Study and Careers
As the UK’s leading academic research centre, The Institute of Cancer Research offers a fantastic work and study environment, great opportunities for development and the chance to make a real difference for cancer patients. We aim to train, recruit and develop the best – with positions for outstanding scientists and clinicians, and the most talented professional or administrative staff.
Studying at the ICR
Our competitive programmes and specialised courses are designed for the next generation of cancer researchers and clinicians.

PhD projects and opportunities
We offer 20 fully funded PhD studentships each year. Our main round opens in October, but we also advertise projects throughout the year.

Opportunities for clinicians
At The Institute of Cancer Research, London, we offer clinicians a variety of opportunities – from a taught master's course in Oncology, to fellowships providing protected time for research, and higher research degrees.
MSc in Oncology
The Taught Course in Oncology is a day-release modular programme designed for medically qualified candidates who intend to pursue a professional career in some aspect of clinical or medical oncology, either as a clinical academic or a clinician.
Why study with us?
By providing world-class expertise and support to students at The Institute of Cancer Research, we hope to advance cancer research and clinical practice not only within our organisation, but throughout the field.

Student Profile
Varun Ramaswamy is a third-year PhD student at the ICR. He is working on a collaborative project between the Division of Cancer Therapeutics and the Division of Structural Biology that aims to solve the 3D structure of a protein called HSET using cryo-electron microscopy and complementary biophysical techniques.

Employee Story
Head of Research Support (corporate role) Dr Becky Cook Dr Becky Cook is Head of Research Support at The Institute of Cancer Research. She oversees our large strategic grant applications and is supporting the ICR's next submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), which is the definitive government evaluation of the quality and impact of research at UK universities.

