Postgraduate scholarships

Students applying to postgraduate research programmes in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law may apply for funding from a range of sources or be eligible for an Alumni discount. Explore the funding options available to help you finance your postgraduate research degree.

Funding Sources to do a PHD

The University of Bristol and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law are delighted to be able to offer a number of Postgraduate Research Scholarships to candidates demonstrating exceptional research potential. Scholarships are available for up to four years (full-time) or eight years (part-time), subject to satisfactory annual progress.

Some of the funding available to applicants of postgraduate research programmes in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law include:

  • Bristol Postgraduate Research Scholarships
  • Bristol Postgraduate Research Scholarships for candidates of Black and mixed Black heritage, who are UK domiciled with Home fee status
  • Fully Faculty-funded inter-/ cross-disciplinary PhD Scholarships
  • Cotutelle Scholarship with Macquarie University, Australia
  • Strategic Research Scholarship in collaboration with the University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • The Sasakawa Japanese Studies Postgraduate (PhD) Studentship
  • ESRC Scholarships (SWDTP pathways only)
  • Business School Bursaries

For other possible sources of funding, please visit the Student Finances webpages

Details on how to apply for these funding opportunities, and information on eligibility and amount of funding, can be found at the bottom of this page.

 

Sasakawa Japanese Studies Postgraduate (PhD) Studentship Programme 2024/25 

 This Japanese Studies Postgraduate Studentship Programme, funded by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, is designed to support the development of the study of Japan in the UK.

The studentships are intended for support of PhD programmes only at the University of Bristol. This is a one-year studentship with the value of £15,000. Applications can be made in recurrent years of three years (although the Foundation cannot make a recurrent three-year commitment to any one PhD candidate at the outset). 

Eligibility 

  • PhD applicants/candidates pursuing any aspect of Japanese studies (the primary focus of the thesis needs to be on Japan) 

  • All disciplines within arts, humanities, and social sciences 

  • Open to any nationality (including Japanese)  

  • Previous study of Japanese language is not a condition 

Internal deadline for applications: 1st March 2024  

For any queries regarding the Sasakawa Japanese Studies Postgraduate Studentship Programme, please contact Professor Misa Izuhara at the School for Policy Studies. 

 

10 Business School Bursaries

The awards are for three-and-a-half years, starting in autumn 2024. The bursary provides full tuition fees (for either home/EU or international students), and a stipend at the rate of at least £20,400 per annum, paid in instalments, and teaching income, which will depend on the hours worked.

How to apply:

Please make an online application for this project on the postgraduate study webpage. Please select “Accounting and Finance (PhD)” or “Management (PhD)” on the Programme Choice page. You will be prompted to enter details of the studentship in the Funding and Research Details sections of the form.

Closing date: 31st March 2024

For further information please contact the business school postgraduate team.

 

PhD Studentship: Supply Chain Resilience in Global Disruption (International and Home)

Programme application deadline: 14th May 2024

We invite you to apply for a PhD studentship project hosted by the University of Bristol Business School in collaboration with the Innovation Knowledge Centre on Semiconductor Technology (REWIRE), a newly established £11 million research centre driving the UK towards net-zero goals by innovating in semiconductor technology.

This studentship focuses on leading-edge data analytics for semiconductor supply chains. The project aims to establish robust monitoring frameworks and facilitate ongoing dialogue among suppliers, manufacturers, and policymakers, promoting a cohesive and adaptive strategy to supply chain disruptions.

Prospective candidates should first reach out to Dr Minhao Zhang or Professor Palie Smart before submitting an application. Apply online, choosing “Management (PhD)” on the programme selection page. Please mention Dr Minhao Zhang and Professor Palie Smart as your preferred supervisors and note your interest in the "Supply Chain Resilience in Global Disruption" project within your cover letter.

This bursary is for three-and-a-half years, starting in autumn 2024. The bursary provides full tuition fees (for either home/EU or international students), and a stipend at the rate of at least £20,400 per annum, paid in instalments, and teaching income, which will depend on the hours worked.

