Scholarships for PhD and MSc by Research applicants

Further information

General application process

Make contact with a potential supervisor or supervisors to gain their support in the application.
With your potential supervisor’s advice, make your application
1. If you do not have funding, you can be considered for scholarship opportunities
2. Self-funded students currently receive £600 pa for research costs, and the School Research Committee will contribute towards the costs of presenting your research at conferences.
Your nominated supervisor(s) and Director of Postgraduate Research Studies assess your online application. The assessment process is likely to include an interview.
If successful, you will receive an offer letter from the Faculty of Life Sciences. This is not an offer of a scholarship.
If you applied for a scholarship - and are eligible - you will be included in the selection process along with other candidates. We will notify you of the outcome.

Looking for 'not' where there isn't one: development of counterfactual language in young children

Application Deadline: 28^th April 2022

Primary Supervisor: Dr Nina Kazanina

About the Project

Understanding how children develop understanding of complex language is important for the study of both typical and atypical development. We focus on a class of linguistic expressions such as "I wish John came yesterday" for which the surface form is misleading: whereas the sentence states "John came yesterday", the real meaning is "John did not come yesterday, which I regret”. One could describe such expressions as having a hidden negation in them, or counterfactual. The project explores when and how children learn which expressions have a hidden negation component and whether this process is influenced by their cognitive control and theory-of-mind development.

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

When making your application, please indicate the supervisor name and the project title on the form. Ensure you provide all supporting documents as per the programme admissions statement.

An upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent) in psychology or a related discipline is required for entry to this programme. English language requirements: please refer to the entry requirements as detailed on the postgraduate prospectus.

Funding Notes

This studentship is funded by the University of Bristol Studentship scheme

To be eligible to apply, you must be an international (non-UK) student

The studentship is for 4 years

Tuition and bench fees are included

The studentship includes a stipend of £15,609 per year to support living costs

References

Kazanina, N., Baker, S., & Seddon, H. (2020). Actuality bias in verb learning: The case of sublexically modal transfer verbs. Linguistics, 58(5), 1413-1446.

Rouvoli, L., Tsakali, V., & Kazanina, N. (2019). If they had been more transparent, the child would have discovered them more easily: How counterfactuals develop. In Proceedings of the 43rd Boston University Conference on Language Development, ed. Megan M. Brown and Brady Dailey (Vol. 549, p. 560).

Be still, my churning stomach: Exploring supplement interventions on the gut-brain axis to help NHS workers overcome daily disgust

Application Deadline: 28^th April 2022

Supervisor: Dr Edwin Dalmaijer

About the Project

Disgust is a potent emotion that cleaners, nurses, and many others face every day. While disgust typically does not habituate (or only very limitedly), recent work suggests it can be overcome by a combination of disgust exposure and a drug that normalises gastric rhythm. This project will investigate the physiological response of stomach and brain using electrogastrography and electroencephalography while participants experience disgust on and off this drug. It will then test whether brief courses of domperidone (dopamine antagonist), tryptophan (serotonin precursor), or ginger (serotonin agonist) can inspire long-term disgust reductions for NHS staff.

This project offers hands-on experience with eye tracking, physiological recordings of the brain and the gut, psychopharmacology, and translation of basic science into a societally relevant application. The ideal candidate has an affinity for cognitive and affective science, interoception, and gut-brain interactions. Experience with programming (particularly in Python) is a plus, but not a requirement.

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

When making your application, please indicate the supervisor name and the project title on the form. Ensure you provide all supporting documents as per the programme admissions statement.

An upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent) in psychology or a related discipline is required for entry to this programme. For English language requirements, please refer to the entry requirements as detailed on the postgraduate prospectus.

Funding Notes

This studentship is funded by the University of Bristol Studentship scheme

To be eligible to apply, you must be an international (non-UK) student

The studentship is for 4 years

Tuition and bench fees are included

The studentship includes a stipend of £15,609 per year to support living costs

References

'- Dalmaijer, E.S., Lee, A., Leiter, R., Brown, Z., & Armstrong, T. (2021). Forever yuck: Oculomotor avoidance of disgusting stimuli resists habituation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(8), p. 1598–1611. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001006

- Nord*, C.L., Dalmaijer*, E.S., Armstrong, T., Baker, K., & Dalgleish, T. (2021). A causal role for gastric rhythm in human disgust avoidance. Current Biology, 31(3), p. 629-634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.087

Developing a smartphone-based tool to assess and provide personalised normative feedback on portion size – the key to successful clinical intervention for the treatment of obesity?

