Student opportunities
The Mason Institute offers a wealth of undergraduate, postgraduate and professional development opportunities at the University of Edinburgh for those with a legal, medical or social science background who wish to start or advance a career in medical law or ethics.
Heath and Medical Law and Ethics is taught in Edinburgh Law School at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including a vibrant PhD programme. Heath and Medical Law and Ethics is one of the strongest fields in Edinburgh Law School for doctoral study with over 25 doctoral graduates in the area. Supervisors have expertise across a wide range of topics including interdisciplinary areas (e.g., medical sociology, medical anthropology and science & technology studies).
2025/2026 Winners
The Mason Institute is delighted to announce the winners of the 2025/2026 MI Student Essay Competition. After reviewing many excellent submissions, the panel awarded the following:
Undergraduate category
First Place: Eve Davis, LLB, University of Edinburgh
Second Place/ Runners-up:
William Terry, LLB, University of Glasgow
Larissa Froggatt, LLB, LSE
Postgraduate category
First Place: Sam McPhillips, LLM (General), University of Edinburgh
Second Place/ Runners-up:
Sophie Sargent, Graduate Law Diploma, BPP University
Aaliya Roy Kundal, Bar Practice Course, University of Law
Previous Undergraduate Winners
| Year | Prize Winner | Runners-up |
| 2024/2025 | Sacha Wylie | Ella Henderson Zahwa Asad Shaikh |
| 2023/2024 | Kaleb Connell | Lucy Florence |
| 2021/2022 | Eilidh Mitchell | Andreas Cooke and Elia Davidson |
| 2020/2021 | Katie Feltham | Heather McAdam and Maia Webb |
Previous Postgraduate Winners
| Year | Prize Winner | Runners-up |
| 2024/2025 | Katerina Standring | Calliope Vakalopoulou and Vanessa Kwong |
| 2023/2024 | Manini Manushi Gangal | Claire McGoldrick and Katie Brill |
| 2022/2023 | Chioma Dibia and Rebecca Jeyaraj | Fabienne Cuthbert |
| 2021/2022 | Rachel Towers | Amber Boulton and Chioma Dibia |
| 2020/2021 | Emma Nance | Matt Jordan and Eve Vandevelde |
The PhD Research Group was created in 2022 by two Mason Institute (MI) PhD students for PhD students who are interested in and/or are researching in areas at the interface between ethics, law, medicine and the life sciences at the University of Edinburgh. The group, hosted by the MI, aims to support the research processes of these PhD students and lead to the creation of research outputs to strengthen the students’ research profile. To achieve this aim, the group hosts regular events and offers a number of opportunities to the student community.
The LLM in Medical Law and Ethics is offered both on-campus and online. These attract an ever-expanding range of candidates from diverse disciplines including law, bioethics, medicine, life sciences, nursing, dentistry, pharma, and the medico-legal regulatory sectors.
Edinburgh Law School programmes aim to put our LLM candidates at the leading edge of issues affecting medical law and ethics.
Learn more about the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics (on-campus) at Edinburgh Law School
Learn more about the LLM in Medical Law and Ethics (online) at Edinburgh Law School
For our PhD programme, staff welcome doctoral applications particularly in the following areas: health research regulation, global health justice, privacy and confidentiality, health research commercialisation, medical negligence and medical product liability, new health technologies, theoretical and applied bioethics, health equity and distributive, arts humanities and bioethics, and gender and reproductive health.
Learn more about the research degrees at Edinburgh Law School
Short courses
Law and Medical Ethics (online)
Edinburgh Law School is recognised as one of the leading institutions in the field of medical law and ethics and has been offering online courses in law and medical ethics since 2006.
This online course covers all of the fundamental aspects of contemporary health care and law required to assist all areas of counsel, issues in staff and patient management, and assist successful patient contact.
Find out more about our online Law and Medical Ethics course
Other opportunities
The Mason Institute provides an excellent platform for students seeking to develop their knowledge, presentation, research and enquiry skills in relation to developments at the interface between medicine, life sciences and the law. MI offers a wealth of opportunities for student-led events, internships, scholarships, and for speaking and publishing.
If you would like to write a student blog post, contribute to a student-led event, or ask any questions about our MI student opportunities, we’d love to hear from you at mason.institute@ed.ac.uk.
