Our academics may work alongside a Crick PI to supervise a student through the PhD programme (two routes: joint HEI-Crick funded and core-Crick funded), the Doctoral Clinical Fellows programme and the AI and Machine Learning Clinical Fellows programme. 

The content on this page is for academics interested in hosting a student or a fellow, submitting a project proposal and/or undertaking supervision duties. For individuals wishing to apply for a PhD studentship or fellowship, please see the regular PhD programme and For Clinicians sections of this site.

PhD Programme: jointly HEI-Crick funded

As part of this scheme, the HEI and Crick academics work together to produce a joint project proposal and once recruited to, act as coprimary supervisors with equal scientific input. The host department covers the tuition fees and 50% of costs (stipend and consumables).  These students normally split their time between their Imperial and Crick supervisor’s labs 50:50, though this may vary according to how the science and project develop.

When: The call for joint HEI-Crick funded PhD project proposals usually opens to academics in May and closes in mid-June.

Apply: If your department opts-in to this scheme, you will be notified that the call for joint project proposals is open via departmental comms.

 

Full details on the Crick PhD Programme are available on the Crick website.

PhD Programme: core-Crick funded

 

These students are based full time at the Crick, but encouraged to be part of the Imperial College London community. This scheme is for Imperial faculty who would like to become the university secondary supervisors of Crick-based students registering at Imperial. This role is slightly different to the Imperial second supervisor role. University secondary supervisors join the student’s Thesis Committee and meet with the student at 6 key progression points during the PhD, to provide scientific advice and guidance as the PhD project develops, and to monitor progress. They also meet with the student and Crick primary supervisor at least once a year to discuss the project, and provide links to and knowledge of university resources.

The host department covers the tuition fees but does not contribute towards the project costs (stipend and consumables). This role allows our academics to foster links with the Crick community.

When: Crick GLs approach Imperial PIs with regard to being a second supervisor from October each year, after the Crick confirms which GLs will be recruiting a student in the following academic year.

Apply: To be considered by Crick Group Leaders as a second supervisor during project recruitment, please inform the Crick-Imperial Partnership Manager, Crick.Partnerships@imperial.ac.uk

More information:

To view the core-Crick funded projects that are available for students to apply to, and which may require a HEI second supervisor, please visit the Crick’s PhD recruitment page.

 

 

 

 

Doctoral Clinical Fellows 

 When: Crick GLs approach Imperial PIs about acting as a second supervisor between November and January each year, after the Crick has confirmed which GLs have applicants shortlisted for interview.

Apply: To be considered by Crick Group Leaders as a second supervisor during recruitment, please inform the Crick-Imperial Partnership Manager.

 

More information: Doctoral Clinical Fellows carry out exciting research projects while following the Crick's clinical PhD programme over a three-year period rather than the traditional four-years. Fellows are based at the Crick with a Crick primary supervisor and a university secondary supervisor.

Fellows may spend some time in their secondary supervisor’s group at the university, depending on the nature of the project and supervisory arrangements.

University secondary supervisors will either:

  • Join the fellow’s three-person thesis committee, which will meet the student at five specific points throughout the programme to provide scientific advice, expertise and guidance, and to assess student progress independently of the primary supervisor and research group, or,
  • Be more involved in the fellow’s on-going project development and supervision, in which case an additional partner university faculty member will be invited to join the thesis committee.

Fellows will be registered for their PhD at, and normally employed by, the partner university which also provides appropriate clinical links for the fellows. The host department is reimbursed by the Crick for the fellow’s full salary and costs.

Further information about the scheme can be found on the Crick’s website. 

Our Doctoral Clinical Fellows: The following individuals have been awarded Doctoral Clinical Fellowships featuring second supervisors from Imperial College London.

  • Lesley Sheach, Oncolytic vaccine treatment of ovarian cancer: finding targets for combination therapies, with Michael Way (Crick) and Hani Gabra (Department of Surgery and Cancer), 2016.
  • Robert Gray, Mechanisms and impact of plasma membrane polar head recycling in M. tuberculosis, with Luiz de Carvalho (Crick), Ed Tate (Department of Chemistry) and Robert Wilkinson (Crick), 2019.
  • Maddalena Cerrone, Elucidating protective mechanisms of T-cell responses against tuberculosis in human cohorts, with Robert Wilkinson (Crick) and Xiao-Ning Xu (Department of Infectious Disease), 2019.
  • Stefania Drymiotou, Oncolytic Vaccinia virus therapy of ovarian cancer: finding novel targets for combination therapies, with Michael Way (Crick) and Iain McNeish (Department of Surgery and Cancer), 2020.
  • Shuli Svetitsky, Discovering the genetic mechanisms of type I interferon production and increased risk of autoimmunity in plasmacytoid dendritic cells, with James Lee (Crick) and Wendy Barclay (Department of Infectious Disease), 2021.
  • Timesh Pillay, Structural and biochemical analysis of Salmonella effector functions and their interaction with host proteins, with Katrin Rittinger (Crick), Theresa Thurston (Department of Infectious Disease) and Philippa Matthews (Crick), 2021.
  • Rebecca Hulbert, Analysis of congenital heart defects in down syndrome using induced pluripotent stem cells, with Victor Tybulewicz (Crick), Andreia Bernardo (National Heart and Lung Institute) and Kuberan Pushparajah (King’s College London), 2022.
  • James Barnacle, Multiomic approaches to understand the pathogenesis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, with Robert Wilkinson (Crick) and Brian Robertson (Department of Infectious Disease), 2022.
  • Vaitehi Nageshwaran, Relationship between M. tuberculosis bacterial burden and immune response at the site of disease in human tuberculosis, with Robert Wilkinson(Crick) and Peter Kelleher (Department of Infectious Disease), 2025.

Selected profiles of some of the Crick Doctoral Clinical Fellows can be viewed on the Crick website.

AI and Machine Learning Clinical Fellows

When: Crick GLs approach Imperial PIs about acting as a second supervisor during the development of the fellow’s proposed PhD or postdoctoral research project. This takes place after the fellow has started the MSc programme.

Apply: To be considered by Crick Group Leaders as a second supervisor during the research project development stage, please inform the Crick-Imperial Partnership Manager.

More information: This is a new programme launching in October 2026. The programme combines formal MSc-level training in AI, machine learning and related computational approaches with either a doctoral (PhD) or a postdoctoral (post-PhD career development) research fellowship based at the Crick. Fellows begin developing their PhD or postdoctoral research project during their MSc studies.

Further information about the programme can be found on the Crick’s AI and ML Clinical Fellows website