PhD Funding

View of Lancaster from Castle forecourt

AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) Studentships

Level of Study: PhD degree

Eligibility: UK and International (including EU and EEA) candidates.

Deadline: Friday 3 February 2023 (5pm). IMPORTANT: To apply for an award, candidates must have applied for a place on a programme by Friday 13 January 2023

Details of Award: All funded PhD students, whether UK or International will be eligible for a full award which includes a stipend to support living costs, and fees at the standard UKRI home fee rate. (The University will fund the difference between the Home and Overseas tuition fee for any successful overseas applicants)

In association with the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP), each year Lancaster University invites applications from outstanding candidates for AHRC Doctoral Studentships. The NWCDTP expects to make approximately fifty awards across the whole range of arts and humanities subjects.

A wide range of subjects and pathways are available – follow the link for full details.

AHRC Studentships
A crowded street

ESRC North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP) Studentships

Level of Study: Master's Degree followed by a PhD ("1+3"), or PhD degree

Eligibility: UK and International (including EU and EEA) candidates

Deadline: 1st February 2023 (5pm)

Details of Award: All funded PhD students, whether UK or International will be eligible for a full award which includes a stipend to support living costs, and fees at the standard UKRI home fee rate. (The University will fund the difference between the Home and Overseas tuition fee for any successful overseas applicants).

Lancaster University forms part of the ESRC's North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP). Each year around 60 studentships, covering tuition and maintenance, are available for those wishing to study in areas covered by the ESRC at Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester or Keele.

A wide range of subjects and pathways are available – follow the link for full details.

ESRC Studentships

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Doctoral Scholarships 2023

A number of Faculty Doctoral Scholarships are available in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Level of Study: PhD degree

Eligibility: UK students and international students (including EU and EEA).

Applicants must already hold an offer of a place to study a postgraduate doctoral programme in any department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences before applying for a scholarship, and be due to commence their studies during the 2023-24 academic year. We warmly welcome applications from students in all diversity groups. Two of the scholarships are reserved for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) applicants from the UK.

Details of Award: Cost of tuition fee plus a maintenance award equal to the UKRI minimum award, currently £17,688.

Deadline for Scholarship applications: Tuesday 21st March 2023, 17:00 GMT

Applications for a scholarship are welcomed in the following disciplines of postgraduate study:

Architecture | Art | Creative Writing | Criminology | Design | Educational Research | English Language | English Literature | Environment, Culture & Society | Languages & Cultures | Film | Gender Studies | History | Law | Linguistics | Media & Cultural Studies | Philosophy | Politics | Religious Studies | Social Anthropology | Social Work | Sociology | Theatre Studies

Download the Faculty Doctoral Scholarship Application Form 2023-24.

The shortlisting of awards is administered by individual departments. Please get in touch with the relevant departmental contact if you would like details of the shortlisting process:

Three students walking along a green wooded path.
Lancaster Castle

The Peel Trust Studentship

Level of Study: All

Eligibility: EU (Non-UK), International (Non-EU), UK

Open for applications: 10th March 2023

Deadline: 29th May 2023

Details of Award: Award up to an individual maximum of £4000 reserved for applicants aged 21 or over on the first day of the first term for which they are seeking assistance.

The Peel Trust Studentship (worth up to £4000) is unique to Lancaster, and is reserved for applicants aged 21 or over on the first day of the first term for which they are seeking assistance. Both UK and international students may apply, with applications assessed on the basis of academic merit and financial need.

The Peel Trust Studentship
PhD graduates in gowns

Postgraduate Loan Scheme - PhD

Level of Study: PhD Degree

Eligibility: UK only

Deadline: -

Details of Award: Non means-tested loans for PhD students.

Information about funding opportunities for UK students, including Professional & Career Development Loans and Government Funding, is available from the Student and Education Services website.

Postgraduate PhD Loans

Fully funded EPSRC PhD Scholarship on ‘the security and policy challenges facing innovation and technological cooperation in outer space’

Level of Study: PhD in International Relations

Eligibility: UK students

Deadline: 30 June 2023

Funding amount: The studentship is for 3.5 years, and covers Home (UK) tuition fees and stipend at the UKRI minimum currently starting at £18,622

Details of Award: We are looking for a highly motivated doctoral candidate to join our community of researchers and students working in the field of security and defence. This PhD focuses on the security and policy challenges facing innovation and technological cooperation in outer space.