Support moving to the UK
Whether you're a student or a full time employee, you'll get a variety of social, welfare and accommodation benefits and advice, to help your move to the UK.
Working life and benefits
As a world-leading cancer research organisation, we are a dynamic and exciting place to work - with various benefits and support if you’re moving to the UK.
Current openings
We offer a fantastic working environment, great opportunities for career development and the chance to make a real difference for cancer patients. We aim to recruit and develop the best – with positions for postdocs, scientists and clinicians, and professional or administrative staff - see the latest below:
Head of Biology and Director, Centre for Target Validation (Group Leader)
Under the leadership of Dr Olivia Rossanese, we are seeking to appoint a Team Leader to join The Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery (CCDD) as The Head of Biology and Director of the Centre for Target Validation. Key Requirements The successful candidate must have in-depth knowledge and recent experience in an area of cancer biology relevant to oncology drug discovery. Leadership experience of drug discovery within, or in collaboration with, the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry as evidenced by publication and/or successful commercial projects. Along with completing the online application form, you will be asked to attach the following documents and failure to do so will mean your application cannot be considered on this occasion: · Full CV · Lists of major publications, achievements, research grants, distinctions. · A PDF of a maximum of five key publications, or other research outputs (e.g. patents) that best demonstrate previous productivity · You must also complete the personal statement section of the application form in the format of a covering letter including the names and contact details of three academic referees Department/Directorate Information: The Division of Cancer Therapeutic's mission is to develop personalised medicines by translating information from the cancer genome and cancer biology into drugs for patient benefit. We implement innovative drug discovery technologies, discover novel mechanism-based drugs, and develop these as rapidly as possible from the laboratory through to hypothesis-testing early clinical trials We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Dr Olivia Rossanese, Email olivia.rossanese@icr.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Training Fellow
Under the leadership of Claudio Alfieri, we are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Training Fellow to join the Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Cycle Regulation Group at the Chester Beatty Laboratories, Fulham Road in London. This project aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms of cell cycle regulation by macromolecular complexes involved in cell proliferation decisions, by combining genome engineering, proteomics and in situ structural biology. For general information on Post Doc's at The ICR can be found here. Key Requirements The successful candidate must have a PhD in cellular biochemistry and experience in Cryo-EM and CLEM is desirable. The ICR has a workforce agreement stating that Postdoctoral Training Fellows can only be employed for up to 7 years as PDTF at the ICR, providing total postdoctoral experience (including previous employment at this level elsewhere) does not exceed 10 years Department/Directorate Information: The candidate will work in the Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Cycle Regulation Group within the ICR Division of Structural Biology headed by Prof. Laurence Pearl and Prof. Sebastian Guettler. The division has state-of-the-art facilities for protein expression and biophysics/x-ray crystallography, in particular the Electron Microscopy Facility is equipped with a Glacios 200kV with Falcon 4i detector with Selectris energy filter and the ICR has access to Krios microscopes via eBIC and the LonCEM consortium. We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Claudio Alfieri via Email on claudio.alfieri@icr.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Training Fellow – X-Ray Crystallography
A postdoctoral position is available in Dr Rob van Montfort’s Hit Discovery and Structural Design Team within the CCDD. The Post-doc will be involved in the structure determination of protein-ligand complexes, primarily by X-ray crystallography but also potentially by cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM), as part of one of the CCDD’s drug discovery programmes. The postholder will be responsible for protein production and purification, protein crystallisation, structure determination by X-ray crystallography and subsequent structural analysis. The successful candidate will be an integral member of a multidisciplinary project team within the CCDD at the ICR Sutton site, and will interact closely with biologists, computational chemists, medicinal chemists, assay scientists and structural biologists.They will have access to state-of-the-art facilities for protein production and purification, as well as biophysical characterisation and crystallisation at the Sutton site. We also benefit from excellent access to Diamond Light Source synchrotron at the Harwell Science and Innovation campus, Didcot, UK, for X-ray data collection. Additionally, the successful candidate will also be part of the Division of Structural Biology, located in Chelsea, in which the structural biologists in Dr van Montfort’s team are also embedded, and will have access to its state-of-the art cryoEM facilities. These include an in-house Glacios and 30% direct access to a Titan KRIOS located at the Francis Crick Institute. Both microscopes are equipped with Falcon III detectors and volta phase plates (VPP). In addition, we have excellent access to the electron bioimaging Centre (eBIC) at the Harwell Science and Innovation campus, Didcot, UK. About you The successful candidate must have must have a PhD (or equivalent) in a biological or physical science, with demonstrable experience in X-ray crystallography and protein biochemistry. Experience in cryo-EM specimen preparation and data processing would be an advantage, though not strictly mandatory. Experience in molecular biology, protein expression and purification, as well as biophysical characterisation of protein samples would also be highly desirable. The ICR has a workforce agreement stating that Postdoctoral Training Fellows can only be employed for up to 7 years as PDTF (including previous employment at this level elsewhere). For general information on Postdocs at The ICR, more information can be found here. Department/Directorate Information The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, is one of the world’s most influential cancer research institutes, with an outstanding record of achievements dating back more than 100 years. We provided the first convincing evidence that DNA damage is the basic cause of cancer, laying the foundation for the now universally accepted idea that cancer is a genetic disease. Today, the ICR leads the world at isolating cancer-related genes and discovering new targeted drugs for personalised cancer treatment. Together with our hospital partner The Royal Marsden, we are rated in the top four centres for cancer research and treatment worldwide. As well as being a world-class institute, we are a college of the University of London. We came top in the league table of university research quality compiled from the Research Excellence Framework in 2014 and second in 2021 (REF 2014 and 2021). The ICR is committed to attracting, developing and retaining the best minds in the world to join us in our mission – to make the discoveries that defeat cancer. Department/Directorate Information: The Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery (CCDD), within the Division of Cancer Therapeutics, is a multidisciplinary 'bench to bedside' centre, comprising around 160 staff dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The CCDD’s exciting goal is to discover high quality small molecule drug candidates and to progress these to clinical trial. All the scientific disciplines are in place to make this possible, including medicinal chemistry, biology, structural biology, assay scientists, drug metabolism and clinical specialists. This is an exciting and fast-moving research setup and offers the opportunity to work within a multi-disciplinary environment using state-of-the-art techniques and equipment. What we offer A dynamic and supportive research environment Access to state-of-the-art facilities and professional development opportunities Collaboration with leading researchers in the field Competitive salary and pension We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Dr van Montfort rob.vanmontfort@icr.ac.uk or Dr Le Bihan yann-vai.lebihan@icr.ac.uk. Please DO NOT send your application to Dr Van Montfort or Dr Le Bihan, but apply via the e-recruitment system on our websitewww.icr.ac.uk/careers.
Higher Scientific Officer - Protein production, purification and assay specialist
A Higher Scientific Officer (HSO) position is available in Dr Rob van Montfort’s Hit Discovery and Structural Design (HDSD) team within the CCDD, to support a collaboration with the ICR’s Centre for Protein Degradation (CPD) and University College London (UCL) aimed at developing novel small molecule-controlled molecular switches to modulate CAR-T cell activity based on induced protein degradation technology. We are seeking a highly motivated scientist with expertise in DNA construct design, cloning and mutagenesis, protein expression and purification, and with experience in biochemical and biophysical assays. The successful candidate will be responsible for the site-directed generation of multiple mutant variants of a protein of interest, followed by protein expression in E. coli and purification. Subsequently, the postholder will be responsible for the characterisation of the generated protein variants using biochemical and biophysical assays. The postholder will be an integral member of the HDSD team within the CCDD at the Sutton campus of the ICR, interacting closely with other protein production specialists, assay scientists and structural biologists. They will also be interacting closely with biologists specialised in CAR-T cells technology at UCL. About you The successful candidate must have at least a BSc in a biochemistry or related biological subject, and ideally an MSc or PhD. Experience and demonstrable skills in molecular biology, protein expression in E. coli and protein purification, as well as biochemical assays are essential. Demonstrable practical experience of biophysical techniques such as SPR and/or TSA would also be an advantage. Department/Directorate Information The Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery (CCDD), within the Division of Cancer Therapeutics, is a multidisciplinary 'bench to bedside' centre, comprising around 160 staff dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The CCDD’s exciting goal is to discover high quality small molecule drug candidates and to progress these to clinical trial. All the scientific disciplines are in place to make this possible, including medicinal chemistry, biology, structural biology, assay scientists, drug metabolism and clinical specialists. This is an exciting and fast-moving research setup and offers the opportunity to work within a multi-disciplinary environment using state-of-the-art techniques and equipment. What we offer A dynamic and supportive research environment Access to state-of-the-art facilities and professional development opportunities Collaboration with leading researchers in the field Competitive salary and pension We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact rob.vanmontfort@icr.ac.uk or yann-vai.lebihan@icr.ac.uk