Looking for fully funded PhD scholarships in UK for international students to study in the United Kingdom? You’ve found it. We’ve put together a comprehensive list of PhD/doctoral scholarships to study in UK. A good number are fully funded scholarships in UK, while the others are partial fee or tuition fee scholarships.
Before we get to it, here are basic things you need to know about applying too study for PhD degree in UK.
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Studying for a PhD is a big decision. A traditional PhD, also referred to as a doctorate, is a postgraduate research degree which involves writing a thesis based on a substantial, original piece of research. The length of a PhD is usually 3 years but may be extended to 4 years.
There are two options for PhD studies:
Students are required to have successfully completed an undergraduate degree and a masters degree from a recognized university in order to apply for a PhD. Each university and course has different entry requirements. You will need to check the specific entry requirements for the course you are interested in. As an international student, in most cases, you will be required to meet the English language requirements which usually range between IELTS 6.0 and 7.0.
Many universities in UK strongly advise students to contact a potential supervisor before making a formal application for PhD. You may wish to provide the supervisor with a copy of your Curriculum Vitae and indicate what your proposed topic of study is or which project you are interested in.
Some universities require you to submit a full research proposal as part of the application. In this case, it is important to speak to your potential supervisor first to ensure the topic will be acceptable.
Many universities and organizations offer UK scholarships for international students to study for PhD. We have put together a compressive list to help you navigate the available funding opportunities for PhD. Be sure to come back to this page often because we will be updating this page from time to time.
Be sure to watch this video to the end, because you will learn a lot about scholarships in UK.
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The University of Cambridge opens application for all scholarships that require you to apply to the University of Cambridge via the normal online application form, and most scholarships that require you to apply by the relevant deadline.
Application Deadlines:
Number of Awards: Not specified
Value of Award: Full-funded
Duration of Program: Duration of candidates program
The University of Strathclyde Faculty of Engineering Excellence Scholarship (FEES) offers a number of scholarships for self-funded, international (non-EU) fee-paying students with excellent academic qualifications.
Application Deadline: 10th August
Eligibility: All self-funded, international (non-EU) fee paying students holding an offer and looking to start their full-time undergraduate, postgraduate taught or postgraduate research course at Strathclyde.
Number of Awardees: Not specified
Value of Scholarship: Up to £3,750
Duration of Scholarship: One year
Each year, Commonwealth Scholarships for Master’s and PhD study in the UK are offered for citizens of developing Commonwealth countries. These scholarships are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with the aim of contributing to the UK’s international development aims and wider overseas interests, supporting excellence in UK higher education, and sustaining the principles of the Commonwealth.
Application Deadline: 22nd February
Number of Scholarships: Approximately 300 scholarships are awarded each year. There are no quotas for scholarships for any individual country.
Duration of Scholarships: 12 months for Masters and up to 36 months for PhD
Value of Scholarships: Each scholarship provides:
Up to two full scholarships are available for applicants to full-time master’s or DPhil courses in any subject at the University of Oxford.
Application Deadline: 8th or 19th January
Number of Awardees: 2
Value of Scholarship: The scholarship covers course fees, college fees and a grant for living costs of at least £14,553.
Duration of Scholarship: Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for the agreed course.
Windle Trust International is a registered UK charity located in the University city of Oxford, with offices also in Sudan, and sister organizations in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. The Trust’s work is funded by a wide range of donors and supported by universities and colleges in Britain and Africa.Windle Trust International awards Undergraduate and Postgraduate scholarships to youths and refugees in Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya and other African countries to study in Africa or UK.
Application Deadline: 31st March
Field of Study: Preference is given to subjects that offer a high probability of future employment and are of direct value to development.
Value of Award:
Duration of Scholarship: Priority is given to applicants for postgraduate programmes up to one year in length.
The Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust supports the work of mature students of proven academic merit, and in financial need, who are pursuing further degree qualifications at an institution in the UK. Open to students from all countries, applicants must be resident in the UK at the time of applying, as well as during their course of study. Applications are welcome from students beginning their first year of study, as well as from those already embarked on their degree course.
