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Deadline: 18 August 2025
Wales
Closing date: 18 August 2025
Open to: UK and international applicants
Funding Provider: Swansea University Research Excellence Scholarships (SURES)
Subject Area: Genomics and Bioinformatics, Clinical and translational oncology, Data science and health informatics, Public health and policy
Aligned programme of study: PhD Medical and Health Care Studies
Project start date: 1st October 2025 ** (Please see the note below regarding potential later start dates)
Supervisors:
This is an interdisciplinary PhD within the medical school, co-supervised by academics based in biomedical sciences (Hitchings and Francis) and Data Sciences (Lacey).
Mode of study: Full time
Project description:
PhD Opportunity: Multi-Omic Integration for Precision Oncology; Transform cancer care through genomics, data science, and translational biology.
Swansea University are pleased to offer a fully-funded Swansea University Research Excellence Scholarship (SURES) for a full-time doctoral student commencing in October 2025. Investigating functional genomic and multi-omic data analysis and integration to advance therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for oesophageal and pancreatic cancers, two malignancies with a significant disease burden in Wales and worldwide.
This interdisciplinary supervisory team brings together expertise in health data science, microbial genomics, and cancer bioinformatics. Th selected student will work under the supervision of Dr Arron Lacey, a specialist in machine learning and natural language processing, Dr Matthew Hitchings, who will offer cutting-edge insight into high-throughput sequencing and a strong background in comparative genomics and bioinformatics and Professor Lewis Francis, a leader in pharmacogenomics and functional analysis to inform advanced diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Together, they provide a robust foundation for advancing precision oncology in Wales through integrated genomic and clinical data approaches.
This exciting doctoral project focuses on advancing personalised treatment strategies for two of Wales’ most pressing cancer challenges—oesophageal and pancreatic malignancies. You’ll develop innovative workflows to integrate and analyse large-scale multi-omic datasets from Genomics England’s 100,000 Genomes Project, including whole-genome sequencing, bulk and single-cell RNA-seq.
These methodologies will be refined and later applied to Welsh genomic resources (SAIL/AWMGS) to identify patient subgroups, uncover disease-driving mechanisms, and discover therapeutic targets relevant to Welsh populations. You’ll also help translate your computational insights into lab-based validation using experimental models, paving the way for new diagnostics and targeted therapies.
By the end of this project, you’ll have contributed:
The supervisory team blends expertise across genomics, health data science, and translational oncology, offering an outstanding environment for training and mentorship.
Ideal candidates will have a background in bioinformatics, molecular biology, or biomedical data science—and a drive to push the boundaries of patient-centric cancer research.
For more details please see here: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/medical-phd-genomic-data-rs869.php
Essential Criteria:
Academic Requirements
i) 1st UG degree (Bachelor Equivalence)
ii) OR 2.1 UG degree (Bachelor Equivalence) & Masters (Distinction)
Candidates must have achieved, or be expecting to achieve, a 1st class UK undergraduate degree (or equivalent international qualification), or a 2:1 UK undergraduate degree and a Distinction in a UK master’s degree (or international equivalent)
NB: If you hold a non-UK degree, please see the Swansea University degree comparisons to find out if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants must be able to begin their course of study in October 2025. As a cohort-based programme, deferral to an alternative enrolment window within the academic year or to another academic year is not permissible.
English Language requirements: If applicable – IELTS 6.5 overall (with a score of at least 6.5 in each individual component) or equivalent that is recognised by Swansea University. Details on the Swansea University English Language entry policy can be found here.
Please note that both the degree and language-proficiency entry requirements for SURES are higher than the baseline standard for entry that is stipulated for most of the PhD programmes at Swansea University.
Funding
Each SURES scholarship includes tuition fees and a stipend – reviewed annually at the UKRI standard rate and a £1,000 annual training allowance to support immersive training experiences, conference attendance, engagement with industry and international collaborative opportunities.
Each scholarship is offered for a maximum period of three years; SURES students are expected to submit their theses within this timescale.
To apply, please complete the entire application form, following this link: Complete your application here in Learner Gateway
In order to be considered for this scholarship award the following steps are also required.
1) In section ‘Programme Related Information’ please input the relevant RS Code for the scholarship award i.e. RS869
2) In section ‘Research’ you will see ‘Proposed project title/studentship title’* (Mandatory)
3) In section ‘Funding information’ please choose the option ‘Scholarship Funding’ only. Please ensure no other options are selected.
*It is the responsibility of the applicant to list the above information accurately when applying, please note that applications received without the above information listed will not be considered for the scholarship award.
One application is required per individual Swansea University led research scholarship award; applications cannot be considered listing multiple Swansea University led research scholarship awards.
NOTE: Applicants for PhD/EngD/ProfD/EdD - to support our commitment to providing an environment free of discrimination and celebrating diversity at Swansea University you are required to complete an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring Form in addition to your programme application form.
Please note that completion of the EDI Monitoring Form is mandatory; your application may not progress if this information is not submitted.
As part of your online application, you MUST upload the following documents (please do not send these via email):
Informal enquiries are welcome; please contact Dr Matthew Hitchings m.hitchings@swansea.ac.uk or Dr Arron Lacey a.s.lacey@swansea.ac.uk
*External Partner Application Data Sharing – Please note that as part of the scholarship application selection process, application data sharing may occur with external partners outside of the University, when joint/co- funding of a scholarship project is applicable.
** In exceptional circumstances, and subject to the discretion of the University and/or the relevant funding body, a deferral of offer may be granted to the next available enrolment period. Such deferral will typically not exceed a duration of three calendar months from the originally stipulated commencement date. Please note that only one deferral may be considered, and any such deferral is not guaranteed.
Open to: UK and international applicants
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