Department life for PhD students

Life as a PhD student

Join a vibrant and diverse community within the School of Biological Sciences, working alongside postdoctoral researchers and academic staff.

Our PhD students publish research in high-impact journals, present at international conferences, organise outreach activities, and make a difference in society.

Supervision and group sessions

Typically, students receive supervision in one-to-one or small group sessions with academic colleagues and students with similar research interests. This provides opportunities to critique the latest research in your field and discuss your own research project.

PhD events in the School

Each year, students present their work at the School of Biological Sciences PhD symposium, where we highlight and celebrate the research and accomplishments of all our doctoral students.

It is exhilarating to discover something new that no one else in the world has discovered before, publish papers and perform exciting experiments.

Maitreyee Wairagkar,

PhD student

Read Maitreyee's story

Join the University's doctoral community

In addition to offering training and support to doctoral researchers, the Doctoral and Researcher College coordinates a range of activities that bring students together from across the University.

The annual Doctoral Research Conference showcases the variety and excellence of postgraduate research at Reading. The conference features competitions and presentations including the PhD Researcher of the Year award.

The Fairbrother Lecture is an annual public lecture delivered by a current or recent PhD student. This is a fantastic opportunity for a wider audience to hear about Reading's high quality doctoral research and has previously featured students from the School of Biological Sciences.

Designing technology for personalised nutrition advice

Rodrigo Zenun Franco gave the Fairbrother Lecture in 2018. He discussed the app he's developing that can deliver tailored dietary advice to your phone, tablet or computer.

Rodrigo's PhD is supervised by Dr Faustina Hwang (Biomedical Engineering) and Professor Julie Lovegrove (Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences).