PhD studentship in Breast Cancer – Targeting Glycans to Develop New Treatments for Metastatic Breast Cancer

Award Summary

100% of home tuition fees paid, an annual stipend of £22,926, and additional funding to cover research costs (total value of award: £133,219).

Overview

Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally and new treatments are urgently needed. This project will focus on exploiting glycans to develop a new and potentially transformative approach to benefit patients with breast cancer.

You will spearhead the use of innovative tools to profile the glycome of breast cancer cells and shed light on the role of cancer-associated glycans in metastasis. Alongside this, utilising cell line, immune cell co-culture, and organoid models, you will discover the functional role of glycans in breast cancer pathology, and test if novel glycan-targeting drugs can be developed as new therapies. 

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

21st Sept 2026

Award Duration

3 Years

Application Closing Date

12th June 2026

Sponsor

Women’s Cancer Detection Society

Supervisors

Dr Jennifer Munkley, Dr Simon Lowes, Dr Kirsty Hodgson, Newcastle University Biosciences Institute.

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent, in an appropriate subject, including: cancer research, biomedical sciences. The candidate must have an interest in translational breast cancer research and glycobiology. A further qualification such as an MRes is advantageous.

This studentship is only available to applicants with a Home fee status (UK and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status and meet the residency criteria).

Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each subsection. International applicants may require an ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate prior to obtaining their visa and to study on this programme.

How To Apply

To apply for a studentship, you must register and apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal.

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.

In the ‘Course choice’ tab use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:

• you can search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8420F
• the Research Area is: Biosciences
• select ‘PhD in the Faculty of Medical Sciences (full time) - Biosciences'

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Details’ section:

• a ‘Personal Statement’ (a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form. The personal statement must state the title of the studentship, quote reference code BI104 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
• the studentship code BI104 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field
• when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal, select ‘Write Proposal’, then type the project title from this advert, you do not need to upload a research proposal.

In the Supporting Documentation section please upload: your CV

Contact Details

For further details, please contact: Dr Jennifer Munkley, email: jennifer.munkley@ncl.ac.uk

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