Postgraduate research degrees

Application process

1. Check UCL’s entry requirements

Formal entry requirements for a PhD will normally be either a first or upper-second class UK Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate subject, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard from a recognised higher education institution, or a recognised taught Master’s degree. Find out about UCL's entry requirements.

All students whose first language is not English must be able to provide recent evidence that their spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the programmes for which they have applied. 

The English language proficiency requirements for the Ear Institute are currently set at the standard level. Find out more.

It is in your own interests to check that you meet these requirements as early as possible before spending time applying for a PhD. Also be aware that fulfilling these formal qualifications does not mean you will be able to do a PhD –you need to find a supervisor who is willing to work with you and funding to cover all the costs associated with a PhD.

2. How do I find a PhD?

There are two main types of research degree opportunities:

PhD Studentships provide funding that cover tuition fees, student living expenses and often some research expenses. Usually they will have been awarded to specific supervisors or programmes. They are advertised throughout the year so you will need to regularly check relevant websites.

• Find a PhD is a comprehensive guide to PhD studentships and postgraduate research degrees.
• Ear Institute PhD studentships will be advertised on our website and on the UCL main site list.
• Some cross university schemes such as the LIDO PhD scheme also offer opportunities.

Speculative opportunities - If you can’t find a studentship in a research project that interests you or you have your own funding, the best way to find a PhD project is to approach a potential supervisor directly. Exceptional students, that meet the entrance requirements, are encouraged to be proactive to identify opportunities with UCL academics whose recent research closely matches their interests. A summary of the research interests of each of our supervisors can be found on our principal investigators page and a more detailed description on the webpage of each principal investigator.

You may also wish to:

• browse the UCL's online graduate prospectus to find centres of research in your area of interest. Click through to the department or centre website to find staff profiles.
• search our online research repository (UCL Discovery) where UCL’s research papers are published, subject to approvals. If you identify a research paper that particularly interests you it is likely that one of the authors would be a suitable research supervisor.

If an academic is very impressed with your research experience and proposal they may be able to help you to identify sources of funding. There are also UCL scholarships that they can nominate you for.

3. Make a research enquiry

All prospective applicants for study at the Ear Institute, except those applying for advertised studentships, are encouraged to send an "expression of interest". This should be sent directly to the academic you are interested in working with or the Post Graduate Admin team.

• Email the PGR Admin team (ear.pgradmin@ucl.ac.uk)

TIP: Remember that many researchers are approached by a large number of potential students many of whom will be unsuitable. Make sure you differentiate yourself and provide documentation of your suitability for undertaking a PhD in this area. We have provided an expression of interest form that you can use to do this; it covers the major information that supervisors will ask for. Supervisors will also be able to help you find funding sources.

Supervisors

See below for summaries of the research interests of each of our supervisors or take a look at our principal investigators page (with more detailed descriptions of their work and interests).

Approach the supervisor as early as possible - even a year in advance - they may be applying for funding and might be interested in nominating someone for the studentship if they identify a good candidate.

Making a research enquiry helps define your interests, contributes to making your application successful, and also serves to ensure the identification of the best possible supervisor for your needs.

4. Submit a formal application

Once you have found a supervisor, agreed a research project and have funding in place you will need to go through the formal admissions process for entry to UCL.

You will need to complete:

• The standard UCL graduate application form
• A research proposal of 1000-1500 words in length should be created in conjunction with your proposed supervisor. It should be submitted with the UCL graduate application form. This is an extremely important part of your formal application. It should clearly state the research question, and its importance. It should provide the specific details of experimental or other kinds of studies and data that will be used to address the research question. Logical thinking, clear design of research studies, and relevant methodological knowledge are all key parts of a good research proposal. Where appropriate, the research proposal should explain how initial experiments or studies will lead onto further questions and studies in a coherent progression. The research proposal should be your own work, though the supervisor may give some advice. The word limit (minimum 1000 words, maximum 1500 words) includes all sections and appendices. Only key references rather than a lengthy reference list should be included.
• You will also need to submit a transcript for previous qualifications, references and, where applicable, an English language test certificate.

Applications are accepted throughout the year and studentships can commence at any time. However, the majority of students begin their studies in September.

Questions about the application process can be directed to the Postgraduate ResearchAdministration Team, via ear.pgradmin@ucl.ac.uk.

5. Await decision

Track the progress of your application via the UCL Applicant Portal (log in required).

Once accepted, you will receive an offer letter.

Frequently asked questions

What does a PhD involve?

A PhD involves undertaking a supervised research project. Although there are opportunities to attend skills training and specialist seminars, a PhD typically does not involve any formal taught element, it is wholly research based.

How long does it last?

The PhD is normally designed to extend over three years full-time or five years part-time. However, certain PhD degrees are offered on a four-year full-time basis.

PhD students at UCL are required to register initially for the MPhil qualification; the upgrade procedure from MPhil to PhD registration is an important step in your programme and usually takes place between 9 and 18 months into your research. It is also possible to register with the intention of graduating with the MPhil degree.

