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Postgraduate doctoral, postgraduate doctoral admissions process.
Become a doctoral student at Imperial
Find out more about applying for doctoral study as a Home student.
Applying as an international student may involve a few extra steps. Find out all you need below.
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Find a doctoral course.
Explore our postgraduate doctoral courses, which give you the chance to create original knowledge in your chosen field through an intensive programme of in-depth research. Options include PhDs, integrated PhDs and professional Doctorates for working professionals.
Find a course
How to apply
Follow the steps below to apply for a postgraduate doctoral course. You may only be considered for a maximum of two courses in any one admission cycle – each will require a separate application.
Create a MyImperial account
Get started by registering a MyImperial account.
Ensure you meet the entry requirements
Explore the minimum entry requirements required for accepted qualifications - your course of interest may have higher requirements.
Take note of any deadlines
While many supervisors accept new students throughout the year, funded PhD projects may have defined deadlines for entry.
Upload all supporting documents
We won't start processing your application until you have uploaded all supporting documents.
Check your application status
Sign in to your MyImperial account at any time to check your application's progress.
- Submit your offer conditions
Before you can register for your course, pay tuition fees (if you’re self-funding), or receive a CAS to support your visa application (if you need one), you will need to show you have met all your offer conditions.
Student visa – CAS
If you need a visa to study in the UK, you'll need to provide a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) with your visa application. We'll issue this automatically after you have met your offer conditions.
If you need a visa to study in the UK, you'll need to provide a Confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) with your visa application. We'll issue this automatically after you have met your offer conditions.
Doctoral loan
A Postgraduate Doctoral Loan for Home students can help with course fees and living costs while you study.
- Application process
Get more information about the application process.
- English language requirements
- Advice on choosing a course
After you apply
Find out what happens after you apply
- Track your application
Offer holders
You're on your way to joining our community. Explore some of the next steps.
- Apply for a visa (if you need one)
- Apply for an ATAS certificate (if required)
You're on your way to joining our community. Find out what comes next.
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In this section
- Imperial Home
- Postgraduate doctoral
- Application process
Choose a course
Integrated PhD
A new model of Doctoral training
Studentships.
Funding for our CDTs and DTPs is provided by Research Councils so eligibility criteria apply for the studentships that they offer. This is outlined on the UK Research and Innovation website . They may also consider self-funding applicants for non-funded projects.
Integrated PhDs provide a new model of postgraduate training. They retain the depth, rigour and focus of a conventional PhD while also providing a broader training experience.
While the specific training routes may vary, they typically consist of a one-year Master's course (MSc or MRes) which leads straight into a three-year PhD.
This new style of doctoral training is available within our Research Council-funded Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) and Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs).
CDTs and DTPs
Our CDTs and DTPs recruit cohorts of students from a broad spectrum of disciplines, creating vibrant multi-disciplinary communities.
The diversity of students recruited to these centres reflects the breadth of research which they cover.
As well as benefitting from a variety of training opportunities and cohort-building activities, students studying within these centres may also have access to a supervisor and facilities at a partner institution.
Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs)
We offer the following DTPs:
- Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet , funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and hosted by the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment.
- Medical Research Council Studentships – Imperial College Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) , funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC)
- Photonics , available through several EPSRC-funded Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) in which Photonics research group members are involved.
Imperial is also a partner in London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS) , funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs)
Imperial currently hosts the following Centres for Doctoral Training. Explore the centres that interest you to find out more about their training programme and available studentships.
- Advanced Characterisation of Materials
- Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare – UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training
- BioDesign Engineering
- Chemical Biology - Innovation for the Life Sciences
- Modern Statistics and Statistical Machine Learning
- Next Generation Synthesis and Reaction Technology
- Nuclear Energy Futures
Professional Doctorate
Advanced standing
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- » Resources for Staff & PhD students
PhD/MPhil Research Degrees
Introduction.
The Department of Computing at Imperial College is a leading department of computer science among the UK universities and offers an exciting research environment for prospective postgraduate students. It has consistently been awarded the highest research rating (5*) in Research Assessment Exercises, including the most recent one held in 2001, and was rated as "Excellent" in the previous national assessment of teaching quality.
