Why research at UCL Eastman?

Our researchers are leaders in their fields with many having pivotal roles in other organisations such as the Longitude Prize, EPSRC, NIHR and IADR as well as being editors of prominent journals.

Our staff are committed to providing a supportive research environment, with personal supervisors ensuring graduates are guided and championed throughout their time with us and beyond. 

Visit our Department pages to find which supervisor might be right for you or look at our current PhD project list.

We currently have over 70 research students studying for DDent and MPhil/PhD qualifications. In addition, we have approximately 20 inter-faculty students with research supervision partly at UCL Eastman.

There is excellent peer support within programmes and the ECPGR student Committee feeds the views and needs of students into decision-making processes. Moreover, Student Academic Representatives are elected from each department to represent research students to Institute, Faculty and University management.

Our new facilities boast state-of-the-art equipment, software and teaching spaces. All three research departments have a wide variety of highly-specialised, dedicated equipment spanning the diverse research interests of its members and overseen by expert support staff.  Well-equipped laboratories, cold rooms, mechanical testing equipment, imaging tools and superb clinical access ensure students can innovate and develop their projects freely. Accessing other facilities and expertise across UCL is also commonplace (see below).

Specialist library and information services for students, researchers and professionals in the field of dental and oral health sciences is available in the library within the nearby UCL Cruciform Hub.

Research Student Conference Fund
Each year, UCL Eastman allocates a sum of money for the purpose of supporting research students who wish to travel to a conference or comparable event, either in the UK or overseas in order to present a research paper or poster based on the work undertaken at the Institute. It is also a way of obtaining matching funding to enable graduates to apply to schemes where departmental support is required. The School of Life and Medical Sciences (SLMS) also has a Graduate Conference Fund.

The Research Student Administrator is there to guide research students during their UCL Eastman lifecycle; acting as your first point of contact before application and providing effective administrative support and pastoral care alongside the Divisional Graduate Tutor.

We organise research away days and student research symposia every year to promote your work and share progress with fellow researchers. We also organise monthly PhD presentations, helping you prepare for your upgrades and future public speaking opportunities.

"Having the opportunity to present at a departmental research meeting in front of peers and academics helped me build confidence and experience before presenting at a larger conference. The immediate feedback given in a friendly environment helped me improve my communication skills and overall style of my presentation. Receiving feedback about the format of the presentation is something not usually given at a conference and gave me the opportunity to enhance the presentation for a broader audience. Having a non-specialised group of attendees allowed me to target the presentation to a wider field." Melissa Rayner, PhD Student

Our Communications Team will help you publicise your research and your published papers through press releases, digital news items, blogs and social media posts.

The Institute has received a Silver Athena SWAN Award in recognition of our commitment and success in addressing gender inequality. We have dedicated considerable resources to improving the opportunities, work-life balance and careers of women.
 

Our Clinical Research Department, located within the Rockefeller Building, is at the heart of the UCL main campus and one of the world’s most exciting and diverse cities. Transport links are excellent. 

Our Microbial Diseases and Biomaterials Departments are based at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. This enables close collaboration with the UCL Divisions of Medicine, Surgery and Infection & Immunity who are also on site.   

The Northern Line on the London Underground links the two sites, the journey from Euston to Belsize Park taking approximately 7 minutes. Direct bus journeys take around 25 minutes.

UCL is frequently ranked in the top 10 QS World University Rankings. 

It is a world-leader in research, with outstanding results in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021; the Connected Curriculum scheme aims to ensure that students are able to learn through participating in research and enquiry at all levels of their programme of study.
Find out more
 

Many of our students access other faculties and research facilities in other parts of UCL. For example at the moment BTE students are working with colleagues UCL Chemical Engineering, UCL Institutes of Ophthalmology and Orthopaedics and UCL Mechanical Engineering.

Superb clinical access is ensured not only through our close relationship with the Eastman Dental Hospital but through UCLH which allows us to access other institutions such as Great Ormond Street and the Royal Free Hospital.

The UCL Grand Challenge of Global Health brings together world class researchers to find solutions to global health problems, prevent suffering, and encourage policy change worldwide.

Our researchers often exhibit and present at university-wide events and symposiums and the central team support our own Communications Team in promoting your projects and papers.
 

UCL has 18 library sites, including UCL Qatar. There are also visitable library collections such as special collections plus Research Grids within the Main and Science libraries. With more than two million books and subscriptions to more than 35,000 journals in a combination of electronic and print formats.

Study spaces are available in the libraries, hubs and the UCL Students' Union (UCLU). The Cruciform Hub incorporates space for seminars and project work, individual study, and a computer cluster

The UCL Centre for Languages & International Education (CLIE) offers excellent facilities for language learning.

UCL students can attend free lunch hour lectures, exhibitions, museums and collections.

Find out more
 

The UCL Doctoral School is the umbrella under which all postgraduate research takes place at UCL. It is committed to ensuring that the quality of research training is at the highest international level. On a day-to-day basis they provide students with regulatory guidance and advice about their PhD journey, plus support on informal matters such as the supervisory relationship. Find out more

Training
UCL has an extensive training programme for students supporting the development of research skills, communication and collaboration skills, time management, motivational and leadership abilities, as well as social and cultural awareness. They also offer formal training in IT and academic writing and provide a wide range of teaching resources and the tools to undertake independent study. Find out more

UCL Centre for Advance Learning and Teaching runs workshops to prepare students for teaching responsibilities and students often go on to teach in UCL.

Support and welfare
UCL offers a number of support and health services to all students including a day nursery, health centre and facilities for those with disabilities. The University is also committed to students’ welfare and offers psychological support, housing advice and peer-to-peer support. Find out more about UCL's welfare and support services.

Support is available to international students before and after arriving at UCL through immigration advice and the International Students' Orientation Programme.
 

UCL Careers provides specialist support for UCL Researchers (MRes, PhD, Research Assistants, Postdoctoral Researchers).

By supporting you to achieve excellent results and giving you many opportunities to showcase your work, UCL helps you achieve your professional aims. UCL Careers Service offers help and advice, runs professional networking events, and is part of part of The Careers Group, University of London. Find out more

UCL Innovation and Enterprise offers training, networking and business support, as well as the opportunity to win start-up funding, enabling students seeking to start their own business.