Application Deadline: 31st March
Number of Awardees: 300
Value of the Program: Grants are normally from £400 to £1,200 in value. They are intended to cover the shortfall incurred by educational and subsistence expenses upon payment of tuition fees.
Duration of Scholarship: All grants are awarded for a full year of academic study and for one year only.
Under the prestigious Felix Scholarships scheme, four Felix Scholarships will be available to well qualified students from developing countries to pursue postgraduate study at the University. These scholarships are available for pursuing full-time MPhil/PhD programme or Taught Masters programme
Application Deadline: 30th January
Number of Awardees: 5
Value of Scholarship: These scholarships cover tuition fees at the international rate and provide a stipend (maintenance grant) to cover living expenses (the current level of which is £14,005). They also provide generous allowances for clothes, books and a return flight home.
Duration of Scholarship: The awards are available (depending on eligibility) for up to 3 years.
The Centre of African Studies at SOAS, University of London, offers the extension of the Governance for Development in Africa Initiative, funded by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, for another three years, until 2021. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has generously provided SOAS with two PhD scholarships every year for African students undertaking a full‐time PhD and Masters programme in the field of Governance for Development in Africa.
Application Deadline: 31st March.
Fields of Study: The eligible PhD are only those within the following departments:
Number of Awardees: 2
Value of Scholarship:
Duration of Scholarship: 3 years
The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies is a Recognized Independent Centre of the University of Oxford. It was established in 1985 to encourage the scholarly study of Islam and the Islamic world. The Centre provides a meeting point for the Western and Islamic worlds of learning. At Oxford, it contributes to the multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary study of the Islamic world. Beyond Oxford, its role is strengthened by an international network of academic contacts.
Application Deadline: 8th or 19th January, depending on your course
Number of Awardees: Up to 5
Value of Scholarship: The scholarship will cover 100% of University and college fees and a grant for living costs (of at least £14,553).
Duration of Scholarship: Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for the agreed course.
The Rhodes scholarship is administered by the Rhodes Trust, Oxford and is a postgraduate award that seeks to support exceptional students from around the world to study at the University of Oxford. Scholars may pursue any full time postgraduate degree offered by the University of Oxford for a duration of two years with an option of a third year.
Application Deadline: 14th October
Number of Awards: Not specified
Value of Award: Full tuition, a maintenance stipend (covering accommodation, feeding, and incidentals) and one economy class airfare to and from Oxford at the beginning and end of tenure.
Duration of Program: two years with an option of a third year.
The University of Buckingham is making a first class scholarship available to both home and international students undertaking a taught postgraduate degree at the University. The University of Buckingham would like to encourage students to come to Buckingham regardless of their financial circumstances. The bursaries and scholarships being offered are awarded on merit and/or on financial need.
Application Timeline: 3rd November
Value of Scholarship: The scholarship will reduce tuition fees by 33%.
Duration of Scholarship: Duration of course
The Clarendon Fund offers around 140 full scholarships every year to academically excellent graduate students from all around the world. Clarendon Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence and potential across all degree-bearing subjects at graduate level at the University of Oxford.
Application Deadline: 8th or 19th January
Number of Awards: Several
Value of Award: All Clarendon Scholarships cover tuition and college fees in full and a generous grant for living expenses.
Duration of Program: Clarendon Scholarships are offered for the full period that you are liable to pay tuition fees to the University, which is usually the same as the length of your course
Gates Cambridge Trust offers full fee postgraduate (Masters and PhD) Scholarships for outstanding International students to study any course at the University of Cambridge, UK. They are awarded to outstanding applicants from countries outside the UK to pursue a full-time postgraduate degree in any subject available at the University of Cambridge. The programme aims to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.
