Step-by-Step Guide on How to Find Funded PhD Programs in the UK as an International Student
My decision to pursue a PhD after graduation was soon met with a realisation of how expensive PhD studentships are, particularly for international students. The annual tuition fee alone was over £22,000 for most universities, so I decided that if I was not able to secure funding for my PhD I would not pursue it, at least not yet. I began looking into funding opportunities and was quickly overwhelmed by how little I knew about funding options available to international students. I simply had no idea where to look.
It says something to be overwhelmed by a lack of options.
Fortunately, I am now a PhD student working on host-pathogen interaction and my studentship is fully funded by the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh. Hence, I thought I could share a step-by-step guide on how I found funded PhD projects and programs.
Step 1: Visit www.findaphd.com
Findaphd.com is a website where supervisors/ principal investigators advertise available PhD positions in their lab. It is similar to a job search website, but for PhD projects. Supervisors from across the world advice PhD positions on this website, but I think it is particularly good for finding a PhD in the UK. The positions advertised on this website are usually for specific projects that the supervisor has already envisioned, so you can read through the project descriptions and see whether it a project you would be interested in working on. I feel like almost all PhD positions in the UK are advertised on this website.
Step 2: Make Use of the Available Filters
This is my best tip for using this website. There are thousands of projects advised on the website and it would not be an efficient use of time to look through each submission. So make sure to utilize the filters.
Right from the front page, you can pick the specific category you are interested in. For me, I went straight to the Biological and Biomedical Sciences discipline.
But don’t stop there. When you are taken to the next page, you will find a list of more filter options on the left-hand corner of the page. You can filter by location and subject area if you already have something specific in mind.
But what I found most useful was filtering by Funding. As an international student choose the “I am a non-European student” option to see all the PhD positions that already have some form of funding attached to them. This could be funding from the university itself or external scholarships.
Step 3: Read the details of any project you are interested in thoroughly.
When you click on a title you find interesting, it will take you to a page with the project description, application requirements, funding note and other details.
It is important to read the project description because it provides a background to the research area. Within the description, supervisors may also set out clear aims for the PhD project. But more often than not, the project aims are not set in stone and the supervisors are more than happy for you to take the project in a direction that better suits your interests. These are the type of discussions to have with the supervisor if you are invited for an interview. And it will show that you have engaged with the research question and are excited by the research.
For example, my undergraduate background is in Genetics, but during that time I developed an interest in infectious disease research. So although I am working in a host-pathogen interaction lab, I have incorporated investigating the effect of human genetic polymorphism on host-pathogen interaction into my research aims.
Also, pay close attention to the application requirements and application guidelines. In a lot of cases, you will be asked to visit the University or Institution website to fill out an online application form. However, you may also be asked to send specific documents such as your CV and personal statement to a given email address. Make sure to follow the specified instructions.
Finally, pay close attention to the funding notes. This section provides the details of the type of funding you are going to receive if you get accepted. It will tell you whether the funding will cover your complete tuition fee or whether it will only cover tuition to the UK/EU level meaning that you will have to find another source to cover the remaining cost. It will also tell you whether you will get a stipend (a tax-free salary) and how much you will receive. Sometimes, the supervisors are still waiting to find out whether their application for funding has been accepted or rejected, so they will also make this known.
Other Funding Options:
Aside from using FindAPhd.com, you could look into government scholarships like the commonwealth scholarship. These types of scholarships often require that you have been living in your home country for, at the very least, the last three years. Some also require that you have not received any education in a “first world country”. I did my undergraduate degree in China and the UK, so I did not meet the requirement; therefore, I don’t have any experience with the application process.
There are also scholarships you can apply to like the Gates-Cambridge scholarship, the Wellcome Trust studentship and the Rhodes Scholarship. Some of these scholarships have deadlines as early as October, so make sure to consider those options as early as possible.
Some universities also offer in-house scholarships that all applicants are automatically considered for regardless of nationality, so you should also look out for these in the university website.
I might write a more detailed post about the various funding options available to international students.
I hope this guide will help you with your PhD search. I really wished I had something like this during my application process, so I decided to write one for all the international students out there.
Thank you so much for reading.
