Dementia Support Line
Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centres
Alzheimer’s Society is committed to supporting early career researchers, recognising them as the future of dementia research. We are investing £9m into new, transformative Doctoral Training Centres that will support researchers taking their first steps into the field.
Investing in the future
Early career researchers (ECRs) are PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and fellows who are at the early stages of their career. Alzheimer’s Society recognises the importance and value of ECRs as a new generation of talented and motivated researchers.
Fiona Carragher, Chief Policy and Research Officer at Alzheimer’s Society said:
Dementia is the biggest health and social care issue of our time. By 2040, 1.4 million people will be living with the condition in the UK. And yet a worrying number of dementia researchers leave the field after finishing their PhDs.
We are entering an exciting time in dementia research. Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that talented researchers and bright minds stay in the field. This is why Alzheimer’s Society has invested £9 million into three new Doctoral Training Centres, with the aim to support nearly 90 ECRs to enter, remain, and thrive in the field of dementia research.
About Doctoral Training Centres
Our Doctoral Training Centres are a transformative initiative which will attract talented researchers into the field of dementia research and to support them to build a career in the field. These Centres will help PhD students during the key transitional stage in their careers, by providing greater infrastructure and support to feel secure in pursuing dementia research as their career choice.
Each Centre will focus on a specific research topic, taking at least five students per year for five years beginning in 2024. By the end of the programme, nearly 90 talented researchers will have been supported to begin their careers in dementia research.
Our approach will provide PhD students with unique access to activity across the Centres – widening their options for peer support, networking, knowledge sharing, specialisms, training, and equipment.
This is a significant investment that aims to urgently attract and nurture a new, bold and ambitious generation of researchers so we can ramp up the speed and progress of life-changing breakthroughs so desperately needed for people living with this devastating condition.
"These Doctoral Training Centres will give students in the early stages of their dementia research careers fantastic opportunities to collaborate with their peers and build knowledge, as well as access world-class expertise, the latest technology and training. Their research will lead to vital new knowledge where huge gaps remain."
- Fiona Carragher, Chief Policy and Research Officer at Alzheimer’s Society
Click below for more details and news about each of our Doctoral Training Centres:
Learn more about our research
Alzheimer's Society research programme focuses on improving care for people with dementia today and finding a cure for tomorrow.
The Centre is led by Professor Stuart Allan, Manchester University
We know that blood vessels and changes to the immune system are play a key role in the underlying causes of dementia and this centre aims to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms involved and how they could be targeted to develop through new treatment.
By building on this understanding, the students and their supervisors hope to improve diagnosis by identifying the very earliest signs, find ways to modify these signs through new and innovative treatments as well as improve care for patients with dementia.
Visit the Centre page for more information and the latest research news.
The Centre is led by Professor John-Paul Taylor, Newcastle University
Lewy body dementia is one of the most common forms of dementia with very challenging symptoms of the individual with the condition and their loved one and yet it is not well understood.
This centre will focus on understanding underlying causes of Lewy body dementia, develop technology to track its progression, improve its diagnosis and care as well as support the design of clinical trials into this under researched disease.
Visit the Centre page for more information and the latest research news.
The Centre is led by Professor Nathan Davies and Professor Claudia Copper, Queen Mary’s University London
This experienced and passionate team will explore how we deliver joined up care from diagnosis through to the end of life to ensure independence, autonomy and choice and which reaches people in under-served populations.
This centre will focus on understanding how providing joined up care across primary, secondary and social care ensures that people with dementia receive care that is holistic and easy to navigate.
Visit the Centre page for more information and the latest research news.