School of Health Professions
PhD Nutrition and Health
| Duration | |
| Course type | Full-time, Part-time route available |
| Study location | Plymouth |
Study for a PhD degree with the School of Health Professions and join a supportive community of researchers who are working to further understand the relationship between nutrition and health. You work on an advanced research project with a small supervisory team of academic experts under the direction of a Director of Studies and are expected to fully engage with your personal skills development and to present your research in a range of scholarly contexts.
Course details
Programme overview.
- This full time or part time doctoral programme is suitable for people who have a particular research question or topic in mind, and wish to explore this through independent study in order to produce an original contribution to the subject. If you aspire to a research career this is the most appropriate research degree to undertake. The research team carries out research in a range of areas of nutrition and health from dietetic practice and nutritional management of disease in childhood and adults, public health nutrition, to nutrition and ageing and nutrition and metabolism. You will be guided by a small supervisory team of academic experts under the direction of a Director of Studies and will be expected to fully engage with skills development and training and to present your research in a range of scholarly contexts. Your PhD will be assessed via submission of either a written thesis (up to 80,000 words) and a viva voce (an oral examination). For full details of what doing a PhD entails at the University of Plymouth, please visit our postgraduate research degrees pages .
Entry requirements
- you'll usually need a 2:1 degree from a UK University or equivalent and an academic IELTS score of 6.5 (with no less than 6 in each component test area) or equivalent if you are a non-UK applicant
- two satisfactory academic references
- evidence of funding for the duration of your course.
Fees, costs and funding
How to apply.
- ) Apply online
- / Contact us
- ; Info for applicants
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The Doctoral College is able to answer any questions you may have about applying for or undertaking a postgraduate research degree at the University of Plymouth: [email protected] or +44 1752 587640 .
Access our Masters of Clinical Research modules
Funding for postgraduate research students
Doctoral College
Find out more about the Doctoral College and the support it offers students, supervisors and examiners of postgraduate research at the University of Plymouth.
Our PhD students past and present
Find out about the experiences of dietetics and health PhD students
Munira Khan
Craig Cutler
Julia Eisenblaetter
Louise Wilkinson
Leanne Smewing
Ann Ashworth
Dietetics, human nutrition and health research group .
Research Team
Professor Mary Hickson
Professor in dietetics, research group lead.
Dr Avril Collinson
Associate professor in dietetics.
Dr Clare Pettinger
Associate professor in public health dietetics.
Dr Desley White
Lecturer in dietetics.
Dr Gail Rees
Head of school of biomedical sciences.
Dr Raul Bescos Garcia
Associate professor of human nutrition and physiology.
Dr Tracey Parkin
Associate professor.
Dr Patricia Casas Agustench
Lecturer in nutrition.
Dr Abigail Tronco Hernandez
Dr Louise Mole
Lecturer in dietetic practice.
Dr Jen Carroll
Honorary research fellow.
- Dr Lisa Bunn , School of Health Professions Postgraduate Coordinator
- Professor Mary Hickson , Dietetics, Human Nutrition and Health Research Lead
MPhil or PhD or Masters by Research
Find a course
Start dates.
January 2024 / September 2024
Application deadline
Please allow at least four months between submitting your application and your expected start date, especially if you are an international student arranging a visa.
Course length
Full time: 2 - 3 years
Part time: 3 - 4 years
Department of Sport, Health Sciences and Social Work
Funding status
Self-funded
Browse our research
How to apply
Contact [email protected]
A research degree in Nutrition allows you to:
- develop your skills
- contribute to internationally recognised research
- be supported by skilled staff and a vibrant research student community.
We offer a number of flexible part-time and full-time research degree opportunities including MSc by research, MPhil, PhD and PhD by published work.
To get an overview of the research and groups within the department, and the areas where we can support research degree projects, take a look at our Research Centres and Groups page .
Research expertise
Underpinned by the work of our research centre, the department is at the forefront of research in a number of fields.
Institutes and Centres
- Oxford Brookes Centre for Nutrition and Health
- Clinical Applied Nutrition (CAN)
Degree routes
All students enrol as probationer research students. During the first year you will formally register your research proposal for one of the below routes.