The PhD is assessed by a written thesis of no more than 100,000 words and an oral viva. This thesis must demonstrate the candidate’s capacity to pursue original research in their field of study and represent a distinct and significant contribution to the subject, whether through the discovery of new knowledge, the connection of previously unrelated facts, the development of new theory or the revision of older views. It should show the exercise of critical judgement with regard to both the candidate’s own work and that of other scholars in the field.

What qualifications are necessary?

Formal entry requirements for a PhD will normally be either a first or upper-second class UK Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate subject, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard from a recognised higher education institution, or a recognised taught Master’s degree. Find out about UCL's entry requirements.

All students whose first language is not English must be able to provide recent evidence that their spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the programmes for which they have applied. 

The English language proficiency requirements for the Ear Institute are currently set at the standard level. Find out more.

It is in your own interests to check that you meet these requirements as early as possible before spending time applying for a PhD. Also be aware that fulfilling these formal qualifications does not mean you will be able to do a PhD –you need to find a supervisor who is willing to work with you and funding to cover all the costs associated with a PhD.

What fees are involved?

• UCL fees and funding

As well as these fees the cost of the research needs to be taken into account: this can vary greatly with different research projects. Sometimes this element will be covered by the supervisor’s own research funding but this is not always the case.

Students can be self-funded or they can apply for studentships that have already been awarded to specific supervisors and projects by research councils or charitable organisations. Usually the studentship will cover the costs of tuition fees, a stipend for the student living expenses and some research expenses.

UCL also has some scholarships which you can apply for once you have identified a supervisor and research project. Find out more. 

List of supervisors 

Supervisors

Your research proposal should fit with the research interests of at least two members of staff listed below.

Supervisor	Area of research
Prof Joerg Albert	Mechanosensory biology (using insect models) with particular focus on: (i) The molecular basis of mechanotransduction, (ii) (Mechano)sensory entrainment of the circadian clock and (iii) acoustic communication and its contribution to reproductive isolation in fruit flies.
Prof Doris Bamiou	Interested in interventions for APD in normal and neurological populations across the age span, the prevalence of hearing loss and auditory processing deficits in patients with stroke, and the association of vestibular/balance disorders with psychiatric/cognitive disorders, with a special interest in balance in the elderly.
Prof Martin Birchall	Regenerative Medicine; development of stem-cell based, tissue-engineered organ replacements, in particular airway replacements and laryngeal transplantation.
Prof Jennifer Bizley	Neural basis of auditory and auditory-visual perception using electrophysiological, behavioural and computational methods.
Prof Maria Chait	Psychophysics and functional brain imaging (MEG, EEG, fMRI) of auditory function; Auditory scene analysis; Attention; statistical learning.
Dr Nicolas Daudet	Mechanisms of inner ear development and regeneration; Notch signalling and the patterning of inner ear epithelia; Formation and maintenance of stereocilia.
Prof Sally Dawson	Molecular genetics of hearing disorders including age related hearing loss and otosclerosis; regulation of gene expression in sensory hair cells; cochlear stress mechanisms and the stress granule pathway.
Dr Alain de Cheveigne	Psychoacoustics, human electrophysiology (EEG, MEG, ABR), models of auditory processing for speech, pitch and scene analysis, audio signal processing, multichannel analysis for electrophysiology and brain imaging, indexing and mining of large databases of audio and electrophysiological data.
Prof Jonathan Gale	Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of damage, repair and regeneration in the inner ear; cochlear stress mechanisms and the stress granule pathway; stem-cell based approaches to inner ear regenerative medicine.
Prof Dan Jagger	Molecular physiology of primary auditory neurons; ion channels; role of connexins in hearing and deafness; role of cilia in cochlear development.
Prof Nick Lesica	Neural coding of speech in the inferior colliculus and auditory cortex; modulation of auditory activity by brain state; processing of interaural time differences.
Prof Jennifer Linden	Cortical and thalamic mechanisms of hearing; central auditory dysfunction in neurodevelopmental disorders, schizophrenia and tinnitus.
Dr Torsten Marquardt	Cochlear mechanics including otoacoustic emissions; low frequency sound perception; psychoacoustics, physiology and models of binaural and spatial hearing.
Prof Shak Saeed	Professor of Otology and Neuro-Otology (Honorary Consultant). His research focusses on deafness genetics, facial palsy and implantation otology and a clinical interest in auditory nerve aplasia/hypoplasia; Cochlear implant outcomes in CMV deafened children; Outcomes in dual-array cochlear implantation; Auditory brainstem implant outcomes; Utility of botulinum toxin in facial palsy.
Prof Anne Schilder	Dedicated to developing the best research to test and evaluate new and current treatments in ENT, Hearing and Balance; clinical research methodology, eHealth records research, Patient & Public Involvement in research, research priority setting, systematic review, NIHR CRN research support.