PhD students:
You should take the following steps to apply for a PhD at the ABL
1) Send us an email at (affective.brain@gmail.com) to tell us a bit about yourself, your experience and your research interests.
2) If we think you would be a good fit, we will invite you to write a research proposal and submit an application. The deadline to submit an application is the 5th January.
3) To submit your application you should apply formally to UCL, indicating that you are applying for a position in the Experimental Psychology Research Department under the supervision of Dr Tali Sharot (unless Dr Sharot has explicitly suggested you apply through a different program).
PhD Funding Opportunities
| Offered by | Funding opportunity | Funding amount | Funding duration | Eligibility | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCL | Graduate Research Scholarship | Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend | 3-4 years | Hold an offer from UCL. Awarded on the basis of academic excellence and research potential, financial circumstances are not taken into account. | Must apply to UCL by 5th January deadline to be put forward by department |
| UCL | Overseas Research Scholarships | Covers the difference between Overseas and UK/EU tuition fees - does not fund living costs | 3-4 years | Hold an offer from UCL and have overseas status | Must apply to UCL by 5th January deadline to be put forward by department |
| ESRC | UCL, Bloomsbury & East London DTP (UBEL) | Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend | 1+3 or +3 | UK nationals, or EU nationals who have been living in the UK for 3-years. EU nationals that do not meet this criteria are eligible for ‘Fees-only’ funding | Monday 11th January 2021 |
| ESRC | SOC-B Centre for Doctoral Training | Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend | 4-years with the first year spent in project rotations and biosocial training before selecting a PhD research topic for years 2-4 | UK nationals, or EU nationals who have been living in the UK for 3-years. EU nationals that do not meet this criteria are eligible for ‘Fees-only’ funding | |
| ESRC | • UBEL – ESRC DTP – Collaborative Co-funded Scholarships | Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend | 1+3, 4-year (Integrated PhD) or +3 programme | ESRC studentships are open to all UK applicants. Applicants are also eligible for a studentship if they have been an ordinary resident in the UK for three years prior to the start of the studentship grant. If an applicant from an EU-country does not meet the residency requirements, they may apply for a “fees-only” studentship. These studentships will only pay the tuition fees for the studentship and will not pay a stipend. | Friday 30 November 2018 |
| MRC | UCL-Birkbeck MRC DTP | Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend | 4 year programme | UK nationals, or EU nationals who have been living in the UK for 3-years. EU nationals that do not meet this criteria are eligible for ‘Fees-only’ funding | 22 January 2021 at 5pm GMT |
| MRC | UCL-Birkbeck MRC DTP Industrial Case studentships | Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend | 4 year programme | Funding for 4 students: 2 with partnered large business, 2 with partnered Small/medium business. Large business – contributes approx. £6,700. SME no financial contribution required | 7th December 2018 |
| Wellcome Trust/MRC | Neuroscience | Tuition fees + £22,278 stipend | 4 year programme | EU students. Non-EU applicants may apply, and receive the normal stipend etc., except that fees will only be paid at the EU rate | 20th December |
| Faculty of Brain Sciences. | Impact Award | External (organisational) partner funds 75-100% of Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend + £1,200 research costs. Faculty funds the remainder | 3 years | Must identify an external partner and project that fulfills certain criteria. The external partner must be willing to commit appropriate supervisory or project support plus financial commitment. New studentships require a business case to be completed | As early as possible as these are considered on a rolling-basis |
| Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission | MACC | Full fees (UCL) and maintenance (MACC) (1 year) | 1 year | Open only to United States citizens who (at the time they take up their Scholarship) hold a first degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States with a minimum GPA of 3.7. | 1 October |
| Fulbright | Fulbright University College London Award | Tuition fees + £14,600 stipend | 1 year only | US citizens | October 9 |
| EPSRC | PALS EPSRC DTP - applications go to Jeremy Skipper | UK/EU fees, minimum RCUK stipend & a small allowance for consumables | 4 years in duration (or 6 years for part-time candidates) | Projects must be within the EPSRC remit. UK or EU residents who have been living in the UK for 3 years prior to the course commencing (for education purposes is fine). EU residents who have not been living in the UK are eligible for fee only awards. | Must apply to UCL by 5th January deadline to be put forward by department |
| Leverhulme | Leverhulme Ecological Brain DTP | Tuition fees + £16,777 stipend | 4 year programme | The funding is available for the UK and EU students. International students are not eligible for funding, however, we welcome applications from overseas candidates who are either self-funding or in receipt of an alternative funding source. Applicants must hold, or be expected to achieve, a first or high upper second-class undergraduate honours degree (e.g. BA, BSc) or a Master’s degree (e.g. MRes, MSc), or the overseas equivalent, in a relevant subject. All students whose first language is not English must be able to provide recent evidence that their spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the programme according to UCL requirements. Applicants must achieve the level of ‘good’. | 1st February 2019 |
