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Graduate Students

We welcome enquiries from prospective DPhil students from a wide range of disciplines, including medicine, psychology, public health, neuroscience, epidemiology, nursing, social sciences, education and related fields. DPhil students are an important part of our research team. They bring new ideas, methods and perspectives to the group and contribute to the development of our research.

The graduate application window is now open for the DPhil in Psychiatry course. Applications close 12noon 1 December 2026 (UK time).

PhD/DPhil Applications Workshop:  This workshop will address lessons from first-person experience of master’s and PhD applications, in the UK but also USA and Europe. We will explain the differences between these programs, considerations for choosing each, the ever-evolving funding landscape, how to apply strategically, and some of the key challenges that may arise along the way toward graduate school followed by Q&A. Thursday 29 October, 14:00, online only via Teams. Please email oxchildpsych@psych.ox.ac.uk if you are interested in joining.

Finding a supervisor 

The availability of individual members of the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Group to supervise new DPhil students varies from year to year, depending on existing supervisory commitments, research programmes and funding. We provide below an indication of our availability for students who wish to start in October 2027, and encourage you to look at individual team members' profiles and current research before approaching them. 

DPhil students in our group work with two supervisors, with one taking lead responsibility for supervision. We therefore suggest that you first identify and approach the person whose expertise most closely matches the research you would like to pursue. It will be helpful to review their departmental profile and see any of their recent papers or projects. If they are able to act as your lead supervisor, you can then discuss together who might be most appropriate as another supervisor. 

Expressions of Interest 

When contacting a potential supervisor, please include:  

  1. a brief description of the research question or area you would like to pursue; 

  1. why you think your proposed work fits particularly with that person's research; 

  1. a brief summary of your relevant academic/research experience; 

  1. the funding you have already secured, or the funding route(s) you are considering; 

  1. your anticipated application timetable; and

  1. your CV. 

Please contact the individual member of the team with whom you are interested in working, rather than sending the same enquiry to multiple members of the group. Most importantly, we would like to hear from you in your own words. We encourage you to write your initial enquiry yourself rather than relying on AI to generate it. Please do not worry about making your initial enquiry perfectly polished or about minor errors in English, grammar or presentation. 

You are most likely to receive a response from the supervisors who are open to accepting students (see below).  

Applications typically open in early autumn and are due around the beginning of December, however specific funding calls may differ. We will make every effort to work within your timeline, though generally we are able to provide more support the earlier you reach out. 

 

Funding 

Please see the Oxford Graduate Admissions website for information about DPhil applications, fees, funding opportunities and University deadlines.  

Funding for doctoral study is highly competitive and the routes available vary according to the applicant, research area and country of origin. Our team has no specific funding available for studentships.  

If you already have confirmed funding for your DPhil, we particularly welcome hearing from you. Please contact the member of our team whose research is most closely aligned with your proposed area of study.  

If there is a good research and supervisory fit, we will be happy to work with you to develop your research proposal and application to the Department of Psychiatry. 

We recognise the complexities that the funding environment creates, making it difficult for prospective students: some funding schemes require applicants to identify a potential supervisor or be accepted by a host institution before applying, while supervisors may have limited capacity to develop applications before a viable funding route has been identified. 

 

Current lead supervisors with availability for 2027 entry: 

Dr Emma Soneson (St Catherine’s College) 

2027 entry: Lead (max. 1) or additional supervisor

My main area is public mental health, meaning I'm interested in how we can support prevention and early intervention efforts at a population level. I am especially interested in hearing from applicants with project ideas that sit within this area or adjacent areas (e.g. epidemiology). I am not currently open to applications focused on individual-level approaches or interventions.  

Given the immense value of interdisciplinary work, I would highly encourage (though do not require) applicants to consider other Oxford departments when thinking about additional supervisors. Applicants may find it especially useful to look into the research of colleagues in Population Health, Experimental Psychology, Social Policy and Intervention, Education, or Primary Care.  

As I have two current DPhil/PhD students, I plan to support only one applicant as lead supervisor for this cycle. To ensure fairness to all interested applicants, I aim to make this decision by 30th October, so please make sure to contact me before that date with your expression of interest. I do not mind whether or not prospective applicants have already obtained funding, and I am happy to provide support with funding applications in addition to proposal development. 

