UCL has a large number of students funded through Doctoral Training Programmes (DTPs) and Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs).
These multi-disciplinary centres bring together various areas of expertise and offer unique opportunities and a dynamic environment for PhD student training.
Programmes are usually funded for four years. These positions are usually only open to applicants resident in the UK for at least three years prior to their application. Requirements do vary, so please check individual centres. The first year typically includes taught elements for developing research and transferable skills as well as a research element to explore potential PhD-level topics.
Click on the links below to find out what funding is available from the various Doctoral Training Programmes (DTPs) and Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs):
- Arts and Humanities Research Council - AHRC
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council - BBSRC
- BBSRC and Economics and Social Research Council - BBSRC & ESRC
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - EPSRC
- Economic and Social Research Council - ESRC
- Medical Research Council - MRC
- Natural Environment Research Council - NERC
- Science and Technology Facilities Council - STFC
- UK Research and Innovation - UKRI
- Wellcome Trust Doctoral Centres at UCL
- Other Doctoral Programmes in life and medical sciences
CDTs funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- Centre for Doctoral Training in Russian, Slavonic and East European Languages and Culture (with Cambridge, Manchester and Oxford)
- London Arts and Humanities Partnership (with King’s College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, Queen Mary University of London, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Royal College of Art, Royal College of Music and School of Advanced Study)*
CDT funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- London Interdisciplinary PhD Consortium (with King's College London, Queen Mary University of London, Birkbeck, University of London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Royal Veterinary College).
CDT funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Economics and Social Research Council (BBSRC and ESRC)
- Soc-B Centre for Doctoral Training in Biosocial Research is a new CDT funded by ESRC and BBSRC.
CDTs funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- Bioprocessing Engineering Leadership
- CoMPLEX (Mathematics & Physics in the Life Sciences & Experimental Biology)
- Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing* (led by Cardiff University)
- Cybersecurity
- Delivering Quantum Technologies
- Energy Demand
- Emergent Macromolecular Therapies
- Financial Computing and Analytics
- London School of Geometry and Number Theory
- Medical Imaging
- Molecular Modelling and Materials Science
- Connected Electronic and Photonic Systems
- Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology
- Security Science (SECReT)
- Urban Sustainability and Resilience
- Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualisation
- Advanced Characterisation of Materials* (led by Imperial College)
- Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies* (led by University of Nottingham)
- Energy Resiliance and the Built Environment (ERBE)
- View all EPSRC CDT
DTP funded by the Economics and Social Research Council
DTPs and Research Studentships funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC)
- Clinical Neurosciences (Brain Research Trust/MRC)
- CoMPLEX - Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences & Experimental Biology (EPSRC/MRC)
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MRC)
- Neuroscience (Wellcome Trust/MRC)
- Translational Research of Neuromuscular Disease (MRC)
- UCL-Birkbeck MRC DTP
DTP funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- The London NERC Training Partnership (with King's College London, Birkbeck College, Queen Mary, and others)
CDT funded by the Science and Technology Funding Council
CDT funded by UK Research and Innovation
Wellcome Trust Doctoral Centres at UCL
- Wellcome Trust: Bloomsbury Centre for Global Health Research
- Wellcome Trust: Optical Biology 4-year PhD programme
- Wellcome Trust: UCL Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science
Other Doctoral Programmes in life and medical sciences
- British Heart Foundation 4 Year PhD Studentships
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology (Wellcome Trust)
- Gatsby Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience programme
- Leonard Wolfson Clinical Fellowship and PhD Programme (Wolfson Foundation)
- Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme for the Ecological Study of the Brain
- Mental Health Sciences
- NIHR School for Public Health Research
- NIHR School for Primary Care Research
- UCL-NIMH/NINDS Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience