Funding for postgraduate research

Funding

For successful applicants, The University of Manchester will cover your full tuition fees for the period of the relevant programme as outlined in the offer letter (usually three years). CSC will provide living allowances as prescribed by the Chinese Government, and will cover the round-trip international airfare for students from China to the UK, visa and passport application fees.

Criteria

• Candidates will be citizens and permanent residents of the People's Republic of China at the time of application; overseas Chinese students may be eligible for application subject to CSC policy at the time (CSC publicises the policy in October or November every year).
• Successful candidates must return to China upon completion of their studies and/or research.
• Candidates must hold an unconditional offer from The University of Manchester. You must fulfil the relevant academic entry requirements set by your chosen school at The University of Manchester, including a high level of English language proficiency.
• Candidates should satisfy the selection criteria set out by CSC.

Departmental application deadline: 14 January 2022.

UK and EU students

Funding is available for UK and EU nationals for the three-year PhD programme.

The Department studentship pays all tuition fees as well as a stipend award for three years. Applicants must be eligible to pay 'home' fees. There will sometimes also be an opportunity to undertake teaching in the form of laboratory demonstration work in order to supplement your income.

To be considered you must have an academic offer for a place on the PhD in Computer Science.

International students

The Department has a number of full fees studentships and partial fees contribution awards available to suitably qualified international PhD candidates. The full fee studentship will pay the international fee for the duration of the programme (with the exception of the writing up year). The partial fee awards will pay the difference between the full international and home fee level each year over three years (approximately 75% of the full international fee). The Department cannot make any contribution towards living expenses and the University must be satisfied that the applicant has sufficient external funding to support the required three years of study.

In order to be considered you must have an academic offer for a place on the PhD in Computer Science.

• Find out how to apply for a postgraduate programme in the Department of Computer Science

Potential awardees will be considered on a rolling basis from September - March, so it is important you apply for the PhD early. Applicants will be interviewed in person or via Skype by the funding interview panel.

The UK government has confirmed that doctoral loans will be available for those studying PhDs (and equivalent doctoral programmes) from 2024/25.

The loan will be for a maximum of £29,390 over the duration of the course.

UK nationals, who are ordinarily resident in England, aged 59 or under, who are not already receiving funding via a UK Research Council, will be eligible. The government is currently considering making EU students eligible.

The loans will be available for all types of doctoral study (eg PhD, as well as all professional doctorates such as DBA, EdD), at all UK universities.

A summary of the main features of the loan is available on FindaPhD.com.

Our EPSRC DTP Studentships enable exceptional postgraduate research candidates to undertake a 3.5-year research project in the field of engineering and physical sciences. We have approximately 53 x 3.5-year studentships (home fees plus standard UKRI stipend) available for application.

At least nine of these will be industry collaborative CASE Studentships, where a minimum of three months will be spent by the student researcher in industry. The student is co-supervised by an academic supervisor and a qualified employee of the industrial partner and benefits from exposure to cutting-edge research relevant to the industrial partners’ priorities and objectives.

A small number of the most exceptional candidates will also be offered the opportunity to become part of the annual cohort of President’s Doctoral Scholars, an honour that provides them with advanced leadership training as well as an enhanced stipend.

For more information email pgr-compsci@manchester.ac.uk

Below is a list of organisations that offer funding to students of specific nationalities or gender. If any further information is required, such as eligibility and criteria details, please contact the organisation directly.

There are many other organisations not included in this list that maybe able to offer support. Students should apply directly to the relevant organisation.

• British Chevening Scholarships - These scholarships are prestigious awards funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office given to students for study in any subject area but preference is given to postgraduate students or those with an established career.
• British Federation of Women Graduates - Scholarships available for female postgraduate research students.
• British Marshall Scholarships - Scholarships for high calibre graduate students from the US to study in the UK.
• Commonwealth Scholarships - Postgraduate scholarships for Commonwealth students administered by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).
• Croucher Foundation - Scholarships for Hong Kong-born students.
• Fulbright student scholarships - Applicants from the United States can apply to the US-UK Fulbright Commission for a Fulbright Award.
• Global Education Program (GEP) - Russian government funding programme that offers Russian citizens an opportunity to study at leading foreign higher education institutions.
• Henry Lester Trust - Support awards given to Chinese students (including those from Hong Kong) studying for a PhD.
• LPDP Funding Indonesia - Full funding for students with Indonesian nationality, graduated from an accredited Indonesian university or an overseas university acknowledged by the Indonesian Higher Education Directorate (DIKTI), maximum age 40 (for PhD programme).
• UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKREI) - This is a major government funding initiative supported by the DfES, FCO and OSI.

Dean’s Doctoral Scholarships operate on a nomination basis. The lead supervisor will nominate candidates for consideration by the Faculty and in order to be considered, applicants must hold an offer for a place on one of our PhD programmes.

It is therefore essential that you apply for a place on the PhD programme of your choice as early as possible and that you specify in the funding section of your PhD application form that you wish to be considered for the Dean’s Doctoral Scholarship funding.

Further information and entry criteria can be found on the Dean's Doctoral Scholarship page (add link), on the Faculty of Science and Engineering website.

The President’s Doctoral Scholar (PDS) award is the University’s flagship funding initiative, and is strongly supported by the University's President and Vice Chancellor, Professor Duncan Ivison.

The scheme offers elite postgraduate research studentships each year and is open to students of all nationalities and across all research areas.

Successful PDS award candidates can receive funding for their doctoral studies, as well as an additional £1,000 enhancement to their stipend. PDS award-holders are students of the highest calibre, who have the commitment and desire to work on challenging research projects in world-leading research environments.

Further information and entry criteria can be found on the President's Doctoral Scholarship page, on the Faculty of Science and Engineering website.