Please get in touch with Business School PGR Team Mailbox business-school-pgr@bristol.ac.uk if you have any questions.

How to apply, eligibility and funding

Application process

In order to apply for any of these scholarships, you must first submit an application to the University of Bristol and the PhD programme offered by a School of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law that you wish to study. In the funding section of the form, please select any of the following boxes that apply to your application: ‘University of Bristol scholarship’ (for Bristol Postgraduate Research Scholarships), ‘UK Research Council’ (for ESRC/SWDTP scholarships), or ‘other’ and specify the award. This will highlight to our Admissions teams that you wish to be considered for specific scholarships.

Should you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the application process, please contact your School Admissions team who will be able to discuss these with you.

To identify potential supervisors, please visit the Faculty's 'People' page and filter by the School you are interested in applying to.

Applicants for the Bristol Postgraduate Research Scholarships for candidates of Black and mixed Black heritage, who are UK domiciled with Home fee status, alongside their application, should also complete this online form.

Candidates for all scholarships will be selected on the basis of the specific criteria detailed in the Postgraduate Research Scholarships shortlisting criteria (Office document, 20kB).

(for selection criteria of the SWDTP scholarships, please refer to the SWDTP website):

Schools will shortlist candidates and make nominations to the Faculty. If you have already applied or hold a programme offer, please get back in touch with your School, via their Admissions team, to indicate your interest for a scholarship.

Unless otherwise stated, and to be considered for a scholarship, the research proposal has a strict 1,000 word limit (inclusive of everything except references/citations). This includes all the written text, quotes, in-line citations, section headers, captions, the contents of tables and any foot-/endnotes. Each figure/graphic should be counted as equivalent to 200 words. Tables should be counted as the number of words they contain. We regret that we cannot consider applications for funding where the research proposal is found to be overlength.

Eligibility

The University of Bristol aims to attract, recruit and retain students with different experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives because diversity – of people and ideas – remains integral to our success. Candidates demonstrating excellence from low-income backgrounds and non-Russell group universities, as well as Black, Asian, minority ethnic, Trans, non-binary, and disabled candidates, are strongly encouraged to apply.

Candidates are eligible for a scholarship if they:

  • Meet our standard admissions requirements for the PhD course they are applying to - please refer to the individual prospectus page for entry requirements;
  • Demonstrate exceptional potential for doctoral study;
  • Received an offer of study, which must be accepted before or at the same time as receiving any offer of scholarship.

For the Bristol Postgraduate Research Scholarships for candidates of Black and mixed Black heritage, who are UK domiciled with Home fee status only:

Candidates are eligible for this scholarship if they are a UK national with Home fee status who self-identify as having one of the following categories of ethnicity: Black African, Black Caribbean, Black Other, Mixed – White and Black Caribbean, Mixed – White and Black African, Other mixed background (to include Black African, Black Caribbean or Black Other. You will need to submit your PhD application and also complete this online form.

Please note that candidates who have been awarded alternative full awards (e.g. SWDTP or joint UoB-CSC) are not eligible for the University of Bristol or the fully Faculty-funded inter-/ cross-disciplinary PhD scholarships.

Funding

Unless otherwise stated, full-time PhD Scholarships will include tuition fees and a maintenance grant (stipend) in line with UKRI fee. The stipend rates for 2024-25 are at least £18,622 for four years (full-time) or eight years pro rata (part-time), depending on satisfactory progress. Each student will also have £2,000 per annum to be spent on associated research costs.

Please note: Funding is available only to new students commencing their PhD research in September 2024. Unfortunately, we cannot consider applications from current students already enrolled on a PhD course, or from MPhil students wishing to upgrade to PhD. 

Contact your Admissions Team

If you have any queries regarding the scholarships please contact the Admissions teams of the School of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law that you are applying for:

Other sources of funding

Find out about other sources of postgraduate funding, including:

  • Grants
  • Scholarships
  • Bursaries
  • Travel awards
  • Conference funding 

Bristol alumni discount

University of Bristol alumni can benefit from a 25% reduction in postgraduate tuition fees.

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