Postgraduate open day: Saturday 10 February 2024
Join our on-campus open day this February to talk to students and lecturers and find out how and when to apply.
Book my placeA PhD consists of an extensive and coherent research programme, typically involving three to four years of full-time study. We welcome proposals for PhD research that offer programmatic ideas connected with staff research projects and interests. We think of PhDs as student-led yet collaborative research projects.
We provide extensive support and training to ensure that PhD students are well equipped to make their work productive, effective and influential, ultimately leading to a successful and timely submission of a PhD thesis.
2:1 Hons degree (UK or equivalent) in Psychology or related cognate subject.
We may also consider non-standard applicants, please contact us for information.
If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.
As part of your application you will need to provide a viable research proposal.
We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.
We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 7.0, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.
If your score is below our requirements, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language programmes.
Contact: Admissions Team +44 (0) 1524 592032 or email pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk
The tuition fee for students with home fee status is set in line with the standard fee stipend provided by the UK Research Councils. The fee stipend for 2024/25 has not yet been set. For reference, the fee stipend for 2023/24 was full-time £4,712 and part-time £2,356.
The international fee for new entrants in 2024/25 is full-time £26,492 and part-time £13,246.
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small College Membership Fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.
For students starting in 2023 and 2024, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses. Fees for students starting in 2025 have not yet been set.
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
For most taught postgraduate applications there is a non-refundable application fee of £40. We cannot consider applications until this fee has been paid, as advised on our online secure payment system. There is no application fee for postgraduate research applications.
For some of our courses you will need to pay a deposit to accept your offer and secure your place. We will let you know in your offer letter if a deposit is required and you will be given a deadline date when this is due to be paid.
The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.
If you are studying on a programme of more than one year’s duration, the tuition fees for subsequent years of your programme are likely to increase each year. Read more about fees in subsequent years.
You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status and course. You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.
Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.
If you're considering postgraduate research you should look at our funded PhD opportunities.
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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.
Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.
Join our on-campus open day this February to talk to students and lecturers and find out how and when to apply.
Book my placeThe information on this site relates primarily to 2024/2025 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.
Application Deadline
10th March 2023
Interviews
w/c 20th March 2023. Interviews will be scheduled nearer the time and will be online.
Please note this opportunity is for UK applicants only.
Humans and machines are increasingly entwined in complex socio-technical systems. These systems often involve different groups of people and different kinds of technology. In order for these systems to function effectively (and exhibit resilience), there has to be trust and cooperation amongst not only the humans, but also between the humans and the machines. Shared social identity is known to facilitate cooperation and trust between humans. In this PhD we will explore the potential for social identity processes to facilitate cooperation and trust with machines.
The project will ask questions like, ‘Under what conditions can humans share identity with machines?’ or ‘Can machines learn to recognise social identity in humans?’. The project will be based in the Psychology Department at Lancaster University and is part of a larger multidisciplinary UKRI project to improve the socio-technical resilience and trustworthiness of autonomous systems.
Supervisors
Mark Levine mark.levine@lancaster.ac.uk
Anastasia Kordoni a.kordoni@lancaster.ac.uk
About the Project
Autonomous systems are an increasing part of the infrastructure of daily life. As the range and importance of such systems increases and the underlying technology rapidly develops, the UKRI has funded a range of investigatory research “nodes” to address the trustworthiness of autonomous systems
As part of this large, interdisciplinary project, the Psychology Department at Lancaster University is exploring the resilience of emergency response systems for disasters and emergencies that include both humans and autonomous systems. We examine the interaction of ordinary citizens, emergency services (police, ambulance, fire service) and different types of technology (drones, robots) in emergency response.
Social Identity processes are now recognised as being key to understanding how ordinary people respond to emergencies. At the same time, social identity processes are increasing recognised as being key to the way emergency services operate in emergencies. This PhD project will explore the potential contribution of social identity ideas for how the relationship between humans and technologies can be supported to make for more resilient emergency response.
Applicants should have (or will soon receive) a minimum of a strong undergraduate degree in psychology or related discipline. Students who already have a Master's qualification are also encouraged to apply. In all cases, we are looking for academically excellent students, who are passionate about doing research.
The award is for a 3.5 year training programme (October 2023 start date). This includes full tuition fees and a generous stipend of approximately £17,688 per year - as well as a research support and training budget of circa £1500 per year.
How to Apply
Applications should submit a research proposal based on the above project outline and focusing on the methods mentioned above, while making the project their own and explaining in more detail how they would carry out this research. (no more than 1000 words)
Applicants should also submit a personal statement highlighting your suitability for the project and PhD research more generally that clearly demonstrates your passion for the research project and makes clear how your research interests, skills, experience, and career plans are a good fit for the proposed project. Applicants will be assessed based on their academic credentials, skills, knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm for the project. (no more than 2 pages).
In all cases, informal enquiries should be directed to the project’s primary Supervisor (mark.levine@lancaster.ac.uk) before application.