Masters by Research
These research degrees run for one year full time or two years part time and allow students to critically investigate and evaluate an approved topic and combine the equivalent of up to one semester’s taught programme (focusing on research training) with a major research project. As with other research degrees, they are examined by thesis and viva.
Length of study : Full-time: 1 year. Part-time: 2 years.
Entry requirement : The minimum entry requirement for the degree of MA, MSc and LLM by Research is a lower second-class UK honours degree or equivalent qualification.
If you undertake an MPhil you will:
- critically investigate and evaluate an approved topic
- demonstrate understanding of research methods appropriate to the chosen field
- Present and defend a substantial thesis by viva.
Length of study : Full-time: 2 years. Part-time: 3 years.
Entry requirement : The minimum entry requirement for an MPhil degree, or an MPhil with the intention of transferring to a PhD, is a first-class or upper second-class UK honours degree or equivalent qualification.
Applications are also welcomed from those holding qualifications other than the above and will be considered on their merits and in relation to the nature and scope of the work proposed. You will be required to provide the names of two academic referees.
MPhil with the possibility of transfer to a PhD
A candidate registered initially for an MPhil may be able to transfer to a PhD, and has to complete a transfer process within the Faculty, once sufficient progress has been made on the work to provide on the evidence of the development to PhD.
This is normally after 18 months of full-time study or 24-26 months of part-time study). Transfer comprises three main elements:
- a 1000 word transfer report which should be sent to the relevant Postgraduate Research Tutor and the supervisory team
- an oral presentation and/or interview
- an additional piece of work as indicated by the Faculty, Department/School or supervisory team.
Length of study : Full-time: 3 years. Part-time: 4 years.
PhD (direct entry)
If you undertake a PhD you will:
- critically investigate and evaluate an approved topic, resulting in an independent and original contribution to the field
- present and defend a substantial thesis by viva.
Entry requirement : The normal entry requirement for the degree of PhD is a master’s degree in a discipline which is appropriate to the proposed research and which has included research training and a research project.
In exceptional cases, applicants who have a good honours degree (or equivalent) may apply for direct registration to PhD if they have appropriate research or professional experience at postgraduate level which has resulted in published work, written reports or other appropriate evidence of accomplishment.
Entry requirements
All students must be able to meet the University’s requirements for a research degree, which is to be able to devote a minimum of 35 hours per week (full-time) or 15 hours per week (part-time) to the programme of research.
The minimum entry requirement for the degree of MPhil, or MPhil with transfer to PhD, is a first-class or upper second-class UK honours degree or equivalent qualification.
The normal entry requirement for a PhD is a Masters degree, or exceptionally a good honours degree/equivalent.
The minimum entry requirement for the degree of MA, MSc and LLM by Research is a lower second-class UK honours degree or equivalent qualification.
English language requirements
Our requirement is IELTS: 6.5-7.0 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking), depending on the subject. Please note that an IELTS certificate must be current; they are only valid for 2 years from issue. For further information about the test visit the IELTS website . Please note that we are unable to accept TOEFL qualifications.
However, there may be some exceptions. See UK Government visa information for more detail on the information.
English requirements for visas
If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements .
Application process
We welcome initial enquiries. Please contact the Research Administrator ( [email protected] ) and/or the relevant Postgraduate Tutor or Supervisor.
- If you have a research proposal in mind, explore our research groups and supervisory staff webpages, to identify the relevant research group/s for your research.
- Check the fees information on the university website. Oxford Brookes Alumni may be entitled to a discount on course fees.
- Email your CV and an outline of your area of interest to [email protected] . Give a brief explanation of how your studies will be funded.
- Once we have the initial information we will liaise with you as necessary and pass the information to the relevant Postgraduate Tutor/s, who will advise whether an application can be progressed. If this is possible we will invite you to submit an application through the university system.
Tuition fees
Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year, your fees will increase each year.
For International fees the following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support.
Home fees are set by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and are released approximately five months before the start of each academic year.
If you have any questions about fees, get in touch with the Research Degrees Team at [email protected] .
How and when to pay
Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.
- For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
- For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page
Compulsory costs
| Additional costs | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| The continuation fee, where it is payable is compulsory, but not applicable to Masters by research or PhD by Published Work, detailed as follows: |