Funding for postgraduate research

The Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund (the Fund) aims to encourage greater diversity in physics by supporting students from groups currently under-represented in physics who wish to study for a doctoral degree.

The Fund was made possible thanks to the generosity of Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who won the prestigious Breakthrough Prize for physics in 2018 for her role in the discovery of pulsars. Dame Jocelyn chose to donate her £2.3m prize award to the Institute of Physics (IOP) in order to set up the Fund.

Apply on the Institute of Physics website

The University of Manchester has collaborations with a number of international partners.  As an extension of this joint research, we are developing dual-award PhD programmes to allow postgraduate research students access to world-class facilities, expertise and field environments. Visit the University website for more information about the Dual-awards via the Global Doctoral Research Network.

The University of Manchester offers 100 bursaries for master's students, each worth £3,000, to UK and EU students. The bursaries are awarded each September to coincide with the start of study, and applications usually open in the spring of the year prior to study. To find out more about the bursaries and how to apply, please visit the Manchester Master's Bursary page.

If you’re coming to Manchester this year to begin postgraduate study, you could qualify for a loan from the UK government. To find out more, please visit the central University funding pages.

Research Council Awards are funded by the government Research Councils including: the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Typically the awards cover the university fees for a 42-month PhD and maintenance costs and are applied for directly through the councils themselves. They are open for applications by British and European nationals resident in the UK, where British nationals qualify for funding to cover university fees and maintenance and European nationals for university fees only.

For more information, please contact fse.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk