Upul's story: a clever blend of chemistry, activism and anthropology
To get into social science research, where his real interest lay, Upul had to do three Master's, find a supportive mentor and gain experience in different disciplines.
Postgraduate training
If you have an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject, or you’re about to finish one, you can apply for our postgraduate training in biomedical science, population health or humanities and social science.
During postgraduate training
During a Master’s or a PhD, you’ll work on a project of your own that’s formally supervised.
You will gain:
- in-depth expertise and knowledge in your area of research
- research-related transferable skills, such as data analysis, experimental design and good research practice.
Qualifications, skills and experience you'll need
To get funding for postgraduate training (ie a Master's or PhD course), you should usually have at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent).
You can start postgraduate training immediately after completing an undergraduate degree, or at any other time in your career.
Select a scheme below to find out about the skills and experience you'll need.
Researcher stories
Read about the career journeys of some of our researchers.
Cherry's story: a career launched by first-hand experience and a good mentor
How do you go about building all the skills you need at the start of your research career? Cherry found a mentor to guide her through this journey.
Emilie's story: the quest for a career combining academia and the creative industries
Moving between industry and academia has made Emilie a better thinker, researcher and practitioner. But to do a PhD, she has had to learn how to shift her skills and embrace new ways of working.
Our funding
Four-year PhD Studentships in Science
Offering graduates outstanding training in scientific research.
PhD Fellowships for Health Professionals
Offering health professionals outstanding research training in supportive and inclusive research environments.
Master's Studentships in Humanities and Social Science
Enabling researchers to undertake humanities or social science Master's courses in any area of health.
After postgraduate training
If you want a career in research, there are a number of possible options, including:
- postdoctoral researcher on someone else’s grant
- postdoctoral researcher on your own fellowship
- researcher in industry
- policy officer in an organisation eg a think tank, civil service, charity, university
- lecturer or another academic post.
If you decide not to pursue a career in research, you'll have transferable skills that you can use in many careers outside of research, eg in industry or teaching.
Or you can move between research roles and jobs outside of research at different stages of your career.
If you want a clinical academic career, you can combine your clinical commitments with academic research throughout your career.
Find out more about the next stage in a research career: postdoctoral research.
More information
- Find out about the funding we offer at other key career stages.
- Besides our funding schemes, we work in many ways to support careers in research.
- View and compare biomedical research funding schemes offered by Wellcome and seven other UK funders on the Medical Research Council website.