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Doctoral Sanctuary Studentship in Engineering and Design

Find out about the annual studentship for candidates who hold Refugee, Humanitarian Protection, or Asylum Seeker status in the UK and check if you are eligible.

As part of our commitment to be a University of Sanctuary, one Faculty of Engineering & Design University Research Studentship Award (URSA) studentship each academic year is reserved for a candidate with Refugee, Humanitarian Protection, or Asylum Seeker status.

Studentship value

Find out how much funding is available.


You could receive funding for up to three and a half years.

This includes:

  • tuition fees at the Home rate
  • training support fund of £1,000 each year
  • maintenance stipend of £18,622 each year (2023/24 rate)

Eligibility criteria

Find out if you are eligible for this award.


You can apply for this award if you currently hold, and expect to hold on day one of your programme, valid Refugee, Humanitarian Protection, or Asylum Seeker status issued by the UK Government.

If you hold Refugee or Humanitarian Protection status, you must qualify for Home fees, as detailed by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).

If you hold Asylum Seeker status, you will be charged Home fees by the University of Bath and will therefore be fully covered by this studentship.

Find out more about your tuition fee status.

You must also meet our minimum academic entry requirements of a UK undergraduate degree 2:1 or higher, or international equivalent, and be able to meet the English language entry requirement before Spring 2024.

We have a limited number of free online English tests for offer holders who hold a relevant status.


How to apply

Find out how to apply for the Doctoral Sanctuary Studentship in Engineering and Design.


This studentship is part of the annual Faculty of Engineering & Design URSA studentship competition so you should:

  1. Follow the instructions on applying for URSA funding.
  2. Apply for Doctoral study.
  3. Use the relevant application form for your programme.

In the 'Funding your studies' section of the application form, you must select 'University of Bath URSA' from the drop-down menu. You must then specify 'Doctoral Sanctuary Studentship in Engineering and Design' in the free-text box. Failure to complete these steps will cause the processing of your application to be delayed, and this may result in you missing the deadline.

You can apply to any URSA project that is advertised on FindaPhD as part of the competition. You can also apply with a research proposal, or a project idea you have discussed with a potential supervisor.

Selection Process

The Doctoral Sanctuary Studentship in Engineering and Design will be awarded competitively among the pool of eligible applicants, to the applicant with the strongest application, including academic record.

If you feel you have circumstances that have affected your educational attainment, these will be considered by the decision-making panel. You should include a short paragraph at the end of your personal statement to explain this, when applying.

Conditions of award

If you are awarded this studentship, we advise you to seek professional advice about how this could affect your asylum support.

Student Immigration Service will be required to contact the Home Office during your studies to make sure you have permission to study.

Contact us

If you have any questions about doctoral funding, get in touch.