Application Deadline: Opens 4th September closes in January
Number of Scholarship: Several
Value of Scholarship
Duration of Scholarship: For the duration of the programme
The African Palliative Care Scholarships will allow students to gain essential qualifications, skills and experience that can be applied to local healthcare settings and to meet palliative care needs in Africa. The MSc and PhD in Palliative Care have made a global impact on the volume of high quality research used to inform clinical care and palliative care policy. The MSc has a total 741 outputs from its alumni so far, which includes research in scientific journals and academic textbooks such as the British Medical Journal and the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine.
Application Deadline: 14th September
Number of Awardees: Two (2)
Value of Scholarship: Each African Palliative Care Scholarships will fund tuition fees, travel, accommodation and living expenses. Additional research costs are available for the PhD student.
Duration of Scholarship: For MSc: one year; PhD: three years
The Institute of Education (IOE), University College, London is partnering with the International Students House (ISH) to offer doctoral students from developing countries full scholarship.
Application Deadline: 8th April
Number of Awardees: Not specified
Value of Scholarship: ISH provides accommodation, while the IOE covers tuition fees. The scholarship does not cover subsistence in London or travel.
Duration of Scholarship: 3 years
Newcastle University is committed to offering support to the very best international students hoping to pursue a programme of research. The university is pleased to offer a small number of University funded NUORS awards for outstanding international students who apply to commence PhD studies in any subject.
Application Deadline: 27th April
Number of Scholarships: 15
Value of Scholarship: This award covers the difference between home and overseas fee rates (value approximately £10,800 to £16,200 per annum)
Duration of Scholarship: for the period of the programme
Every year, Loughborough University UK offers its full-fee scholarships for international full-time taught postgraduate students who are currently domiciled (permanently living) in Africa. The Loughborough University Graduate School Development Trust Africa Scholarships covers 100% of the course fees for your chosen postgraduate taught course for one year (replacing any Departmental or Loughborough University scholarships or bursaries you may already have been awarded).
Application Deadline: 30th April
Number of Scholarships: The University will award a limited number of scholarships
Value of the Program: The scholarship will cover 100% of the course fees. Students will be expected to fund their travel and maintenance costs through other sources.
Duration of Program: Financial award will last for the full duration of the postgraduate taught degree programme
The University of Manchester offers the President’s Doctoral Scholar (PDS) for meritorious students. The awards are allocated to the most outstanding applicants seeking PhD training opportunities.
Application Deadline: 2nd March
Number of Awards: 1
Value of Award: The PDS award will include full Home or Overseas tuition fees and an annual stipend of at least RCUK minimum stipend rate (£14,764) + £1,000.
Duration of Program: 3 years
The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan is one of the largest and most prestigious scholarships schemes for international study in the world. Commonwealth Split-site Scholarships support one year’s study at a UK university as part of a PhD being undertaken in a candidate’s home country, under the joint supervision of a home country and UK supervisor.
Application Deadline: 15th February
Number of Scholarships: Several
Value of Scholarship: Each scholarship provides:
Duration of Scholarship: One year
University of Nottingham Engineering Research PhD scholarship is awarded to recognize and reward applications from outstanding international students registering on Engineering research degree programmes
Application Deadline: 9th March
Number of Awardees: 12
Value of Scholarship: Full tuition fee scholarships plus a stipend of £1,015 per month
Duration of Scholarship: Three-year full-time PhD research degree programme
Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarships for Research Excellence aim to recognize and reward applications from outstanding international students from the Faculties of Arts, Medicine and Health Sciences, Science and Social Sciences. Applications from suitable candidates are welcome but would particularly be valued from strong candidates wishing to work within the research priority areas of each faculty.
Application Deadline: 9th March
Number of Awardees: 50
Value of Scholarship: Full-tuition
Duration of Scholarship: up to 3 years of a research programme, subject to satisfactory progress.
