You could receive funding for up to:

• three years for Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences students
• three years for School of Management students
• three and a half years for Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering & Design students

Funding includes:

• Home or Overseas* tuition fees
• training support fund of up to £1,000 each year
• maintenance stipend of £19,237 each year (2024/25 rate)

*Please note that our studentships do not cover UK Student visa costs, or the cost of the mandatory UK Immigration Health Surcharge. These costs can be considerable, so we ask all Overseas applicants to check these costs before applying and ensure they would be willing and able to cover these from their personal funds.

This studentship is available to both Home and International Students

In determining Home student status, we follow the UK government’s fee regulations and guidance from the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). You can find more information within our fee status guidance.

In all cases, when completing the application form, you must select ‘University of Bath URSA’ from the drop-down menu in the ‘Funding your studies’ section. If you do not follow this instruction, there will be a delay with the processing of your application which may cause you to miss the deadline.

Faculty of Engineering & Design students

Find an available project or projects on our FindAPhD feed. You'll find application instructions within each project advert.

We also welcome applications from exceptional students with research proposals of their own design.

One URSA studentship per year is reserved for an applicant holding Refugee, Humanitarian Protection, or Asylum Seeker status as the Doctoral Sanctuary Studentship in Engineering and Design.

Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences students

In Humanities & Social Sciences only, the URSA competition is run in tandem with the ESRC SWDTP competition.

Read guidance on applying for the ESRC SWDTP and URSA competition.

School of Management students

We welcome applications from exceptional students with research proposals of their own design as well as students to apply in response to advertised projects.

Find an available project or projects, with application instructions, on our FindAPhD feed.

Read about applying for ESRC SWDTP, URSA, and GRS funding.

Faculty of Science students

Find an available project or projects on our FindAPhD feed. You'll find application instructions in each project advert.

Faculty of Engineering & Design students

Scheme opens

Now open for entry in the 2025/26 academic year.

Application deadline

Early application is encouraged, as candidates with a high-achieving academic background may be eligible for early consideration for a studentship award. Such candidates should discuss with their intended supervisor and ideally apply by late November.

The deadline to be eligible for early consideration is 01 December 2024 at 23:59 GMT

Applications close on 02 February 2025 at 23:59 GMT.

Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences students

Scheme opens

Now open for entry in the 2025/26 academic year.

Application deadline

Applications close on 14 January 2025 at 12:00 Noon GMT.

School of Management students

Scheme opens

Now open for entry in the 2025/26 academic year.

Application deadline

Applications close on 28 February 2025 at 23:59 GMT.

Faculty of Science students

Scheme opens

Now open for entry in the 2025/26 academic year.

Application deadline

Deadlines to be confirmed