Professor Louise Dalton and Professor Elizabeth Rapa

2027 entry: Joint supervisors – up to 2 applicants

Our research focuses on communication with children and young people about serious illness within the family. We are particularly interested in how parents, families and professionals can be supported to have honest, developmentally appropriate conversations with children when a parent or sibling is affected by a serious physical or mental illness.

For 2027 entry, we are open to enquiries from prospective DPhil students interested in developing research within this area. We would particularly welcome proposals that explore how children and families experience communication about serious illness; the barriers and facilitators to honest communication; or the development, evaluation and implementation of approaches to support families and professionals with these conversations.

We are open to supervising up to two DPhil students in this area for 2027 entry. We encourage prospective applicants to contact us early to discuss their research interests, potential project ideas and fit with our wider programme of work.

Dr Emma Lawrance

With a background in neuroscience, I now work at the nexus of climate change and mental health as lead of Climate Cares and Connecting Climate Minds. Our team works globally to create and translate evidence that can shift policy and practice to support healthier environments and minds. We have a particular focus on areas including: the influence of heat on mental health, climate psychology (especially what approaches support young people to thrive in the midst of a changing world), emotional resilience in climate education, the integration of mental health in climate policy, and development of relevant metrics and methods for this still emergent field. 

I am available as a lead supervisor or supporting supervisor for prospective students who have funding or are likely to be highly competitive for funding, as I can’t currently fund graduate places. I am best placed to support students who are interested in transdisciplinary approaches, and I encourage co-supervisors from different backgrounds. If you are interested in neuroscience-based questions and methods in the climate-mental health world (for instance exploring the intolerance of uncertainty and climate distress versus generalised anxiety) I am happy to co-supervise.

Supervisors with limited availability for 2027 entry:  

Professor Mina Fazel (Linacre College) 

I am not currently planning to take on additional DPhil students as lead supervisor for 2027 entry, as I have a number of new and existing doctoral students and want to ensure that I can give appropriate supervisory time and support to them. 

I am, however, happy to consider enquiries from prospective students who already have their own funding confirmed, or who are applying through a specific external funding scheme, where there is a particularly strong fit with my research. In these circumstances, please contact me as early as possible so that we can consider whether the proposed research, supervisory arrangements and funding route are feasible. I will also consider a supervisory role when another member of my team has agreed to act as lead supervisor. 

 

My research focuses on adolescents' online environments and their relationship with mental health, including their exposure to online content, how they seek support online, and the emerging role of AI and chatbots as a source of psychosocial support. I'm particularly interested in questions at the intersection of digital behaviour, mental health outcomes, and policy, including how adolescents adjust to social media regulation, and how these effects differ across groups of young people. I welcome enquiries from prospective students whose interests connect with this area, particularly those with an interest in policy-relevant, applied research. 



Dr Mirela Zaneva (Christ Church College) 

My main research interests relate to the relationship between socioeconomic inequalities and mental health. I'm happy to take on a supervisory role for applicants who have a lead supervisor identified in this cycle. I generally expect that you will develop the core research ideas alongside your primary supervisor in the first instance, and I will be happy to advise with a particular view on methodology and analysis. I will be happy to support competitive applicants by offering feedback on application materials and running mock interviews. I bring methods expertise in data linkage, multiverse analysis, meta-analysis and multilevel modelling among others. 

 

 

Find out more 

Filmed in Autumn 2024, our webinar introduces members of the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Group, provides an overview of our areas of research and includes contributions from DPhil students about their experiences within the group. Please contact us if you would like access to the recording. 

Research environment and training 

DPhil students in the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Group become part of the wider research community within the Department of Psychiatry and University of Oxford. The Department runs a regular programme of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry seminars, research meetings and guest lectures with both clinical and research perspectives – you are welcome to attend these to help you learn about the work of our team.  

All graduate students have access to the training and research infrastructure across the University.   There are many academic and professional development opportunities available across Oxford. DPhil students receive individual supervision in accordance with Departmental and University arrangements, alongside support from the Director of Graduate Studies and the wider research community.