The University of Manchester has recently launched £2.5m investment in PhD training with the President’s Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards. Alliance Manchester Business School provides a thriving research environment, and the opportunity to work with the top international scholars in the full range of business and management disciplines, accounting and finance, and information systems. The University normally has a range of scholarships, studentships and bursaries available for students commencing their doctoral studies.
Application Deadline: 15th December
Number of Awardees: Not specified
Value of Scholarship: In addition to standard awards which include tuition fee and stipend, successful PDS Award candidates are entitled to an additional £1,000 p.a. enhancement to their funded stipend/living allowance plus more.
Duration of Scholarship: 3 years
If you are a high performing undergraduate or Master’s student and have a strong desire to undertake a PhD programme at a world class research institution, you could be selected to receive full tuition fees and a generous stipend for a PhD place at Imperial College London. The President’s PhD Scholarships aims to provide up to 50 research students with great potential the opportunity to work within their chosen research field with the support of an excellent supervisor.
Application Deadlines: 10th November and 23rd March
Number of Awardees: up to 50
Value of Scholarship:
Duration of Scholarship: up to 3.5 years
One full scholarship is available for applicants who are ordinarily resident in Sub-Saharan African countries eligible for Rhodes Scholarships who are applying to a full-time DPhil course at the University. The scholarship is jointly funded by the University, Linacre College and the Rhodes Trust.
Application Deadline: 19th January
Number of Awardees: 1
Value of Scholarship: The scholarship covers course fees, college fees and a grant for living costs of at least £14,553.
Duration of Scholarship: Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for the agreed course.
The University of Cambridge, via the Cambridge Trusts, offers approximately 250 Cambridge International Scholarships to Overseas Students who embark on a research course in the next academic year. The awards will be made on a competitive basis to those applicants considered by their departments to be the most outstanding.
Application Deadline: 6th December
Number of Scholarships: 250
Value of Scholarship: Each award will underwrite the full cost of fees and maintenance for the duration of the course.
Duration of Scholarship: The award has a maximumduration of three years and is available to all students who will be registered for a three year research programme, leading to the PhD (including CPGS), that starts in the next academic year.
The Sussex Chancellors Scholarship is a merit-based award recognizing, and rewarding, PhD students who want to undertake PhD research at the University. The University of Sussex welcomes applications from outstanding international applicants across the arts and humanities for 10 fully funded Research Scholarships.
Application Deadline: 2nd February
Number of Awardees: 10
Value of Scholarship: Fees and stipend plus a Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)
Duration of Scholarship: Scholarships are tenable for one year in the first instance, renewable annually for a maximum of 3 years.
With history dating back to 1823, the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University is globally acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost institutes. Scholarship recipients become members of Pembroke College, the third oldest and one of the most highly regarded colleges. The Boustany Astronomy PhD Scholarship is granted once every three years, for a PhD course at The Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University. Successful scholars are expected to complete a two-month unpaid internship with the Foundation.
Application Deadline: 28th February.
Number of Awards: 1
Value of Award: The Scholarship offers the following:
The University of Warwick offers the Chancellor’s International Scholarships for overseas Postgraduate research applications for entry in October. The University Scholarship will offer full fees support and maintenance award to international doctoral students of the highest caliber. The University will offer scholarship to approximately 17 of the most outstanding international PhD applicants. Applicants may be from any discipline at Warwick, and be from any nationality.
Application Deadline: 2nd February
Number of Awards: 25 Scholarships will be awarded
Value of Award:
Duration of Program: 3.5 years unless you are already in your first year of study when you apply then the length of funding will be reduced accordingly
The Allan & Nesta Trust awards grants to postgraduate PhD students, whether from overseas or from the UK, to help meet tuition costs, but only in respect of the last year of their course. The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust was set up in 1979 by their son and daughter in law, John and Elnora. Its objectives have closely followed the interests of the Ferguson family in their commitment to education, peace and development in the Third World. Over the last 15 years, more than £30 million has been distributed to a range of charities working in the UK and overseas.
