussion/ presentation sessions. During lecture hours, basic concepts in informational biology are introduced and skills necessary to solve practical problems in mechanistic description of biological processes are developed. Topics covered include computational tools in bioinformatics, biological databases, structural prediction of proteins, biophysical principle of biomolecular assembly, and enzymatic mechanisms. Students will also learn how to enhance their own research through the use of publicly available bio-information databases and freely accessible software. Selected questions/ topics (e.g. origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, problems of chromatin functioning, carbon fixation challenge etc.) will be discussed in in-class sessions. As part of continued assessment students are required to submit in class activities reports which are the basis for the course grading. Literature search and analysis of research publications are required before making individual reports. No final examination is provisioned. The course ends with a round table session revising and integrating all skills and knowledge acquired as well as students’ reflections on how the taught material can be effectively used in their own research.
3AU) Coordinator: Koh Cheng Gee	Graduate Seminar Course	A series of seminars will be arranged to provide the graduate students a broad view on cutting edge research in different areas in biological sciences. Speakers invited include faculty members and scientists from local and overseas universities, research institutes and related industries. The students will present what they have learnt in the seminars and lead the discussion during the weekly sessions. Three written reports are also required.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Julien Lescar	Practical Course in Protein Crystallography	The aim of this course is to introduce modern macromolecular crystallography. Lectures in the morning are followed by practical classes at the bench. of interest to those who want to use structural biology methods. The course provides opportunity for direct participation in small groups of protein crystallography experiments.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Christiane Ruedl	Practical Course in Immunology	This course is designed students who already have a basic knowledge in Immunology. During this practical course we will analyse the immunological response generated in situ in the respiratory tract and correspondent draining lymph nodes during an influenza infection. You will learn how to analyse the phenotype of immune cells by flow cytometry, how to investigate anti-viral immune responses by quantitative PCR as well as ELISA analysis. The aim of this course is to compare cells, serum, bronchial lavages and tissues obtained from an uninfected control and from an H1N1 influenza (strain A/PR8/1934) infected mouse and visualize viral specific immune responses which take place during the progression of the infection. Obtained data will be discussed together during the lab session. A final report will be graded together with the participation and engagement demonstrated during the practical course.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Hong Yan & Nealda Yusof	Regulatory Control of Healthcare Products and Medical Devices	This 13-week programme provides a complete and concise treatment of the key considerations in the development and regulation of healthcare products. The main area of concentration is in medical devices and is divided into four parts. The course begins with a historical introduction into the healthcare products industry and the start of regulatory controls. It then moves into the core principles of healthcare products regulations and expands into the methodologies of ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. This includes going through the fundamentals of Good Manufacturing Practices, quality management systems, product risk classification, risk management and the different regulatory systems in the world. At the end of this course, students should have a clear understanding of healthcare products regulations and able to apply these requirements in product development. They will also be required to perform casework to test their ability to apply these concepts in real scenarios.
3AU) Coordinator: Koh Cheng Gee & Prakash Arumugam	Drug discovery : An odyssey from the laboratory to the market	Drug discovery is a long journey filled with a series of obstacles and challenges. In this module, experts will lecture on different stages of the drug discovery process drawing inspiration from their own research and from the literature. Topics covered include Drug screening strategies, Biomarker discovery, Computational drug design, small and large molecule drugs, peptide-based drugs, Immunotherapeutics, Pharmacodynamics, Drug formulation and Pre-clinical and Clinical Research.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Mu Yuguang	Computational Biology and modeling	Basic ideas for understanding biological phenomena using principles from underlying physical and chemical foundations used in computer modelling approaches are introduced. Emphasis will be on how these computational tools are applied to biological areas such as drug-target interaction. These methods are illustrated with modern computer based laboratory practicals with graphical display of biological molecules. A variety of computational methods and modeling strategies are introduced, such as classical force field based on quantum theory. Basic sampling techniques, such as Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations will be described.