Application Deadline: 28th April 2022

Primary Supervisor: Dr Dani Ferriday

About the Project

A longstanding technical problem in human dietary research has been assessing amount of food consumed. Laboratory measured portion size is highly accurate but cannot be applied on a population basis and lacks ecological validity. By contrast, self-report diet diaries can be applied across a population but it is difficult to extract precise portion size estimates. This PhD project will validate a smartphone-based portion size assessment tool with a novel 'live feedback' feature (participants will be informed how their portion compares with population norms). This project will be supervised by Dr Dani Ferriday with co-supervision from Dr Laura Johnson, Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield (second supervisor), and Professor Jeff Brunstrom. Dr Laura Johnson (Director of Research at NatCen Social Research) will host a three-month placement to analyse population normative data in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey dataset. Professor Julian Hamilton Shield (second supervisor) will provide access to the Care of Childhood Obesity Clinic in Bristol to trial the tool in a clinical context. Professor Jeff Brunstrom has technical expertise in programming and the development of online psychophysical tools.

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

When making your application, please indicate the supervisor name and the project title on the form. Ensure you provide all supporting documents as per the programme admissions statement.

Funding Notes

This studentship is funded by the University of Bristol Studentship scheme

To be eligible to apply, you must be an international (non-UK) student

The studentship is for 4 years

Tuition and bench fees are included

The studentship includes a stipend of £15,609 per year to support living costs

Goal maintenance and inhibition in atypical development

Application Deadline: 28^th April 2022

Primary Supervisor: Prof Christopher Jarrold

About the Project

Controlled behaviour requires us to maintain our goals in mind while inhibiting inappropriate actions prompted by the environment. These ‘executive functions’ are widely studied in human psychology and child development, and may develop atypically in a number of conditions such as autism and Down syndrome. However, few studies manipulate goal maintenance and inhibitory demands within a single task, raising concerns about the reliability of previous work in this area . In this project you will develop novel ways of measuring executive function that systematically combine maintenance and inhibitory demands and that can be applied to a range of developmental conditions.

Keywords: Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

When making your application, please indicate the supervisor name and the project title on the form. Ensure you provide all supporting documents as per the programme admissions statement.

Funding Notes

This studentship is funded by the University of Bristol Studentship scheme

To be eligible to apply, you must be an international (non-UK) student

The studentship is for 4 years

Tuition and bench fees are included

The studentship includes a stipend of £15,609 per year to support living costs

References

Jarrold, C., Wang, T., & Li, K. (2021). A novel approach to measuring the developmental interactions between working memory and inhibitory control in young cChildren. PsychArchives. https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4588

Smith, E., Hedge, C., & Jarrold, C. (2019). A novel framework to measure executive function in Down Syndrome with applications for early clinical diagnosis of dementia. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 124, 354-373. doi:10.1352/1944-7558-124.4.354

The company one keeps: Understanding social context effects in 'other-race' face recognition

Application Deadline: 28th April 2022

Primary Supervisor: Dr Susanne Quadflieg

About the Project

The so-called ‘other-race’ effect in face perception is one of the best replicated phenomena in psychology. Though well known to generalize across populations and research paradigms, little is known about the effect’s real-world prevalence and context-dependency. It remains particularly unclear how getting to know strangers in social situations (e.g., accompanied by same-race or cross-race friends) modulates our ability to remember their faces. Drawing on contemporary models of motivated perception and relational impression formation, the current project therefore aims to scrutinize how recognizing others depends on the social circumstances of our first encounter with them. The project will rely on experimental techniques from behavioural science in order to clarify how social context can benefit (or hinder) facial recognition. It may, for example, involve quantitative studies that expose adult perceivers to different types of relationship photographs as commonly found on social media platforms (e.g., on Instagram) in order to investigate how viewers’ memories for other people’s faces depends on the photographs’ racial diversity. The project is ideal for a person who is interested in receiving advanced training in experimental and social psychology. The successful applicant will be based at the School of Psychological Science at the University of Bristol and train under the primary supervision of Dr. Susanne Quadflieg.

Keywords: Social Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

When making your application, please indicate the supervisor name and the project title on the form. Ensure you provide all supporting documents as per the programme admissions statement.

