Up to 40 fully funded doctoral scholarships are available at University College London, covering full tuition fees, a living stipend, and up to £1,200 a year in research costs. The UCL Research Excellence Scholarship is open to applicants from any country, and you do not need an admission offer before you apply — but a complete admission application must be submitted by the deadline.
That last point catches people out. Admission and scholarship applications are two different actions, both due by the same date. Complete only one, and your scholarship application is incomplete, however strong your research idea.
At a glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Scholarship | UCL Research Excellence Scholarship (UCL-RES) |
| University | University College London, London, UK |
| Awards | Up to 40 |
| Programmes | Full-time or part-time MPhil/PhD and EngD |
| Funding | Full tuition, maintenance stipend, up to £1,200 a year research costs |
| Duration | 3 years full-time or 5 years part-time; writing-up years excluded |
| Deadline | 8 January; some departments set earlier deadlines |
| Decisions | By mid-March |
What the scholarship pays for
The award covers your full tuition fees, whether you are classed as a Home student or an Overseas student. That matters because overseas fees are normally far higher, and this award removes that gap. On top of tuition, you receive a maintenance stipend for living costs during the research portion of your programme, rising each year in line with inflation.
You also receive up to £1,200 a year towards research costs, such as fieldwork, conference travel, or specialist materials. Plan how you would use it when you write your proposal, because it shows reviewers you have thought about the real cost of your project. One limit deserves attention: funding covers the standard research portion — normally three years full-time or five years part-time — but not writing-up years.
Who can apply — and who should not
To apply, you must be a prospective student starting on or after 1 October; students who began before that date cannot apply. You must also have submitted a complete admission application to an eligible programme by the deadline, and hold, or expect to achieve, at least an upper second-class Honours degree or equivalent.
To receive the award if selected, you must hold an offer of admission to a full-time or part-time research degree at UCL. Distance learning, non-resident PhD study, and professional doctorates are not eligible — the official page names clinical psychology, dentistry, educational psychology, orthodontics and psychotherapy doctorates as excluded, while the EngD is treated as eligible. Check yourself honestly first: if you are already enrolled, want a taught master’s or a professional doctorate, or only need funding for a writing-up year, your application will fail on eligibility alone.
How selection works
Selection runs in three stages. First, you submit your Research Scholarships cover sheet to your academic department. Second, your department passes applications to its faculty, which judges them on academic merit, the suitability of your project for the supervisors available, and disciplinary need, and assigns each to one of four themes: medicine, health and life sciences; physical sciences, engineering and mathematics; social sciences; or arts and humanities.
Third, each faculty nominates a shortlist to a central UCL panel, which makes up to 40 awards while keeping a balance across those themes. Financial circumstances play no part in the decision. Your proposal must therefore convince two audiences: your department, which checks supervisor availability for your exact topic, and a central panel comparing you with candidates from every discipline.
Getting the supervisor match right
The most common weakness in doctoral funding applications is a proposal written for the university in general rather than for specific supervisors. UCL states plainly that suitability of the project for the supervisors available is a selection criterion, so name the fit instead of assuming it. Read the recent work of potential supervisors, and shape your proposal so a reader can see at once why this project belongs with them.
Contact your department early, and ask the administrator or a potential supervisor where exactly the cover sheet should be sent. Some departments set deadlines earlier than the university-wide date, so an application that arrives centrally on time but misses the department’s own cut-off is still a missed application. Your department assembles your supporting documents from your admission application, so a rushed proposal there cannot be repaired later with a better cover sheet.
How to apply
There are two steps, both finished by 8 January. First, submit a complete application for admission to an eligible MPhil/PhD or EngD programme. You do not need to hold an offer at that point — a submitted, complete admission application is enough. Second, contact your academic department to say you want to be considered for the UCL-RES, and submit your completed Research Scholarships cover sheet to them.
Submit the cover sheet by the deadline even if no admission offer has reached you yet. The Student Funding Office checks UCL’s own systems to confirm whether you hold an offer and when it was made, so waiting for an offer can quietly disqualify an otherwise excellent application. Check your department’s own deadline directly, because it may fall earlier than the university date.
Note: UCL publishes no single apply portal for this scholarship. You apply through a UCL admission application plus the cover sheet sent to your department, so the button links to the official scholarship page itself.
For comparison, see our guides to the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards at Birmingham City University, the Warwick Postgraduate Research Scholarships and the University of Cambridge Biosciences DTP PhD Programme.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Do I need an offer of admission before I apply?
A: No. You need a complete admission application submitted by the deadline, but not an offer. You must hold an offer to receive the award if selected, and UCL checks this itself.
Q: Can international students apply?
A: Yes. The scholarship is open to applicants from any country, and covers full tuition at either the Home or the Overseas rate.
Q: What if my department’s deadline is earlier?
A: Meet the department’s deadline. Some departments set their own earlier deadlines, so check with your department directly.
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