UCL's Research Excellence Scholarship for Cross-disciplinary Training (RXD) is our award for current research students to spend a year in another department acquiring new research skills.
For the 2025/26 academic year we are offering 4 fully funded scholarship places to current UCL MPhil/PhD and EngD students from any country wishing to spend an additional year of their MPhil/PhD or EngD in another UCL department acquiring research skills and knowledge from a different discipline, which can be applied in their normal area of research. Training should be of one year's full-time duration to permit sustained exposure to the new discipline.
The scholarships can be taken at any point during the fee-paying period of an exsiting MPhil/PhD or EngD programme.
Eligibility
To APPLY, you must:
- be currently registered at UCL on an eligible full- or part-time MPhil/PhD or EngD research programme (excluding distance learning and professional doctorates).
- provide proof of guaranteed funding for the standard research years of your current MPhil/PhD or EngD programme.
- be in the research phase of your current degree and still paying tuition fees. Students who have entered or are scheduled to enter CRS before Sept 2025 are not eligible to apply.
Where a student is in receipt of a scholarship or funding (e.g. from UKRI), written permission for the arrangement must be sought from the relevant body. Please note: if you are in receipt of UKRI funding, permission should be granted by the training grant holder (i.e. your UCL department/training centre). If RXD funding is deemed not to be compatible with the terms of funding from current sponsors, then unfortunately you are ineligible to apply to the RXD.
Self-funding students need to provide evidence that they have full funding for the remaining years of their PhD.
Value, benefits, and duration
The RXD scholarship consists of full tuition fees (either Home or Overseas) plus a maintenance stipend. For 2024/25, the stipend rate is £21,237 for full-time study and for 2025/26 the stipend rate is to be confirmed. The scholarship also includes a research cost allowance of up to £1,200.
In in the case of recipients who already hold a UKRI grant with a standard higher stipend rate than the RXD rate, the RXD will match the current maintenance grant rate.
The RXD scholarships are tenable for one academic year of full-time study in the host department. Applications from full- or part-time current students are accepted, however the RXD training year must be completed full-time. If awarded, funding begins at the start of the next academic year. For 2025/26 this should be 1st October 2025 (TBC).
Selection
Step 1: Candidates must discuss their RXD plans with their home and proposed host academic department. Please ensure that both Heads of Department, current and prospective supervisors, and your current Department Graduate Tutor are aware of your RXD application.
Step 2: Candidates must submit their RXD application directly to their current (home) academic department by the 10th January 2025 deadline. Academic departments will then forward these to be reviewed by the central UCL Selection Panel for consideration.
Step 3: The central UCL Selection Panel review candidates and make the final decisions. The Pro-Vice-Provost - Doctoral School chairs the panel which includes members of academic staff from a range of disciplines and faculties across UCL.
Scholarships are awarded based on the potential impact that the cross-disciplinary training will have on the candidate’s research.
How to apply
Candidates must submit their RXD application directly to their current academic department by the 10th January 2025 deadline. Please use our list of administrative contacts to find out where to email your application documents.
Applications must include the following documents, in the exact order below, contained in 1 single PDF:
1. A training proposal outline, indicating
- the student's full name and UCL student number
- the MPhil/PhD/EngD project and subject area
- the host department
- the benefit to the student from sustained training in the area outside his/her principal discipline
- the potential impact that the research project might have and how this would be enhanced by cross-disciplinary training
2. Detailed description of the training programme
The training programme should be designed for that particular student, and will normally involve some course work (undergraduate or postgraduate). The training programme should provide the student with more than just a specific research tool (such as knowledge of a particular research technique, or a language); the aim should be broader, namely to immerse the student in the methods, approaches and ways of thinking of another discipline.
3. Student's full Curriculum Vitae (CV)
4. A one-page outline of the MPhil/PhD/EngD research project
5. Evidence of funding for the standard research years of your current MPhil/PhD/EngD programme
6. A letter signed by the heads of both the home and host departments certifying that:
i. the host department has agreed to accept the student for the training programme specified and to allow the student full access to all relevant courses, tutorials, equipment and facilities
The student should be supervised within the host department with arrangements for reporting across to the student's primary supervisor in the home department.
ii. that the relevant funding body or Research Council (where appropriate) has agreed to the proposal
Where the student is in receipt of funding for the MPhil/PhD or EngD, e.g. from a Research Council or alternative funding body, written permission for the arrangement must be provided.
iii. that the necessary financial arrangements between the two departments have been agreed
Financial arrangements must be made to ensure that the allocation of resources between the host and home departments reflects the proportionate responsibilities of each.
Candidates must submit their RXD applications directly to their current academic department. Complete applications must be submitted by Friday, 10th January 2025. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered for funding.
Results
The panel will meet in March 2025 and applicants will be notified of final decisions in April 2025.