Funding Notes

This studentship is funded by the University of Bristol Studentship scheme

To be eligible to apply, you must be an international (non-UK) student

The studentship is for 4 years

Tuition and bench fees are included

The studentship includes a stipend of £15,609 per year to support living costs

The neural substrates of executive function development during the first 2.5 years of life

Application Deadline: 28th April 2022

Primary Supervisor: Dr Karla Holmboe

About the Project

Executive functions are a set of core cognitive skills that allow us to control our behaviour and make adaptive decisions in everyday life. Given the importance of such skills, it is perhaps not surprising that executive functions in early childhood are key predictors of children’s academic success and socio-emotional wellbeing. In the past, executive functions were considered too complex to be meaningful and measurable in infancy and toddlerhood. However, recent work from my lab has demonstrated that with appropriate tasks we can in fact measure executive functions much earlier than previously thought. In this fully funded PhD, you will use a neuroimaging method called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the neural substrates of executive functions as they emerge during infancy and toddlerhood. You will have the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Holmboe and her team on a new longitudinal study of 200 infants who will be assessed across four time points using a full battery of executive function tasks alongside eye-tracking and neuroimaging measures. Full training in running fNIRS test sessions with infants and in analysing fNIRS data will be provided. If you are interested in applying for this studentship, please contact Dr. Karla Holmboe at karla.holmboe@bristol.ac.uk

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

When making your application, please indicate the supervisor name and the project title on the form. Ensure you provide all supporting documents as per the programme admissions statement.

Funding Notes

This studentship is funded by the University of Bristol Studentship scheme

To be eligible to apply, you must be an international (non-UK) student

The studentship is for 4 years

Tuition and bench fees are included

The studentship includes a stipend of £15,609 per year to support living costs

Impact of maternal and paternal mental health on infant executive function development

Maternal depression has a major negative influence on children’s cognitive and emotional development. However, due to limited research in infancy, it is still unclear how and when such impacts emerge and whether they are specific to maternal mental health. Furthermore, previous research has looked extensively at associations with child temperament and later socio-emotional and cognitive outcomes (Fiske et al., 2021; Rigato et al., 2020; Kingston & Tough, 2014), however, relatively little is known about how parental mental health impacts cognitive development during the first 2 years of life. This collaborative project will investigate the impact of parental mental health (anxiety and depression) on infant executive functions, a set of key regulatory skills which include inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility. The early development of these skills is key because executive functions have been shown to be predictive of later academic, social and health outcomes. The project will be jointly supervised by Dr. Karla Holmboe at the University of Bristol and Prof. Ron Rapee at Macquarie University in Sydney, and the student will spend 2 years at each university. Dr. Holmboe specialises in early executive function development and Prof. Rapee specialises in childhood mental health. If you are interested in applying for this position, please in the first instance contact Dr. Holmboe at karla.holmboe@bristol.ac.uk.

UoB supervisor: Dr Karla Holmboe (karla.holmboe@bristol.ac.uk)

MQU supervisor: Professor Ron Rapee (ron.rapee@mq.edu.au)

Please note that this PhD studentship is fully funded for home fees and stipend at UKRI rate

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

When making your application, please use the programme title Psychology (PhD) (Macquarie), indicate the supervisor name and the project title on the form. Ensure you provide all supporting documents as per the programme admissions statement.

Application deadline 29th April 2022.

When spelling goes wrong, what does the way we fix it tell us: Exploring the architecture of spelling through interventions

In English words, relationships between letters and sounds are not always regular (e.g., yacht). Even so, knowledge of regular relationships between letters and sounds can influence how successfully people learn to spell “irregular words” – in other words, sub-lexical knowledge can influence orthographic (written) and phonological (spoken) lexical knowledge. The precision and quality of lexical knowledge is also influenced by the way it is taught (for example, writing a word or sounding it out to create a ‘spelling pronunciation’ can lead to better orthographic learning than just seeing and hearing a word). We are interested in exploring what happens to lexical knowledge when people are exposed to competing orthographic and phonological lexical representations and/or competing phoneme-to-grapheme conversions (e.g., when there are two possible spellings for a sound in English, or when bilingual speakers learn competing phoneme-to-grapheme conversions), and what this might tell us about the architecture of our reading and spelling system. This project will investigate interventions with typical and atypical children (and adults) to examine how we acquire and integrate lexical and non-lexical orthographic representations and processes. The funding will enable the student to spend the first two years of the project at the University of Bristol and years 3 and 4 at Macquarie University. If you are interested in applying for this position, please in the first instance contact Dr Polly Barr (polly.barr@bristol.ac.uk).

