The Thomas Marns Scholarship for Postgraduate Research Study

We are delighted to announce we are seeking applications for the Thomas Marns Scholarship. This was established following a generous bequest from the Marns family, to support a series of talented graduates to study for a PhD on a cutting-edge topic relating to pharmaceutical science and/or practice.   

This scholarship seeks ambitious applicants hungry for opportunity, who may have experienced hardship or have been disadvantaged in the pursuit of their education.  We would particularly welcome applications from the BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) community. 

This substantial fund has been set up by Mr Marns’s daughter, Joyce Leffingwell Randolph, and his granddaughter Patricia Hotham (nee Marns), an alumna of the School who graduated in 1967. 
 
Thomas Marns was born in Sunderland. He served his apprenticeship to Mr Charles Rankin and served as an assistant, first to a pharmacy in Northallerton, and then to Collis and Williams of Valetta, Malta. Returning to England, he qualified as a chemist and druggist from the Westminster College of Pharmacy in 1910. The following five years were spent at Boots, four of them as a branch manager in Southampton. In 1915 he acquired a business in Ealing, and he then went on to found his own firm, Thomas Marns Ltd, which owned a number of pharmacies in west London. He also became European manager for “Carter’s liver pills”, a position that gave him considerable importance in the pharmaceutical world and gave him the change to travel extensively.

In 1922 Thomas Marns was elected as a member of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society and was President of the Pharmaceutical Society from 1936 to 1938; he subsequently retired in 1940. His son (Patricia’s father) Thomas, was a graduate of The School of Pharmacy and changed the course of Thomas Marns Ltd into a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. 

Details about the scholarship
The scholarship is open to UK students and consists of fees equivalent to the standard postgraduate UK (2025/26: £6,215) plus a maintenance stipend (2024/25: £21,237) for full-time study. The scholarship also includes additional research costs of up to £5,000 per year for the stated duration of the programme. 

How to apply
Interested applicants should have, or expect to gain, their undergraduate degree in a relevant subject (Pharmacy, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics and related sciences).  Please send a covering letter, CV, and a one page personal statement describing your education journey and why you want to pursue PhD studies to Michelle Ward at SoP.MarnsScholarship@ucl.ac.uk.  

The deadline for applications is 1st June 2025 and interviews will be held in mid June 2025.

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