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Wessex One Health Doctoral Landscape Award Scholarships 2026

Wessex One Health BBSRC Doctoral Landscape Award scholarships (2026)

What you get

PhD studentships cover four years of UK or International PhD fees and a tax free maintenance allowance (currently £20,780 in 2025-6) plus some research costs.

Type of award

PhD scholarship

PhD project

About Wessex One Health (WOH)

Projects for 2026 are being finalised and will be confirmed in November 2025. 

Last year's »ÆÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ projects were:

Understanding transmission pathways of European Bat Lyssavirus 1 (rabies) to inform control strategies 

Paralysis in the hive: epidemiology and persistence of a neglected virus pathogen of honeybees 

Potential role of gamebirds in the epidemiology of avian Influenza  

Plasmids, adaptation, and one health: understanding transmission dynamics and selective pressures 

The molecular anatomy of an opportunistic pathogen, Mycobacterium avium complex 

Eligibility

Who we are looking for

You will have the ambition, motivation and scientific curiosity to research new approaches to combatting infectious diseases in the themes of:

• Detection, prevention and intervention
• Microbial evolution and drug resistance
• Understanding disease spread
• Infection and cellular biology. 

You will have or expect to have an MSc, and/or a first or upper second honours degree in a relevant subject. We welcome applications from graduates of all universities, and from candidates already in work, or returning after a career break.

Note: Lab experience is desirable but not essential as all successful applicants will be trained in basic lab skills where applicable.

The Scholarships are open to both UK and International applicants but 70% of each cohort of students must be UK and some of the host laboratories have further nationality or residency requirements for their researchers, so bear this in mind when selecting your four project preferences.

In order to be eligible to apply for the necessary security clearance, applicants for projects with Dstl must be a UK national, currently resident in the UK, and have resided in the UK continuously for the past five year. Applicants for projects including laboratory work at APHA, UKHSA or Pirbright Institute must be currently resident in the UK and have at least three years continuous UK residency. Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance is required prior to commencing work at all the above laboratories. Candidates need to ensure that they are eligible for security clearance. It is up to each person applying for a studentship to ensure they meet the residency criteria. Please contact the supervisors of your chosen project if you have any questions. 

The University Admissions team will check your application in detail but in general you count as a UK student if you are 

• a UK national who has been living in the UK or EU for the three years prior to starting your course;
• an EU national with Settled Status;
• an EU national with Pre-Settled status who has been living in the UK or the EU for 3 years prior to starting your course;
• a student with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK;
• an Irish National (due to a reciprocal agreement with the UK)

All other students (e.g. EU nationals moving to the UK to start their PhD) will count as Overseas students.

Number of scholarships available

17 PhD studentships are available for October 2026 start across the consortium. 

Deadline

How to apply

Applicants will need to complete the Wessex One Health online application by the deadline - expected early January 2026

Prospective students are asked to select up to four projects from the list available and if invited for interview are strongly encouraged to contact prospective supervisors ahead of interview. 

• Submission deadline: Expected early January 2026
• Online interviews: February 2026

For further information on the programme or application process, email WOH@surrey.ac.uk. 

For further information on individual projects, please email our »ÆÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ supervisors - 

Contact us

For »ÆÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ-specific enquiries contact pgr-scholarships@sussex.ac.uk

For information on our Sussesx projects contact our »ÆÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ supervisors named in the project descriptions.

For further information on the programme or application process, email WOH@surrey.ac.uk. 

Timetable

The timetable is as follows:

Deadline for online application:               Expected early January 2026

Interviews Online:                                    February 2026