UoB supervisors: Dr Polly Barr (polly.barr@bristol.ac.uk) & Professor Markus Damian (M.Damian@bristol.ac.uk)

MQ supervisors: Dr Saskia Kohnen (saskia.kohnen@mq.edu.au) & Dr Danielle Colenbrander (danielle.colenbrander@mq.edu.au)

Please note that this PhD studentship is fully funded for home fees and stipend at UKRI rate

Please use the link provided on this page to apply online: PhD Psychology | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

Application deadline 29th April 2022

Decolonising the Psychology Research Methods Curriculum: Cotutelle PhD Studentship (University of Bristol, UK, and Macquarie University, Australia)

This PhD studentship will explore, develop, and test strategies for approaching decolonisation in the psychology research methods curriculum. It will provide four years’ funding (tuition fees plus stipend) for a home (UK), EU or international student to design, undertake and disseminate a programme of research that will have impact on psychology research methods pedagogy in the UK and internationally. Members of historically under-represented, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse populations are strongly encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will spend the first half of their studentship at the University of Bristol (UK), and the second half at Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia).

The successful candidate will have:

- A first or strong upper second-class honours degree (or international equivalent) in psychology or a related discipline.

- A demonstrated interest in at least one of the following: (a) decolonisation in higher education; (b) psychology research methods pedagogy; (c) programming web applications.

- Extensive knowledge of psychological research methods.

- Strong computational skills, ideally with some experience of programming.

This studentship presents an excellent opportunity to make a meaningful positive contribution to the future of psychology education, whilst simultaneously developing a broad range of research skills. Given the subject matter of the studentship, it is also anticipated that the successful candidate will become involved in a range of teaching and learning activities at both institutions and have a strong commitment to building international collaborations and networks.

In your one-page personal statement, in addition to demonstrating how you are ready to study at a doctoral level, please ensure that you clearly describe and illustrate the knowledge, skills, experiences and personal characteristics that make you a good fit for this specific studentship. In your 250-word research statement please sketch out a programme of research that would address the aims of this project, as outlined above. However, please understand that the actual nature of the project will be shaped in consultation with the project supervisors and other stakeholders during the early months of the studentship.

The deadline for applications is 20 May 2022. Shortlisting will take place in the final week of May, followed shortly thereafter by interviews (which will be conducted online). It is anticipated that the successful candidate will begin their studentship in Bristol in September 2022.

Apply online at: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/2022/life-sciences/phd-psychology-/

When making your application, use the programme title Psychology (PhD) (Macquarie), indicate Dr Peter Allen as supervisor and include the project title on the form. Please ensure you supply all supporting documents to your application as specified in the admissions statement.

For any queries, please contact Dr Peter Allen at p.allen@bristol.ac.uk

Supervisors:

Primary: Prof Stephan Lewandowsky

Secondary: Prof Adam Finn, Dr Emma Anderson, Dr Harriet Fisher

You have the opportunity to

complete a PhD at an internationally renowned research university
take part in a contemporary project with high practical relevance
work in a large collaborative team dedicated to top-tier research and fostering a positive atmosphere
partake in career development, including mentoring, feedback, and (international) conferences
develop broad skills through professional engagement and teaching experience

Full Project Detail:

The project is called JITSUVAX. It is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and addresses vaccine hesitancy—the delay or refusal of vaccination without medical indication. Hesitancy has been cited as a serious threat to global health by the World Health Organization (WHO), identifying misinformation on the internet as a contributing factor. JITSUVAX leverages those insights to turn toxic misinformation into a potential asset based on two premises: 1. The best way to acquire knowledge and to combat misperceptions is by employing misinformation as a teaching tool, 2. HCPs (health care professionals) form the critical link between vaccination policies and vaccine uptake.

The principal objective of JITSUVAX is to leverage misinformation about vaccinations into an opportunity by training HCPs to neutralize misinformation among HCPs and enabling them to communicate more effectively with patients. The findings from JITSUVAX will be disseminated with the aid of collaborators within WHO and UNICEF to leverage new knowledge for global impact.