Courses Offered in Semester 2


3 AU) Coordinator: Lu Lei	Foundational Course in Molecular & Cell Biology	This course covers topics on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of membrane trafficking, cell cycle, signaling, cytoskeleton, protein synthesis/degradation, drug discovery and bacteriology
(3 AU) Coordinator: Konstantin Pervushin	Practical Course in Multidimensional NMR spectroscopy	This course is designed particularly for PhD students, who already have a basic knowledge in structural biology. The course will contain the foundational basis of NMR theory, but will be primarily focused on the development and enhancing of practical skills in the use of the advanced NMR techniques in applications to such research areas as protein structure and dynamics determination, high through put ligand screening as well as rapid analysis of protein states. The course will feature about 15 contact hours in the laboratory, including the NMR-room, enabling direct participation in small groups in practical executions of NMR experiments. About 15 hours will be spent in the lecture-/computer room to teach and perform the analysis of the acquired NMR spectra.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Sandip Basak	Practical Course in Electron Microscopy and image processing of macromolecular complexes	This course is designed particularly for PhD students, who already have a basic knowledge in structural biology. The course will contain the foundational basis of electron microscopy (EM) and single particle analysis (SPA). It will be focused on the development and enhancing of practical skills in the use of the advanced image processing techniques in three dimensional structure determinations of macromolecular protein complexes. The course will feature about 42 contact hours, including the EM lab, enabling direct participation in small groups with practical hands-on experiments in image acquisition and data processing using image processing packages such as EMAN and Relion CryoSPARC.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Gao Yonggui	Skin Biology: Theory and Practice	Skin Biology is experiencing an upsurge in importance within Singapore’s Biomedical landscape. This course is aimed at developing both practical skills and theoretical concepts needed by a student aspiring to a career in Skin Biology. The course will be conducted by specialists in skin biology within the A*STAR staff at Skin Research Institute of Singapore and will give an advanced grounding in the most up-to-date aspects of current skin biology practice, especially genetics, and reinforce this with an extensive and intensive practical component. Teaching will be over a 5 day period. The theoretical component will consist of targeted lectures in skin structure, function, genetics, development and pathology. The practical component will consist of intensive lab classes and will encompass skin microscopy, cell culture, PCR, cell storage, and immunocytochemistry.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Hong Yan	Bioentrepreneurship	Learning bio-business basics such as IP, regulation, marketing, strategy and financing. Working as a team to formulate a business plan before presentation to a panel of potential investors.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Su I-Hsin	Fundamentals of Immunology - Concepts and Experiments	This course consists of lectures, data analysis and group discussion /presentation sessions. During lecture hours, basic concepts in immunology as well as molecular and cellular components of immune responses will be introduced (see details of course). Students will also learn how to analyze immunological data using appropriate software. Selected immunological questions/ topics will be discussed in group discussion/presentation sessions. Extensive literature search and analysis of research publications are required before making group presentation. At the end of semester, each student should be able to compose a short research proposal related to one of the discussed topics.
(3 AU) Coordinator: Li Hoi Yeung	Practical Course in Advanced Microscopy	This course aims to teach graduate students different advance imaging techniques that are commonly used in biological sciences research.

Graduate English (HWG703) & University Teaching for Teaching Assistants (HWG702)

It is compulsory for all full time PhD students to take up HWG703 Graduate English (unless exempted) in the first semester followed by taking up HWG702 University Teaching for Teaching Assistants upon completion of at least 2 semesters of study.
Students who pass HWG703 are then required to take and pass HWG702. Students will need to repeat the courses until they pass.
PhD students need to satisfy the requirement for HWG702 by their Qualifying Examination/Confirmation before they can be granted the $500 RSS stipend increment. Those who have yet to pass HWG702 at the point of their confirmation may proceed with confirmation of candidature without the $500 stipend increment until they pass HWG702. There will be no backdating of stipend increment when they subsequently pass HWG702. The increment will effect from the next semester on which the student passes the module.
These courses will be displayed on the transcript.

Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC)

1. Every new PhD student will need to form a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) within 8 months after enrolment into the graduate programme. The TAC committee should comprise at least three members: the supervisor or co-supervisor (if any) and two other faculty members.

The student’s main supervisor as Chair of the committee and 2 committee members, one of whom should preferably be a faculty member from outside the School.

The TAC members must have a PhD or equivalent doctoral research degree. NTU faculty who are Full Professor, Associate Professor or Assistant Professor qualify for appointment as a TAC member.

Senior Lecturers and Lecturers who had not been approved to be Main Supervisors of PhD students can also be appointed as TAC members.

2. The objective of the committee is to provide guidance to the graduate student throughout the student’s course of study.

3. The committee should meet the student in the 8th month, 30th month and 42nd month from the date of admission to determine the progress of the student and to provide guidance and advice.

4. The committee shall decide if the student has done sufficient research and has enough data for writing the final dissertation. Should there be disputes on academic matters between the student and the supervisor such as time to write the final dissertation and etc, the committee should review the progress made by the student thus far and recommend the best action.

5. The committee may also recommend the termination of PhD candidature if the progress made by the student is deemed minimal or unsatisfactory.

See the recommended timeline for TAC meetings below:

Ph.D. Candidature Confirmation (QE)

The PhD Qualifying Examination (QE) is an important and integral part of the overall assessment of every PhD candidate.
Every PhD student has to pass the QE which is arranged and conducted by the respective Schools typically at around 18th month, but not exceeding 24th month from the commencement of the student’s PhD candidature. The timing of the Qualifying Examination may be initiated by the supervisor or by the School. Note: The student needs to achieve a cGPA of 3.5 and above before he/she can proceed to sit for the QE.
Under the guidance of the student’s supervisor, he/she should submit a succinct QE report to members of the QE panel at least one month before the date of the QE presentation. The QE panel can direct the student to amend the report to the satisfaction of the supervisor/co-supervisor.
Members of the QE panel for PhD students should be holding a PhD qualification or its equivalent doctoral research degrees. Nominations of QE Panel are to be approved by the School Associate Chair (Graduate Studies).
The Qualifying Examination panel should consist of at least 3 independent members who are appointed by the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies). The Chairman, whose role is that of the representative of the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies), should be a senior faculty staff who is an Associate Professor or above. The other internal members of the QE panel can be tenured or tenure-track faculty staff. NTU’s lecturers and senior lecturers cannot serve as members of the QE panel.
The other two independent members of QE panel may be members of the Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) provided there is no conflict of interest and that these TAC members do not have joint publications with the PhD candidate. The supervisor and co-supervisor cannot be members of the QE panel. In the case of IPP funded students, the Industry TAC member may participate in the QE without being a voting member.
The role of the QE panel is to establish that the student has a realistic programme of study and research (with intermediate objectives) on a topic that offers sufficient scope for research training and which is likely to prove an intellectually rewarding investigation that can be expected to produce sufficient results for submission of an acceptable thesis in the time designated for the degree.
It is not a requirement for the PhD student to publish any journal paper prior to the Qualifying Examination.

See the QE flow chart below: