Our studentships are for four years to enable a placement with your partner organisation.
Yes, international students are welcome to apply. Due to funding stipulations set by UKRI, we are able to recruit at least 70% home applicants and up to 30% international applicants to the cohort each year.
Yes, the studentship includes tuition fees and a UKRI-rate stipend to cover your living expenses.
No, you can only apply to the advertised PhD projects.
The PhD is a full-time commitment, requiring significant dedication to research, relevant training, and placements. Full-time studentship award holders cannot hold either a full-time job, permanent part-time job or temporary role for an extended period of time, during the period of their studentship. Part-time ESRC studentship award holders cannot hold a full-time job. A student in part-time employment may be eligible for a part-time award, which should not be less than 50% of full-time. If you are registered for part-time study, you may take on part-time work, but you must still spend a minimum of 50% of your time on your PhD.
We do accept equivalent qualifications from non-UK universities; however, eligibility for a PhD studentship requires a degree equivalent to at least a 2:1 classification in the UK system.
Students are required to be resident in the UK for the majority of their studies. The student must live within a reasonable travel time of the University of Birmingham to ensure that they are able to maintain regular contact with their department/school and their academic supervisor. This is to ensure that the student is not isolated and receives the full support, mentoring, training and access to facilities required to complete their research successfully and to a high standard. The only exceptions to these requirements are to cover periods of absence that are an essential part of the student’s study, e.g. fieldwork, study visits or conference attendance.