The research is timely as the commercial space sector seeks to grow at a time of geopolitical unrest, diverse approaches by governments to space (government as a developer, customer, and partner) and the race across major nations to become a space superpower, not least in the UK.

The research will explore the dynamics at play in terms of challenges to governing public-private partnerships in a transnational operating framework (states, corporations, supply chain, value chains), which entails geopolitical and regulatory challenges as well as the need for responsible entrepreneurship. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to adjust and finalize the research objectives and design along with their supervisors.

The research will address a critical space security issue which is of national and international importance. The research will approach the space ecosystem security challenges from an interdisciplinary context (international security, management, policy, law) with input and support from technical experts. The rationale for this is that the space sector requires non-technical support, guidance, and tools to be able to address the security issues within the sector supply chain. The outcomes of this project have potential to influence and support Government and businesses to develop security best practice.

The position is in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences) and the candidate will also be affiliated with the Security Lancaster Institute, which is Lancaster University’s multi-disciplinary hub for security research with expertise ranging from cyber security to policing to future war and warfare. Lancaster is also home to the Security and Protection Science Initiative and is one of a small handful of universities nationally to be recognised by the National Cyber Security Centre as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research and Cyber Security Education. The candidate will be supervised by a multi-disciplinary team of experts in international relations and security, law, management and STEM, and benefit from our network of business and government partners.

Eligibility and entry requirements

We are seeking applicants with a strong background in International Relations (e.g., International Security, Strategic and Defence Studies). Expertise in International Law (e.g., space law, export law) or Business and Management (e.g., outer space entrepreneurship, defence sector and supply chain) is an asset. We are particularly looking for candidates with knowledge or experience of researching the space sector or outer space security and defence and those with a multi/trans-disciplinary background in Politics, Security, Law, Management, etc.

The expected minimum entry requirement is a 2:1 undergraduate degree or equivalent and a postgraduate degree with Distinction or Merit or equivalent. This call is open to UK/Home fees applicants only.

How to apply

You can find information about how to apply on our website. When submitting clearly state that you are applying to an EPSRC-funded PhD hosted by the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion.

Formal applications should be made in the form of

  • a CV,
  • an example of academic writing (e.g., publication, coursework, commentary),
  • and a personal statement no longer than 800 words explaining
    • a) your interest in the project,
    • b) your experience,
    • c) why we should consider your application,
    • d) how you intend to address the research objectives and how your profile fits with this PhD project (in particular its multi-disciplinary element).

All applications must be submitted by 5pm on Friday 30 June.

Shortlisted candidates will be formally interviewed to allocate the scholarship in the second half of July on MS Teams.

Please contact Professor Basil Germond to discuss your interest in this fully funded PhD.

earth from above
A family of adults and children standing together on a street in Hong Kong.

Funded PhD studentship opportunity in Sociology Department: Young Hong Kongers in Britain

Title of study: Young Hong Kongers in Britain: coming of age, youth-led migrant rights and acts of citizenship (NWSSDPT)

Level of Study: PhD degree

Eligibility: UK and International (including EU and EEA) candidates.

Academic requirements: Equivalent of Bachelor’s degree at first or 2:1, and Master’s degree or equivalent in social research/social science.

Proficiency in spoken/written Cantonese.

For detailed eligibility requirements see full description of scholarship.

Deadline: 27 February 2023

Details of Award: Payment of tuition fees, an annual stipend (rate TBC but was £17,668 in 2022/23), reimbursement of eligible expenses, opportunities for additional funding.

This is an opportunity to join an exciting new research project looking at young Hong Kongers in Britain and their routes to migration and settlement.

This three year, fully funded PhD study will adopt a mixed methods approach to map how young Hong Kongers are arriving and settling in the UK through statistical analysis and new survey data; design and deliver in-depth qualitative research with non-academic partner organisation Hongkongers in Britain to document the experiences of migration and settlement among young Hong Kongers newly migrating to the UK, and provide research evidence that can be used within advocacy for migrant rights.

Funding Opportunities