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).
Applications for the 2024 Mason Institute Essay Competition are now closed. The competition will open again in March 2025.
2023/2024 Winners
The Mason Institute is delighted to announce the winners of the 2023/2024 MI Student Essay Competition. After reviewing many excellent submissions, the panel awarded the following:
Undergraduate Category
First Place - Kaleb Connell, 4th year LLB Law, University of Edinburgh
Second Place - Lucy Florence, 2nd year LLB Law, University of Bristol
Postgraduate Category
First place - Manini Manushi Gangal, LLM in Human Rights Law, University of Bristol
Second place - Claire McGoldrick, LLM in Medical Law & Ethics, University of Edinburgh
Third place - Katie Brill, MA in Medical Ethics and Law, University of Manchester
Thank you to everyone who participated, and congratulations to the winners
2022/2023 Winners
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2022-2023 academic year Mason Institute Essay Competition. Choosing from remarkable submissions, the panel awarded two co-winners and one runner-up at the postgraduate level. Congratulations to all our winners!
Postgraduate Winners
Chioma Dibia and Rebecca Jeyaraj, University of Edinburgh
Postgraduate Runner-up
Fabienne Cuthbert, University of Edinburgh
2021/2022 Winners
We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2021-2022 academic year Mason Institute Essay Competition. After many excellent submissions, the panel awarded one winner and two runners-up at each the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Thank you to all those who entered the competition and congratulations and well-done to all our winners!
Read more about the winners on the Mason Institute Blog website
Undergraduate Winner
Eilidh Mitchell, University of Edinburgh
Undergraduate Runners-up
Andreas Cooke, University of Edinburgh
Elia Davidson, University of Edinburgh
Postgraduate Winner
Rachel Towers, University of Manchester
Postgraduate Runners-up
Amber Boulton, University of Manchester
Chioma Dibia, University of Edinburgh
2020/2021 Winners
The Mason Institute is delighted to announce the winners and runners-up in both the undergraduate and postgraduate categories for its annual Essay Competition (2020-21 academic year). If you are interested in participating, please stay tuned for next academic year’s call, likely to be announced in September 2021.
Watch the results presentation
Undergraduate Winner
Katie Feltham: an essay on ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and whether there should be a legal right to be informed about a family member’s genetic disorder
Undergraduate Runners-up
Heather McAdam: “How Psychiatry as a Profession is Represented in the Film ‘Girl, Interrupted’: An Analysis of the Role of Institutionalisation in Mental Illness”
Maia Webb: “Is it time that the UK had a no-fault redress scheme for harm caused by medical products?”
Postgraduate Winner
Emma Nance: “Answering the ‘Real Question’ of COVID-19 Challenge Trials: Are Researchers Authorised to Intentionally Expose Research Participants to A Dangerous Pathogen?”
Postgraduate Runners-up
Matt Jordan: “In allocation of scarce, acute care resources, should priority be given to those predicted to have the highest quality of life upon recovery?”
Eve Vandevelde: An essay on the scope of the right to reproductive autonomy in light of access to reproductive technologies
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.
