The University is pleased to announce a range of international PhD studentships available to start in September 2025. We award these to highly qualified applicants for research within the areas of science, life sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, and within the Henley Business School.
What is available?
The studentships offer:
- tuition fees at the International rate
- a £1,000 per annum training and development allowance
- for applicants intending to study based at Reading only, a subsistence grant (stipend) broadly in line with the UKRI minimum stipend. The 2024/25 stipend rate is £19,237.
All awards are for up to four years in duration for full-time study and up to six years in duration for part-time study.
Eligibility
Applications are invited from students who have applied for a place on a PhD programme at the University of Reading to study based at Reading or off campus/by distance.
Applicants wishing to study off-campus/by distance are only eligible for awards covering tuition fees and the training and development allowance; awards to off campus/by-distance applicants do not include a stipend.
Deadline
The deadline for applications is Monday 6th January 2025.
The competition process is in two stages. The first selection process takes place within Schools, whereby two candidates from each School are chosen for nomination to the final selection process, which takes place in the Doctoral and Researcher College.
How to apply
1. Contact your School or Department
As a first step, you should check with the postgraduate research administrator in your School or Department that your proposed research can be supervised by the School/Department.
2. Apply for a place of admission
You will need to submit an application for admission to a PhD programme in your chosen subject via our online admissions portal. If you are not sure to which programme to apply, consult with your postgraduate research administrator or with the School's director of postgraduate research studies.
In the "scholarships applied for" box which appears within the funding section of your online application, please quote "International Research Studentship Competition".
If you have already applied and did not quote the competition, do not worry. Please proceed to step three -- completion of the studentship application form. Completing this form will make your School aware of your interest in applying for the studentship.
3. Complete the studentship application form
You will need to complete the short application form for the “International PhD Studentship Competition” which is available here:
International PhD Studentship Application Form
This forms generates an automatic confirmation of submission when it is submitted. There is no need to contact us to check whether it has been submitted.
What happens next?
Once the deadline for applications has passed, the next stage of the competition takes place within Schools, where an internal selection process is carried out and Schools nominate two candidates for the main studentship competition in the Doctoral and Researcher College.
If you have been nominated by your School, the School will inform you and ask you to prepare a summary research proposal:
- The international studentship competition requires a research proposal with a maximum length of 700 words, excluding title and references. (If you uploaded a longer research proposal for your admissions application, this can be shortened for the funding competition.)
- The research proposal is an important element of the funding decision; it is advisable to consult the Doctoral and Researcher College's guidance on writing a research proposal for a PhD or MPhil application (PDF, 1.3) and your proposed supervisor.
- The research proposal must be your work, but your supervisor may guide and advise you on developing and improving the proposal.
In the last stage of the competition is where nominated candidates are put forward for the final selection and panel members decide on who will be awarded the studentships. This will take place at the end of March 2025.
Successful candidates will be notified via a formal studentship award letter by the end of April 2025. Please note that this is provided separately from any offer of admission and will be subject to standard checks for eligibility and other criteria.
Application deadline
Monday 6th January 2025
Further enquiries
Please contact the Doctoral Studentships Officer
The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive student community. It supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ rights equality.
The University of Reading Equal Opportunities policy applies:
The University of Reading is committed to a policy of equal opportunities and non-discriminatory treatment for all members of its community regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race (to include colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.