What are Bench Fees?

Bench fees are charges on top of tuition that cover extra costs incurred during postgraduate research (field trips, equipment hire, etc.). They’re typically around £5,000 a year, though it varies depending on the nature of the research. You can get funding to cover bench fees through university scholarships, charity grants and PhD student loans.

You want to use the particle accelerator? Well, that might cost you extra (especially if you try putting a Malteser in there For Science™).  

If you’re fortunate, these bench fees (or ‘research support fees’) will be listed on the PhD advert. In less fortunate instances, you’ll either need to inquire with your supervisor or wait for your offer letter. This is what scholars might call ‘a pain in the butt’.

Before you go asking around, though, I’ve got more info for you. I’ll go over more detail on the costs, what they cover, and how you can get out of paying them (my earpiece tells me that’s called ‘funding’, apparently).

How much are bench fees?

I mentioned earlier that £5,000 a year is typical—that’s because it’s the amount usually allocated by Research Council Studentships via their Research Training Support Grant. With that said, if you’ve got a project that requires highly costly equipment or intensive laboratory usage, you could pay up to £10,000 a year. The pursuit of knowledge ain't always cheap, as it turns out.

A few other things to note on the cost:

• If you’re an international student, you’ll still pay the same amount (for once).
• The fee is fixed on your enrolment, so it won’t go up even if the research now costs more for the university.
• You won’t normally pay VAT (Value Added Tax) on bench fees as a PhD student. Bench fees only incur VAT if you’re using facilities for non-educational activities. Check with your university’s tax office if you’re not sure.

What do bench fees cover?

It depends on what kind of research you’re doing, but here’s what they typically cover:

• Laboratory work: access to labs and the essential facilities within them.
• Specialist equipment use: anything ‘specialist’ is typically expensive, after all.
• Field work: costs associated with conducting research outside the university setting.
• Consumables: these include materials like chemicals, labware, and reagents.
• Computer software/hardware: access to specialised software and hardware needed for data analysis or computational research.

It’s no coincidence that these are all STEM-related examples—if you’re not studying a STEM subject, you may not be charged bench fees at all. That’s not to say that non-STEM subjects have no research costs, but they’re usually low enough that the university can take the hit. I can’t think of a reason you’d spend £5,000 on your Gothic Literature research (necromancy, perhaps?).

Frequently asked questions