The Trust has supported early career researchers for many years and continues to offer some funding for PhD candidates within the research programmes funded through our annual Sir Jules Thorn Award.

The Trust previously ran a separate funding stream for PhD Studentships, which awarded two studentships each year. Studentships were awarded through an invited competition for leading research universities.

The Trustees reviewed all our grant programmes at the end of 2021 to ensure the Trust continues to focus its funding in areas where it can make the greatest difference. The Trustees concluded that while the PhD programme continued to attract strong applications, the scheme was too small to meet its original objectives. The Trustees therefore agreed to reallocate funding from the previous PhD programme towards a fellowship scheme to support potential future leaders to develop a clinical research career. The Trust is considering a number of options in liaison with potential partners.