Application Deadline: 31st December
Number of Awards: Not specified
Value of Program: £4,000 GBP
Duration of Program: Final Year of PhD Course
London School of Economics and Political Science offers full scholarships for new PhD students. They are available for Home UK/EU and Overseas students undertaking full time research in any LSE discipline, with annual renewal subject to satisfactory academic performance at the School.
Application Deadline: There will be three rounds of studentship selection
Number of Awardees: 100
Duration of Program: LSE PhD Studentships are tenable for four years
Value of the Program: LSE PhD Studentships cover full fees and an annual stipend of £18,000.
The African Studies Committee invites applications for the ORISHA Studentship for research in the Humanities in Africa from persons who will be registered as graduate students of the University.
Application Deadline: January
Field of Study: Students may be registered in any of the following disciplines: African Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, Development Studies, History, Human Geography, Literature, Politics and International Relations, Religious Studies. Proposals must include a major focus on Africa.
Number of Scholarships: Not Specified
Value of the Program: The scholarship will cover college and university fees and a maintenance allowance.
Duration of Program: The award is available for three-year doctoral degrees. Renewal for two and three year periods is subject to satisfactory progress.
The University of Manchester is committed to supporting postgraduate research students. Each year the University invests substantially in doctoral funding. In addition to these internal funds, the University is highly successful in attracting sponsorship for research students, in particular from the research councils, industry, trusts and charities. The University of Manchester is offering its President’s Doctoral Scholar Awards (PDS Award) for September entry to all nationalities and research areas.
Application Deadline: 5th December
Field of Study: Within the Faculty of Science and Engineering,
Number of Awardees: At least 40 scholarships
Value of Scholarship: PDS Awards status will entitle successful candidates to a further £1,000 enhancement to their funded stipend/living allowance. They will also benefit from (see link for details)
Duration of Scholarship: Duration of research
The University of Edinburgh offers Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship for international students to study for PhD. These awards are designed to attract high quality overseas research students to the University of Edinburgh.
Application Deadline: 1st February
Number of Scholarships: 30
Value of the Program: Each award covers the difference between the tuition fee for a UK/EU graduate student and that chargeable to an overseas graduate student.
Duration: Subject to satisfactory progress, the awards are tenable for up to three years.
This scholarship scheme provides a valuable opportunity for postgraduate research students to undertake a package of training and development which will help them to develop the necessary skills required to meet their career choices and offer them a breadth of development opportunities in areas such as teaching, public engagement, entrepreneurship, and research.
Application Deadline: 1st February
Field of Study: Scholars will usually focus on one career development area. These include:
Number of Scholarships: up to45
Scholarship Benefits: Each scholarship covers the UK/EU rate of tuition fee as well as a stipend of £15,000.
Duration of Program: Subject to satisfactory progress, the scholarships are awarded for three years.
Up to two full scholarships are available for applicants who are ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe or Vietnam and who are applying to the full-time DPhil in Clinical Medicine, specializing in Tropical Medicine and Global Health. The scholarship is jointly funded by the University and the Oak Foundation, which aims to fund the brightest future scientists and make a significant impact on infectious disease research around the world.
Application Deadline: by January
Fields of Study: DPhil in Clinical Medicine, specializing in Tropical Medicine and Global Health.
Number of Awardees: two
Value of Scholarship: The scholarship covers course fees, college fees and a grant for living costs of at least £14,553.
Duration of Scholarship: Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for the agreed course.
The EPSRC Doctoral Prize is a prestigious scheme aimed at developing the very best EPSRC funded students beyond the end of their PhD and help them launch a successful career in research as potential future research leaders. Successful applicants will be expected to take their research to the next level and undertake significant new research; the Prize must not be viewed merely as an opportunity to continue/complete PhD work although continuation of specific work from the applicants’ PhD that will result in publications may be permitted.
Application Deadline: 14th August
Number of Awardees: Not specified
Value of Scholarship:
Duration of Scholarship: 12 months
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This post was last modified on July 24, 2023 1:39 pm