General Funding Opportunities
We support students through several different funding schemes, including University and external scholarships. Many of these are open to both UK and international-fee students.
Bell-Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund
We support candidates for the Institute of Physics Bell-Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund. To be considered, candidates must have applied through our main PhD application portal by 5 December 2025.
and sent a one-page CV and a 1-2 page personal statement to the relevant PhD coordinator for their research area:
- Astronomy: Trent Dupuy (tdupuy [at] roe.ac.uk)
- Condensed Matter, including soft matter, statistical physics, biophysics, astrobiology, hard condensed matter, physics education research: Simon Titmuss (simon.titmuss [at] ed.ac.uk) and Andreas Hermann (a.hermann [at] ed.ac.uk)
- Nuclear Physics: Pascal Reiter (mreiter [at] ed.ac.uk)
- Particle Physics Experiment: Silvia Gambetta (silvia.gambetta [at] ed.ac.uk)
- Particle Physics Theory: Tej Kanwar (gkanwar [at] ed.ac.uk)
Following the BBGSF scheme, the personal statement should describe (a) your reasons for wanting to study for a Doctorate; (b) how you meet the BBGSF eligibility criteria clearly stating which under-represented group you identify as; (c) how you propose to gain benefit from a grant, if awarded (d) how you would be an ambassador for the scheme.
Research Council Studentships
For 2026 entry, 30% of the studentships funded by UKRI (STFC and EPSRC) are available to international students.
Research Council studentships are awarded by the School of Physics and Astronomy on receipt of an application for a PhD place through the online system and satisfactory interview, and do not require a separate application. Further information can be found at the individual research council links below.
The initial application deadline is 5th January 2026 for Astronomy applicants, and 16th January 2026 for Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics and Condensed Matter applicants.
Applications reached after the deadline will continue to be considered until all the positions are filled. To ensure your application gets to the correct people and won't be held up please ensure you indicate which Institute you are applying for: Astronomy, CM (hard) or CM (soft), NP, PPE, PPT.
UKRI Doctoral Training Programmes
The UK Research Councils support dedicated studentships in specific research areas, associated with enhanced training and cohort-building activities, and typically spanning multiple universities. These were formerly called 'Centres for Doctoral Training' (CDTs) and now 'Doctoral Focus Awards' (DFAs). Information on the current set of supported programmes, where candidates can apply to undertake their PhD in Edinburgh, is given in this separate page:
Career Development Scholarship
Please see the dedicated page for information on this Scholarship, which is open to both home and international-fee students. Note the earlier application deadline of 24 November 2025.
Other University Scholarships
Applicants are automatically considered for any University-funded scholarships which they are eligible for. This includes the Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships, and Higgs Prize PhD Studentships in Theoretical Physics. For the latter, we are particularly interested in recruiting students with a strong theoretical physics or mathematical background who are passionate to study and explore the fundamental laws of Nature.
All such Scholarships cover the University tuition fee as well as a stipend equal to the UKRI minimum rate, for the relevant academic year of study. Students are also supported by a training grant of £1.2k/year to cover research costs, books, computing, and travel. Subject to satisfactory progress, these Scholarships are offered for 3.5 years. To ensure your application gets to the correct people and won't be held up please ensure you indicate which Institute you are applying for: Astronomy, CM (hard) or CM (soft), NP,PPE, PPT.
China Scholarships Council
Scholarships will be available for PhD study to candidates who are citizens and permanent residents of the People's Republic of China at the time of applying for entry for the academic year 2026-27. To ensure your application gets to the correct people and won't be held up please ensure you indicate which Institute you are applying for: Astronomy, CM (hard) or CM (soft), NP, PPE, PPT.
Further funding opportunities
The University Scholarships and Student Finance pages may contain information on further funding opportunities.