| ESRC | https://ubel-dtp.ac.uk/eligibility/how-to-apply-2/ | Tuition fees + stipend | 1+3, +3, 2+3 and +4 funding | Resident in the UK, have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for at least three years prior to the start of the studentship grant, not have been residing in the UK wholly or mainly for the purpose of full-time education. This does not apply to UK nationals and EU nationals who were ordinarily resident in the EU immediately before the period of full-time education | Monday 6 January 2020 |
| Ecological Brain | https://ecologicalbrain.org/ | Fully funded research studentship | 4-year | UK and EU students | 7th February 2020 |
| UCL EPSRC DTP - Open Doctoral Studentships Competition | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/epsrc-doctoral-training/prospective-students/ucl-epsrc-dtp-open-doctoral-studentships-competition | 4 years fees (UK/EU rate), 4 years stipend (at least £17,009 per year), and a research training support grant (£4,800 total, for training, and project costs) | 4-year | UK, EU, Overseas | 18-Mar-2020 |
| BBSRC DTP LIDo, iCASE Projects | BBSRC DTP LIDo, iCASE Projects | Home/EU tuition fees and a tax-free stipend at the agreed UKRI annual amount. | 4-year | Uk, EU who meet the UKRI residency requirements . Non-resident UK and EU citizens may be eligible for a fees-only award, which does not include a stipend. Non-UK non-EU students are not eligible for a BBSRC award but may be eligible for one of a small number of institutionally funded studentships in the LIDo programme (see International Students section below) | 22nd January 2021 at 5pm (GMT) |
| Demonstratorships in PALS | Demonstratorship | Fees+stipend | 4-year | home students only | Candidates who wish to be nominated for demonstratorships should submit a UCL PhD application form by 4 January 2021 |
| Graduate Research Scholarships (GRS) | Graduate Research Scholarships (GRS) | UK rate fees and maintenance stipend | UK, Overseas | 13 January 2021 | |
| Overseas Research Scholarships (ORS) | Overseas Research Scholarships (ORS) | The difference between UK and Overseas tution rate fees | UK, Overseas | 13 January 2021 | |
| UCL-China Scholarships Council Research Scholarships | UCL-China Scholarships Council Research Scholarships | The scholarships are co-funded by the CSC and UCL. The CSC provides economy air travel to and from the UK, a living allowance and visa application fees. | UCL will provide full tuition fees for the standard duration of a full-time MPhil/PhD programme up to 48 months, including a writing-up period. | China | Wednesday, 20 January 2021 |
| Graduate Research Scholarships for Cross Disciplinary Training | 4 scholarships available to current research students who wish to spend an additional year of their MPhil/PhD in another UCL department acquiring research skills and knowledge from a different discipline Graduate Research Scholarships for Cross-disciplinary Training | Full fees and maintenance stipend | 1 year | UK, Overseas | Wednesday, 27 January 2021 |
| UCL Research Opportunity Scholarship | UCL Research Opportunity Scholarship | UK/home rate fees, a maintenance stipend, conference costs and professional development package | Awards are normally tenable for years 1, 2, and 3 of a full-time MPhil/PhD/EngD degree programme (or years 1-5 of a part-time programme), subject to annual review and renewal. | UK-permanent resident from certain BME ethnic group | 13 January 2021 |
| AHRC LAHP DTP | AHRC LAHP DTP | LAHP funds fees and stipends for ‘Home’ students (£4407 fees and £17,285 stipend as of 2020/21. 2021/22 rate to be confirmed in April). | Funding is for three years’ full-time study or six years’ part-time study. | From ‘home’ and ‘international’ (including EU) applicants | 5 February 2021 at 5pm |
Postdoctoral Fellowships
| Offered by | Funding opportunity | Funding amount | Funding duration | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellcome Trust | Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships | £300,000, including salary, fellowship supplement and research expenses | 4 years | You must either be in the final year of your PhD studies or be an early-career researcher, and a UK or European Economic Area national |
| Wellcome Trust | Research Career Re-entry Fellowships | Salary and research expenses covered | Up to 4 years | You must have a PhD and postdoctoral research experience, and have had a continuous career break of at least two years and you want to re-establish your research career. |
| British Academy | British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships | Awards cover the salary of the Postdoctoral Fellow to work full-time on the Fellowship, small-scale research expenses (up to a maximum of £6,000), costs towards the time of a mentor (equivalent to one hour per month for the 36 months of the Fellowship) and the host institution's estates and indirect costs. | 3 years | Applicants must be within three years of the award of a doctorate, and be a UK or EEA national, or have completed a doctorate at a UK university. |
| Royal Society | Newton International Fellowships | £24,000 per annum for subsistence costs, and up to £8,000 per annum research expenses, as well as a one-off payment of up to £2,000 for relocation expenses. | 2 years | Applicants must have a PhD, have no more than 7 years of active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application, be working outside the UK, not hold UK citizenship, be competent in oral and written English, have a clearly defined and mutually-beneficial research proposal agreed with a UK host scientist |
| European Research Council | Starting Grants | Depends on project | 5 years | Awarded to researchers of any nationality with two to seven years of experience since completion of the PhD (or equivalent degree) and a scientific track record showing great promise. |
| Leverhulme Trust | Early Career Fellowships | 50% of each Fellow's total salary costs up to a maximum of £25,000 per annum and the balance is to be paid by the host institution. Given the prestige of the awards each Fellow may request annual research expenses of up to £6,000 to further his or her research activities. | 3 years | See here |
| MRC | Career Development Award | Full personal salary costs, together with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. | 5 years | Held twice a year |
