Anatomical Sciences (Biomedical Sciences) PhD

Anatomical sciences research encompasses a broad range of subjects and interests, with a common focus on understanding the underlying structure of the body in health or during disease (mainly human, but sometimes also comparative).

Our research interests and strengths at the University of Edinburgh span from high-resolution investigations of the human nervous system, through to tissue engineering (building new body parts), and anatomical education research.

Many of these areas engage multidisciplinary approaches, where anatomists work alongside clinicians, data scientists, engineers, chemists and educational theorists.

Training and support

You will be locally supported by a well-established team of academic anatomists and technical support staff who have many years’ experience of mentoring PhD students working across a variety of research projects. Your research will be carried out under the supervision of an academic staff member (your ‘primary’ supervisor). In addition, you will be assigned a personal PhD thesis committee comprising your primary supervisor, one or more assistant supervisors and another academic staff member, who provide advice and mentoring, and monitor progress.

You will have the opportunity to attend training courses/events relevant to your specific research topic as well as benefiting from broader professional skills training (e.g. in data analysis, project planning, presentation, thesis writing), with the particular courses being decided in consultation with your supervisory team. There are monthly anatomy research meetings that you will be able to present at and attend (in addition to the opportunities provided by your host laboratory). There are also a variety of seminar series hosted by research centres both within the Deanery of Biomedical Sciences (which hosts the Anatomy group) and across the University that provide an ideal opportunity for postgraduates to learn about research developments across the broad span of life sciences. There are also opportunities for training and engagement in anatomy teaching and outreach.