PhD Studentships Guide

Written by Morgan James

A PhD studentship is funding typically attached to a specific project—this contrasts with scholarships, which are specific to a student. Full studentships cover tuition, research materials, and living costs. There’s no set value for a studentship as it varies based on the project. You can get a studentship by applying for an advertised project with a studentship attached. If you’re proposing your own project, you'll need a separate funding application.

In legends and myths, knights quested for treasure, facing off against dragons and other unpleasant beasties. In today’s world, PhD students compete with each other for studentships. Scholars agree these are highly comparable trials (citation needed).

Before you set out on your own quest, though, you should know what you're in for. I'll go over the general gist of studentships, where they come from, eligibility, and how to get that treasure for yourself.

If you find yourself facing a literal dragon during your application process (it happens), my official advice is to not get caught in the dragon breath. Being on fire is usually bad for your studentship application.

What is a PhD studentship?

As stated in the intro, studentships are doctoral funding that are usually attached to specific projects. Aside from paying for tuition and material costs, full studentships also provide a ‘stipend’ to cover your living costs (at least £20,780 for Research Council studentships). It's enough to get by, and it'll typically scale up if you live in an expensive city. Diving into pools of money probably isn't in the cards (maybe in a kiddie pool, but that doesn't have the same ring to it).

Not all studentships are ‘full’ studentships, though. Sometimes they only cover tuition fees, in which case you might need another source of funding for your living costs and research expenses. Any less than that is usually advertised as a ‘partial scholarship’ instead.

If you’re planning to propose your own project, you’ll need to look for studentships not attached to specific projects. For more information on this, see the proposing your own research project section.

Who offers PhD studentships?

Research councils

In the UK, research councils are the big cheeses in PhD funding, with seven of the them forming UKRI (UK Research and Innovation). Most studentships in the UK come from UKRI, for the record, and they’re much more likely to have fully funded studentships. Each council is responsible for a different subject area and funding is available across all academic disciplines, including Arts and Humanities as well as Social Sciences and STEM.

UKRI funding update

The nine existing UKRI funding schemes have been combined to form two new schemes; the Doctoral Focal Awards and the Doctoral Landscape Awards. All new funding will be provided through these new awards. Read our blog to know more about what these new awards are and what this change means for you.

Universities

Universities offer their own studentships, too. Some of these will be fully-funded, but you’ll also run into partial studentships. The availability of these is typically listed on the university website.

For more information, check out our guide to university PhD funding, which includes links to PhD funding resources on university websites. Those things can be confusing to navigate, so you're welcome...just don't tell the universities I said that. It might make their webmasters sad.

Professional and charitable organisations

Large charities and private companies can also be a source of studentships, often through Cooperative Awards in Science and Engineering (CASE) studentships. Quick facts about these:

They’re typically four years long.
They’re often attached to projects directly aligned to the charity or company’s goals, though some are more general.
The value varies, but you’ll typically receive full tuition at least.
Stipends offered can sometimes be significantly higher than those from UKRI.

But who are these mysterious benefactors? Well, I can’t list them all (they wouldn’t be very mysterious that way, would they?), but here are some common sources:

What are the eligibility criteria?

Academic requirements

Studentships are merit-based, so you’ll need to hit the academic requirements to be in the running. That means a 2:1 undergraduate degree or higher as a baseline, but there may be other requirements on top of that. A Masters degree in a relevant field is sometimes (but not always) required, but even when you don’t need one, it’s going to make your application look better.

Personal eligibility

Many PhD studentships are restricted to residents of certain countries or occasionally students belonging to a limited set of socio-economic backgrounds.

FYI, you can get a UKRI studentship if you’re an international student, though they currently limit successful international applicants to 30% of the whole. In other words, if you’re an international student, you’ll likely be in for tougher competition.

Other criteria

Many studentships will also carry restrictions on finding additional sources of income. These restrictions commonly include:

Restrictions on further funding — Some studentships aren’t compatible with other sources of funding (for example, you can't have a Research Council grant and a doctoral student loan).
Restrictions on outside work — Most studentships will include a restriction on the number of hours of paid employment you're allowed.

You should be able to find out about any additional restrictions the studentship has through the funding body.

International students

If you're an international student looking for PhD funding, you might be interested in our guide on international funding.

How to apply for a PhD studentship

Finding a funded PhD project

First, pop open our PhD search and click the ‘Funding’ tab. Select whichever regional funding situation is applicable, then select the ‘Discipline’ tab to choose the general topic area you’re looking for. You can filter even further if you like, but these steps should get you most of the way there.

Once you find a programme that looks interesting, all you need to do is follow the application steps listed. Sometimes you directly fill out an application form, and other times you first send an email to the supervisor. Applications via paper airplane aren’t typically recommended (even if it’s an Aerospace Engineering PhD, tragically).

If you’re looking at a Research Council studentship outside of our website, bear in mind that you don’t apply directly to the council. Councils distribute funding to universities through Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) or Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), so you’ll either be applying through the university directly or through one of those.

Proposing your own research project

Since studentships are typically attached to specific projects, this is the more unusual option. This will be most relevant for Arts, Humanities and Social Science projects, since those aren’t often advertised as pre-designed projects.

If proposing your own research project sounds like your cup of tea (or coffee?), you'll want to follow these steps to get funding:

Check studentship options at your university/the funding body to see if they’d be interested in your project.
Develop a detailed research proposal.
Apply for a PhD position at the university.
Once accepted, submit an application for studentship funding (either to the university or the funding body of your choice).

Applications to private funding bodies generally need to be made with your supervisor. If this is the case, you should discuss this with your supervisor before applying for a PhD position. Applications for Research Council or university funding can be made directly to the university at which you've been accepted for a PhD.

Student voices: Winning a PhD studentship

If you'd like a peek into the journey directly from a PhD student, check out how Melanie Brown (eventually) won her PhD studentship, including how to boost your chances of success.

Tips from the author

#1 Watch your terms and conditions

Once you get the studentship, it’ll typically come with some terms and conditions for you to stick to. The most common is being restricted from outside work, though in these cases, it’s not usually an issue—the studentship should provide enough for you to get by without a side hustle. Other requirements are stuff like completing external courses, teaching hours at the university, and giving regular updates on your research.

#2 Try not to take rejection too personally

Much like when applying for a job, being rejected doesn’t necessarily mean your application was bad. Studentships are highly competitive (especially the fully funded ones), and you really have no idea what sorts of people you’re competing with. There’s plenty more fish in the sea (or about the sea, if you like), and studentships aren’t the only kind of funding available. Check out our general funding guide for an overview of your options.

Frequently asked questions

Are PhD studentships tax free?

In the majority of cases, yes! You’ll also excluded from certain other taxes (such as council tax) since you’re classified as a student. This means that the value of the maintenance grant from your stipend will be slightly higher than a similar amount earned through employment. Nice.

Are there studentships available for international students?

Yes! Since the 2020/21 academic year, international students have been eligible to apply for full Research Council Studentships. It's worth noting that studentships will only cover fees at the domestic rate, meaning there may be some excess for you to pay—many universities will choose to waive this, however. If you want more information on finding funding as an international student, why not take a look at our guide on the subject?

When are PhD studentships advertised?

PhD studentships are advertised at the same time as the project they’re attached to. You can find PhD projects with attached funding using our PhD search tool.

If you’re looking to propose your own research topic, you’ll need to check funding deadlines with the organisation you’re applying to. Some will accept applications year-round while others will only have one or two application windows per year.

Ready to find a PhD?

Search for a PhD by topic, location and funding available on our website.

PhD Studentships Guide

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What is a PhD studentship?