PhD Programme Content

Having developed your research agenda in the initial MRes year, you will spend the remaining three years working on your PhD project.

Your PhD journey is supported by a dedicated supervisory team, often including an industrial collaborator who brings real-world expertise to your research. Many projects offer direct involvement with industry, giving you the chance to engage closely with external partners. Regular visits to industry sites provide practical experience and insight, allowing you to work alongside research teams and see how your work connects to real challenges and opportunities beyond academia.

Selecting a PhD topic

At STOR-i, the process of selecting PhD projects and building supervisory teams is carefully overseen by our Executive Committee. Cross-disciplinary work is key to the operation of STOR-i, so every student is supported by a supervisory team made up from at least two of our three areas of focus: Statistics, Operational Research, and Industry.

Once projects are approved, they are shared with students both in writing and through a series of presentations at our Project Market. This event leads to deeper conversations between students, supervisors, and industry partners towards the end of the second term. Most projects are industry-focused, but we also offer opportunities with our strategic academic partners. To give students a broad choice, we typically offer 50% more projects than required, helping to ensure there is a project of interest for everyone.

At the start of the third term, students narrow down their preferred projects and discuss their motivations with the Leadership Team. Projects are then allocated in May.

After this, students begin a three-month Research Proposal project (STOR603) at the end of the MRes year, running from June to September. This is a great chance to explore how well the project and supervisory team fit before fully committing. In rare cases, students may have the option to change projects at this stage.

See examples of previous PhD projects

Research funding opportunities

As a STOR-i PhD student, your key potential sources of funding are:

Your Personal Research Fund

Your own fund to cover attendance at training courses, conferences and books. It typically covers attendance at 2 international conferences and 2-3 national meetings/conferences across your studies. In addition to this fund, you are supplied with a high specification laptop. You will manage your own research fund spending.

The STOR-i Research Fund

You can make a bid for funding for additional research support for more substantial activities, where your Personal Fund cannot cover it. Applications to the Research Fund are competitive and require a full case putting forward. STOR-i's Executive Committee is responsible for selecting successful applications, and give full feedback to every applicant. Successful applicants will be responsible for the management of the award and reporting of outcomes.

The process of applying for and managing grants gives the opportunity to develop and practice the key skills acquired on the STOR-i programme.

STOR-i Impact Fellowship

On PhD completion, STOR-i students are able to apply for a 1-year post-doctoral Impact Fellowship. One is typically awarded per cohort. Impact Fellowships are aimed at enhancing STOR-i students' career development and ensuring the rapid impact of their research. Applications are assessed against PhD performance and a written research proposal describing how the fellowship will be used to further develop research ideas and achieve impact.

Supporting your PhD

Below you can find an outline of the key areas of training throughout your PhD:

Further STOR-i training

It is important that you continue to develop your core skills and knowledge. Attendance at APTS and NATCOR courses as well as STOR-i Workshops and STOR-i Masterclasses, are positive skill builders.

Impact of research

You will address issues of impact including the production of accessible software for new STOR methods, building research networks, successful knowledge transfer and relevance to society. This will have a strong input from industrial and academic collaborators.

Ready to apply?

If you're interested in joining the next cohort of STOR-i students, or would like more information about the process, visit our application page.

Apply to STOR-i