What can you study with us?

The Medical School has four overarching research themes to cover our research activity, each led by a senior academic and designed to foster integrated research activity whilst nurturing young talent. Applicants who wish to apply for a Medical and Health Care Studies research degree are encouraged to relate their application to one of these four themes.

As a Postgraduate Research (PGR) student, you will have access to a comprehensive skills’ development programme, which will expose you to innovation, bioentrepreneurship and digital technologies as well as traditional core skills as you pursue the research qualification of your choice. 

How to Find a Supervisor

Dr James Cronin, Director of Postgraduate Research in the Medical School, shares his advice on how to find and approach a supervisor.

A PhD in Medical and Health Care Studies will enable you to undertake a substantial project led by your own interests. Having a PhD demonstrates that you can work effectively in a team, formulate, explore and communicate complex ideas and manage advanced tasks. It is a highly respected qualification, which can present a career in academia (e.g. postdoctoral research, lecturing), education, government, management, the public or private sector.

  • Open to candidates with a 2:1 or significant relevant experience
  • Study full-time over 3 years or part-time over 7 years
  • 100,000 word thesis plus oral viva
  • Start in October, January, April or July
  • Applications welcome from those with a clinical research interest
  • Postgraduate Loansscholarships and bursaries available

An MPhil in Medical and Health Care Studies will enable you to undertake a substantial project led by your own interests. Having an MPhil (Master of Philosophy) degree shows that you can communicate your ideas and manage tasks. Jobs in academia, education, government, management, the public or private sector are possible.

  • Open to candidates with a 2:1 or significant relevant experience
  • Study full-time over 2 years or part-time over 4 years
  • 60,000 word thesis plus oral viva
  • Start in October, January, April or July
  • Applications welcome from those with a clinical research interest
  • Postgraduate Loansscholarships and bursaries available

An MSc by Research in Medical and Health Care Studies at Swansea will enable you to undertake a research project led by your own interests.  Having a Master’s by research degree shows that you can communicate your ideas and manage tasks. Jobs in academia, education, government, management, the public or private sector are possible.

  • Open to candidates with a 2:1 or significant relevant experience
  • Study full-time over 1 year or part-time over 2 years
  • 40,000 word thesis plus oral viva
  • Start in October, January, April or July
  • Applications welcome from those with a clinical research interest
  • Postgraduate Loansscholarships and bursaries available

The MD in Medical and Health Care Studies is suitable for well-qualified candidates whose research interests correspond with the Medical School's four research themes and who want to work on complex medical problems that have both biological and social impacts.  You will benefit from practice-focused learning, seminars and workshops, access to Wales’ premier purpose-build medical research facility and collaboration with industry and business partners as well as colleagues from across the NHS.  

  • Open to candidates with a Bachelor of Medicine or Surgery and a postgraduate Master's degree
  • Study full-time over 2 years or part-time over 4 years
  • Start in October, January, April or July
  • Applications welcome from those with a clinical research interest
  • Postgraduate Loansscholarships and bursaries available

The DProf and MRes in Research in Health Professions Education give you expert training in education research methods.  The programmes are suitable for anyone who wants to undertake rigorous, practice-focused research, from doctors, nurses, academic educators, social care professionals or psychologists.  You will undertake training a broad range of research methods to enable you to undertake research-on-practise, meaning research can be conducted in your work place on topics that are directly relevant to your role.  You will then complete either a short research project (MRes) or conduct detailed doctorate-level research (DProf).

  • Open to candidates with a 2:1 or significant relevant experience
  • Study DProf full-time over 4 years or part-time over 6 years
  • Study MRes full-time over 1 year or part-time over 2 years
  • Start in October, January, April or July
  • Applications welcome from those with a clinical research interest
  • Postgraduate Loansscholarships and bursaries available

The MRes in Applied Analytical Sciences (LCMS) is a unique combination of industry participation and course content that will provide you with a vocationally-relevant qualification and help make you highly employable both in the UK and abroad.  The course is designed for the needs of industry and will cover topics such as fundamentals of mass spectrometry and separation science, valid analytical measurement, statistics, data analysis and method development.

  • Open to candidates with a 2:1 or significant relevant experience
  • Study full-time over 1 year, part-time over 2 years
  • A highly practical course and extensive in-house equipment
  • Assessments encourage transferrable skills through case studies, data processing and informatics plus traditional assignments
  • Postgraduate Loansscholarships and bursaries available

The MRes in Health Informatics is designed for those with experience in health informatics and who want to make a contribution to the field by helping develop the knowledge base. This developing discipline is becoming an increasingly important component of health provision in the 21st Century.  The two year part-time programme focuses on primary research with research skills developed through three short modules as you develop your own health informatics research project in the first nine months of the course before spending the second year completing a research based thesis. 

  • Open to candidates with a 2:2 or relevant experience
  • Study part-time over 2 years
  • Combination of teaching and supervised research
  • Research project may be undertaken within your own place of work
  • Wide range of research opportunities through partnerships with NHS bodies in Wales
  • Postgraduate Loansscholarships and bursaries available

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