The Urban Studies, Transport and Architectural Space pathway is one of 25 pathways that comprise the UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership (UBEL DTP) involving UCL, SOAS, Birkbeck College, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of East London. More details about this partnership can be found at
https://ubel-dtp.ac.uk/This pathway can submit candidates for consideration via a competitive process for both +3 and 1+3 awards. The 1+3 route provides funding for 1 year of the Urban Studies MSc then 3 years of PhD research.


Awards will be for a start date of September 2021. The studentship will normally cover fees and include a maintenance stipend over three years (for +3 candidates) or four years (for 1+3 candidates). Part-time students are also accepted.
The following will be essential:
• Distinction on an ESRC recognised Masters degree or equivalent research training (for +3 award). This Masters should be the Urban Studies MSc programme or a close equivalent.

• Clear evidence of first class ability at undergraduate level (especially for 1+3 awards).
• 3 years of prior UK residency. Other EU students acceptable but will receive only fees.
• A research topic that is clearly identifiable as urban-related.
Ideally the candidate will have supervisors located in different Departments across the DTP given this is an inter-disciplinary pathway. An existing record of publication and awards would obviously greatly strengthen the application.


Interested students taking the 1+3 Urban Studies route or a PhD associated with the UCL Urban Lab should contact Dr Andrew Harris (andrew.harris@ucl.ac.uk) to discuss their research projects, check whether you need to apply to the 1+3 route if you do not have relevant MSc relevant methods training, and to seek advice on prospective supervisors. 
Please see
here for other members of the pathway team to contact in CASA, Space Syntax and Transport@UCL.
Some advice on writing an initial proposal.
Formal expressions of interest should be registered by sending the following information to this pathway team member in one Word or pdf document by
5pm Monday 14 December 2020:
a) A project description including prospective supervisor(s) (max 300 words)
b) A short biography including track record and competencies (max 300 words)


Potential applicants will be notified soon after whether they are invited to submit a formal preliminary application to the DTP via this pathway. Instructions on preparing and submitting preliminary applications to the DTP appear on the UBEL DTP’s ‘
How to Apply’ guidelines. The deadline for formal preliminary applications is 11 January 2021.
Prospective students are also encouraged to apply for admission onto MSc Urban Studies or a UCL PhD programme. This is a separate process to the UBEL DTP application. Applications to MSc/PhD programmes should be made through
UCL’s Postgraduate Application System. PhD applications should proceed only after contacting a prospective supervisor who agrees to acts as Primary Supervisor.
Successful applicants to the formal preliminary round will then be asked to submit full applications via the UBEL DTP portal by 28 Feb 2021.