Two research degree programmes are offered, one leading to the MPhil degree and the other to the PhD degree. All students are initially registered for MPhil but may transfer to the PhD programme if their progress is satisfactory. The programmes may be followed in either full-time or part-time modes, for which the minimum periods of registration are two or three calendar years, respectively. The time taken for a full-time student to complete the PhD programme is normally expected to be three years from the date of initial registration.
Financial Support
The funding details are different for UK, European and Overseas students.
UK students, students eligible for EPSRC funding
Each year the Department has a number of EPSRC-DTA studentships which are awarded to suitably qualified research students. These pay for the fees and bursary.
Fees: £3,010 per year Bursary: £13,200 per year
European Students
The current situation is that the Department has some scholarships to fund the fees for suitably qualified European students (this typically includes citizens from countries that joined the EU on 1 May 2004). The student or supervisor has to find the funding for the bursary. It is not likely that this situation will change in the foreseeable future.
Fees: £3,010 per year Bursary: £13,200 per year (for EU students that fulfill "residency" requirements)
Overseas Students
There are national scholarships for overseas students, called ORS awards, which cover the difference between the overseas fees (£10,850) and the home fees (£3,010). These awards are prestigious and competitive. The student or supervisor has to find the funds for the remainder of the fees and the bursary. To ensure eligibility for these awards, please apply as early as possible, e.g. in early November for the competition of the subsequent year. ORS poster and the ORS booklet for further details. We no longer can accept ORS and LEE applications for 2005. --> Please refer to the 2005 Guidelines for the ORS Awards Scheme.
Scholarships
Please see Scholarships and Awards for other funding opportunities, in particular the Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards. Through its Industrial Liaison Unit, the Department is able to offer enhanced PhD scholarships to selected students. These are supported through generous donations from industrial sponsors. They are allocated early in the first year of study and are tenable for up to 3 years and renewed on an annual basis. The criteria for award and financial value differ between scholarships and are publicised at the start of the selection process.
This years Deutsche Bank PhD scholarship has been awarded to Henry Styles, who graduated with a First from our department and is now studying for a PhD under Wayne Luk's supervision.
This year's Microsoft scholarship will be shared between Tyrone Grandison, supervisor Morris Sloman, and Ioannis Xanthakos, supervisor Fariba Sadri.
Please note that the Department does not provide funding for either tuition fees or maintenance. There are sometimes Scholarships available through the Department, College, or individual supervisors. ORS poster and the ORS booklet , and information on the Lee Scholarship . --> Opportunities for Fellowships, Teaching Assistantship (TA) and Research Assistantship (RA) posts are not that frequent and you would need to refer to www.doc.ic.ac.uk/about/situationsvacant/ on a regular basis to see what (if anything) is available.
How to Apply
The Department welcomes new applications from all suitably qualified candidates. Applicants are required to have a good Honours MSc degree or equivalent degree in Computer Science, Mathematics or some IT-related discipline. Candidates who have a BSc degree only will not be considered. Additionally, applicants need to demonstrate strong research potential. Where appropriate, we may encourage applicants to register first for the MSc in Advanced Computing and then, upon successful completion of this, to apply for registration for a research degree. The MSc course includes special research-oriented provisions for students intending to take this route.
We strongly advise you to first read
- and the College admissions policy www.ic.ac.uk/P1332.htm
before sending our PhD Admissions Team any questions by email phdadmissions "at" doc.imperial.ac.uk or Cristina Novakovic using cmn "at" doc.imperial.ac.uk. Please read item 4 carefully to assess whether your achievements would meet the college's expectations. Strong candidates increase their change of acceptance or facilitate the processing of their application by
- indicating in their application general research topics of interest and the research groups or --> supervisors under which they would like to carry out their PhD work.
If you have any problems accessing electronic information regarding taught postgraduate degrees please email the Postgraduate Admissions Secretary Mrs. Barbara Claxton or write to:
The Assistant Registrar (Admissions), Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ.
We no longer can accept ORS and LEE applications for 2006. ORS poster and the ORS booklet . -->
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