The PhD student will be based in Bristol and will conduct laboratory research locally or online. The research will involve a mix of quantitative and qualitative behavioural methods. The project involves additional nodes in Cambridge, France, Finland, Germany, and Portugal with the PhD student potentially spending time at other nodes as the project requires.

Find out more: https://sks.to/c19vax & h ttps://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2021/february/vaccine-hesitancy.html

Entry requirements: Applicants need a first or upper second-class honours degree (or equivalent) in Psychology or related discipline (e.g., cognitive science).

Funding information: The studentship provides a stipend at the standard rate (approximately £15,000 per annum) for the duration of the studentship (3 years) plus tuition fees at the UK rate.

Contact details for informal enquiries: stephan.lewandowsky@bristol.ac.uk

How to apply: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/.

About the Project: A 3 x year fully funded (stipend and fees) EPSRC PhD studentship for UK/EU students (Conditions may apply to non-UK students) in the area of Relationship Science.

In contemporary societies such as the UK, young adults increasingly report feelings of social isolation, with feelings particularly high in ardent social media users. The current project therefore aims to adopt an experimental approach to scrutinize the psychological impact of social media use. Drawing on contemporary models of social impression formation and attachment theory, in particular, it aims to investigate how high (vs. low) exposure to overly positive relationship displays as common on social media affects young adults’ own relationship ideals, satisfaction, and investment.

The project will use behavioural science experimental techniques to clarify how social media can benefit (or hinder) close relationship formation and maintenance. For more details, please discuss with the project lead.

Background: The studentship is based in the lab of Dr Susanne Quadflieg, in collaboration with Dr Angela Rowe, based at the School of Psychological Science at the University of Bristol, UK. In the 2014 REF, it was one of the UK's top ten universities for its research in psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience. The supervisory team has an international reputation for their work in social psychology.

The person: The project is ideal for a person who is interested in receiving advanced training in experimental and social psychology. The person would ideally have an undergraduate or Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (Psychology or Computer Science). Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this work, applicants with a different scientific background but a strong interest in the topic will also be considered. Prior experience with statistical computing software (e.g., SPSS, R), behavioural presentation software (e.g., PsychoPy), and/or image processing software (e.g., Adobe Photoshop) would be desirable.

Further details and contact: Standard EPSRC eligibility rules apply. The post will ideally start in July 2021, but is flexible. This advert will remain open until a suitable candidate is recruited with shortlisting at the end of each month. For informal enquires about this post email: s.quadflieg@bristol.ac.uk

Funding Notes: Please make an online application for this project at http://www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply. Please select <PhD Experimental Psychology> on the Programme Choice page. You will be prompted to enter details of this EPSRC-studentship in the Funding and Research Details sections of the form. Please ensure that in this section you write “I would like to be considered for the EPSRC funding award in the School of Psychological Science” and specify the name of the supervisor: Susanne Quadflieg.

Microsoft Funded PhD: Using AI to develop joint attention in blind children

Application information: We are seeking a person with an interest in employing human-computer interaction methodologies to evaluate new AI technologies and their impact on children over time. The ideal person would have an undergraduate or Master’s degree in a relevant discipline such as Computer Science, Psychology or Social Science and would be interested in both quantitative and qualitative methods. Strong background in design and evaluation, experience working with children, disability, or minority population as well as demonstrated capability for research (e.g. through publication) are particularly desirable.

Funding: The post must start by September/October 2020 and will be funded over 4 years. The award covers an enhanced EPSRC stipend, home-based student fees and a substantial budget for consumables, travel and subsistence. The person will also have an opportunity to intern at Microsoft Research.

Eligibility: Standard EPSRC eligibility rules apply: Normally, to be eligible for a full award a student must have no restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the studentship (with some further constraint regarding residence for education). There is limited flexibility of universities to include EU students and international.

Applicants are encouraged to contact us as soon as possible. For further details or to discuss this contact Dr Oussama Metatla including a full CV and any relevant details.

The Chinese Scholarship Council-University of Bristol Joint Scholarship Scheme

Forty (40) fully-funded PhD scholarships for up to 48 months of research at the University of Bristol.

Eligibility: Chinese students already studying in the UK (or other countries). Chinese students attending their home universities.

Candidates apply directly to Bristol

Deadline: Midday (UK time) on 25 January 2021.

Scholarships for PhD and MSc by Research applicants

Further information

General application process

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities

Previous scholarship opportunities