Levels: PhD, Master
Tuition: Full coverage
Finaid max: 37957  GBP
25
Deadline: Jan 5, 2025
Duration max: 60  months

UCL Graduate Research Scholarships aim to attract high-quality students to undertake research at UCL. Up to 25 UCL Graduate Research Scholarships (GRS) are available annually to prospective and current UCL research students from any country.

University College London (UCL) is a public research university in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. UCL is the largest higher education institution in London and the largest postgraduate institution in the UK by enrollment and is regarded as one of the leading multidisciplinary research universities in the world. Established in 1826 as London University by founders inspired by the radical ideas of Jeremy Bentham, UCL was the first university institution established in London, and the first in England to be entirely secular and to admit students regardless of their religion. It also makes the contested claims to be the third-oldest university in England and the first to have admitted women on equal terms with men. UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London in 1836. It has grown through mergers, including with the Institute of Neurology (in 1997), the Royal Free Hospital Medical School (in 1998), the Eastman Dental Institute (in 1999), the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (in 1999), the School of Pharmacy (in 2012) and the Institute of Education (in 2014).

  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • American Samoa
  • Andorra
  • Angola
  • Anguilla
  • Antarctica
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Aruba
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Belize
  • Benin
  • Bermuda
  • Bhutan
  • Bolivia
  • Bonaire, Sint-Estatius and Saba
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Bouvet Island
  • Brazil
  • British Indian Ocean Territory
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Cape Verde
  • Cayman Islands
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Chile
  • China
  • Christmas Island
  • Cocos Islands
  • Colombia
  • Comoros
  • Congo
  • Congo
  • Cook Islands
  • Costa Rica
  • Cote d'Ivoire
  • Croatia
  • Cuba
  • Curacao
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Djibouti
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • Eland Islands
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Estonia
  • Ethiopia
  • Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
  • Faroe Islands
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • France
  • French Guiana
  • French Polynesia
  • French Southern Territories
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Ghana
  • Gibraltar
  • Greece
  • Greenland
  • Grenada
  • Guadeloupe
  • Guam
  • Guatemala
  • Guernsey
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana
  • Haiti
  • Heard Island and McDonald Islands
  • Vatican
  • Honduras
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Ireland
  • Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jersey
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Kiribati
  • North Korea
  • South Korea
  • Kosovo
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macao
  • North Macedonia
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Malta
  • Marshall Islands
  • Martinique
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mayotte
  • Mexico
  • Micronesia
  • Midway Islands
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Montserrat
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar
  • Namibia
  • Nauru
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • New Caledonia
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Niue
  • Norfolk Island
  • Northern Mariana Islands
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Palau
  • Palestine
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Pitcairn
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
  • Qatar
  • Reunion
  • Romania
  • Russian Federation
  • Rwanda
  • Saint Barthelemy
  • Saint Helena
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Saint Lucia
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Samoa
  • San Marino
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Singapore
  • Sint-Maarten
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Solomon Islands
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  • South Ossetia
  • Southern Sudan
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • St. Maarten
  • Sudan
  • Suriname
  • Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
  • Swaziland
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Syrian Arab Republic
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania, United Republic of
  • Thailand
  • Timor-Leste
  • Togo
  • Tokelau
  • Tonga
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Tuvalu
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • United States Minor Outlying Islands
  • Uruguay
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vanuatu
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Virgin Islands, British
  • Virgin Islands, U.S.
  • Wallis and Futuna
  • Western Sahara
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

The scholarships consist of fees equivalent to the standard postgraduate UK/EU rate (2018/19: £5,060) plus a maintenance stipend (2018/19: £16,777 - tbc) for full-time study (benefits are calculated 'pro rata' for part-time students). The scholarship also includes additional research costs of up to £1,200 per year for the stated duration of the programme.

Applicants must be:

  • in receipt of an offer of admission to (please see IMPORTANT NOTE below) or currently registered at UCL on a full- or part-time research degree programme, and
  • holding or expecting to achieve at least an upper second-class Honours UK undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification.

While current students may apply, those entering their third year of research will normally only be considered for funding in exceptional circumstances.

Please note that Online, Non-resident PhDs and Professional Doctorate students are not currently eligible for this scholarship programme.

Step 1 - Apply for admission to UCL

*The following instructions apply to prospective students.  For current students, your original admission application will be used as your scholarship application.  If the below information in Step 1 was not included in your admission application, please send this information to your department along with the documents from Step 2.  

You must submit a complete application for admission onto a research degree programme by the specified deadline.  Your application for admission will also be used as your scholarship application.  Please see below for guidance on information to include in your admission application if you wish to be considered for a GRS:*

  • CV - Please include a list of all publications, past/current prizes, awards and scholarships on your CV.
  • Referees - One reference should relate to your most recently completed university programme/degree (or intended to complete if applicable).  
  • Academic transcripts - Please ensure that each academic transcript submitted includes clarification on the grading scale/range of grades possible for that degree.

*If you submitted your application for admission prior to applying for the Graduate Research Scholarship and have not included all of the required information in your admission application (e.g. details of your prizes on your CV), please submit this data to your department as part of Step 2 (below) along with your research proposal and research supervisor reference.  Please use this Reference Form if needed.  We have prepared information that may be helpful for your referee, the UCL Guidance for Referees. We suggest you provide your referee with a copy of this document when asking for an academic reference.

Step 2 - Submit additional documents to your department

*The following instructions apply to both prospective and current students.  Applicants must contact their academic department to notify them that they would like to be considered for a GRS and must submit the following documents to their academic department:

  • A lay summary of their research proposal, on a Word or PDF document (max 200 words).  When writing your research proposal/outline please note that the selection panel members are not likely to be specialists in your subject. Please describe clearly – in language which can be understood by academics from any discipline – the aim of your research, the methodology you will use and the potential significance of this study to your discipline. It is extremely important that you pay attention to this summary and write in as clear language as possible as it may significantly affect the outcome of your application. The proposal should be written by you, not your supervisor or any other academic department staff.
  • Applicants must also submit an additional reference for which this Reference Form template should be used. This reference should relate to your current or intended research programme/project, for which you are seeking funding. This reference MUST be provided by your research supervisor at UCL. If you are a prospective student and your supervisor has not yet been allocated, please contact your department to confirm who your UCL supervisor will be. 

All application materials should be sent to the relevant academic department/institute/division/unit. Please check with the administrative staff in your departmental office for details of who to send your application to.

Applicants will be considered for a GRS, and overseas fee payers will also automatically be considered for the UCL Overseas Research Scholarships (ORS) and, if applicable, the UCL-CSC (China Scholarships Council) Scholarships.