2026 Joint BGS / Vivensa Foundation Doctoral Training Fellowship – open for applications

We are excited to announce that the next round of our Joint Doctoral Training Fellowship scheme with the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) is now open.

Applications are invited from front-line healthcare professionals working with older people, including allied health professionals, doctors and nurses – who meet the requirements for a programme of PhD study at a UK-based university, and have an interest in developing a career in ageing-related research. The focus of the proposed research must be aligned to understanding and treating ageing-related diseases and frailty, and/or improving the health and social care of older people. We are particularly interested in research with the potential to improve the health and social care of older people within 5 years of the end of the Fellowship.

Applicants can apply for up to £350,000 to cover salary, tuition fees and other relevant costs. Full details on eligible costs are provided in the call guidelines. We welcome applications for both full-time and part-time Fellowships (the minimum  commitment being 0.5 full-time equivalent). All applicants must be a member of the BGS for the lifetime of the award.

Please note that applicants who are already enrolled in a PhD programme, have been offered an upcoming PhD position (e.g. with a start date before the outcome of this fellowship is announced) or hold a PhD studentship that is partly funded are not eligible to apply to this scheme. In addition, projects with a specific focus on cancer are not eligible for this scheme.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 20th March 2026 and shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in mid-late September. Note that in previous rounds the success rate of applications was ~20%.

For more information and details on how to apply, please visit our “Apply for funding” page.

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