collageThat is right! You can have a PhD in Scotland with full funding. In fact, you do not have to pay anything whatsoever until you finish your studies and find yourself a good job. Scotland is a great place for doing research. It has one of the oldest universities in the English-speaking world, and several other universities ranked within the UK’s top 20. Scotland is also a small country; you don’t need to leave its borders before you’re in another country altogether. Taking a PhD in Scotland gives you several advantages.
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PhD funding opportunities
Study for a PhD in the heart of Scotland at the University of Stirling
We’re part of the Scottish Graduate School for Social Sciences (ESRC funded) – the UK’s largest facilitator of funding, training and support for doctoral students in social sciences. We’re also members of the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (AHRC Funded), and actively recruit postgraduate research students via their competitions. Stirling is also part of other UK Research Council funded Doctoral Training Partnerships across a range of subjects including Eastbio (Biosciences in Scotland), Iapetus and SUPER (both Natural Environment Research funded for environmental research).
The University also partners with the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, whose PhD Scholarships Fund supports postgraduate research at eligible institutions in Scotland.
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Funding opportunities
You may want to think about options for funding your PhD and any associated living costs while you study. Below are some examples of the kinds of PhD studentship packages that are available. Our supervisors and support staff can help you develop and refine your proposal to match your chosen funding call.
Research Council Studentships
Are you a UK resident? The UK Research Councils offer a range of studentship awards which cover tuition fees and associated living costs for 3 to 4 years.
If you’re an EU resident you can also apply for Research Council awards, but usually you will be eligible for awards covering tuition fees only and not associated living costs.
To find out if your research course is eligible for funding, contact the Research Council relevant to your chosen course:
- Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH)
- Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
PhD loans for students from England and Wales
If you’re domiciled in England or Wales you may be eligible to apply for a doctoral loan of up to £25,700 from your regional body:
- English students can apply for a loan from Student Finance England.
- Welsh students can apply for a loan from Student Finance Wales.
Loans can be combined with funding from your university or other sources, but not with Research Council funding, NHS funding or other direct Government funding. More information is available via FindaPhD.
Teaching assistantships
Some of our faculties offer teaching assistantships for research students, in return for undertaking part-time teaching duties.
If you take up this opportunity, you’ll receive a stipend to support you in your studies, and the amount of teaching will not normally exceed six hours per week. To find out more, you should contact your Faculty.
Employer sponsorship
If your degree is directly relevant to your work, you should think about speaking with your employer. They may give you paid leave for study, or even pay for part of your tuition fees and associated costs.
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Postgraduate Funding At Universities In Scotland
Postgraduate students from Scotland and other countries in the EU (with the exception of England, Northern Ireland and Wales) can apply for funding assistance via the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The SFC is the national, strategic body responsible for funding teaching and learning provision in Scotland’s colleges and universities. It’s funding currently contributes to Scotland’s 16 universities and three higher education institutions. The universities and HE institutions funded by the SFC are:
Abertay University; Edinburgh Napier University; Glasgow Caledonian University; Glasgow School of Art; Heriot-Watt University; The Open University in Scotland; Queen Margaret University; Robert Gordon University; Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; SRUC; University of Aberdeen; University of Dundee; University of Edinburgh; University of Glasgow; University of St Andrews; University of Stirling; University of Strathclyde; University of the Highlands and Islands; and the University of the West of Scotland.
The SFC has invested £1.6billion into Scotland’s universities and HE institutions, and is responsible for helping many postgraduate students achieve their dreams of studying a postgrad program in Scotland. However, the SFC doesn’t actually fund individual students – instead it makes the funding available to the Scottish universities, and these in turn offer SFC-funded places via the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).
Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS)
The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) is an agency of the Scottish Government that gives SFC-funded financial support to eligible students. To be eligible to apply to the SAAS for a SFC-funded scholarship, students need to fulfill one of the following criteria:
* A permanent resident of Scotland for at least 3 years prior to the start of the program on 1st August.
* An EU national (apart from England, Northern Ireland, Wales) residing in your own country for 3 years prior to the start of the program on 1st August.
* An EU national (apart from England, Northern Ireland, Wales) exercising your right of free movement anywhere in the UK or the EU and permanently domiciled in the EU for 3 years prior to the start of the program on 1st August.
* A non-UK and non-EU applicant with indefinite leave to remain in the UK and permanently domiciled in Scotland for a purpose other than education for 3 years prior to the start of the program on 1 August.
If you fulfill one of these criteria the SAAS website has all the application information you need as well as forms to download so you can apply for SFC funding.
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SFC-Funded Scholarships At Scottish Universities
For those students that meet the eligibility requirements, universities in Scotland offer many SFC-funded scholarships including full payment of tuition fees to postgraduate students. For example, the University of Glasgow has SFC-funded scholarships available to students opting to study a wide variety of postgraduate programs from Animal Welfare Science to Playwriting and Dramaturgy. Meanwhile the University of Edinburgh offers repayable student support of up to £3,400 via the SAAS for a whole range of postgrad subjects from Accounting to Visual Communication. And the University of Dundee currently has 40+ fully funded taught postgraduate SFC-funded places. Check the website of the Scottish university that you are interested in studying at to see what SFC-funding opportunities they have for you.
5 Steps To SFC-funding success
1. Choose your Scottish university.
2. Type ‘SAAS’ or ‘SFC Funding’ into the university website search box and click search.
3. Read the list of postgrad programs that are eligible for SAAS/SFC funding and choose the one that interests you.
4. Apply for the postgrad program.
5. Download a loan application form from the SAAS website and apply.
Student Testimonial
Wojciech Borowski is a postgraduate student studying City Planning & Real Estate Development at the University of Glasgow. He says, “SFC funding made my dream of attending a postgraduate course in City Planning & Real Estate Development at University of Glasgow become reality so much easier.”
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Further Funding Advice
If you meet the eligibility requirements to apply for an SFC-funded scholarship then you could be lucky enough to get all of your postgraduate tuition fees paid for. However if you don’t succeed with your application, or if you are from England, Northern Ireland, Wales or a country from outside of the European Union, there are thousands of other bursaries and scholarships available to you including the £500 Postgrad Solutions Study Bursaries.
Good luck in finding the funding you need, and for those applying for an SFC-funded scholarship we wish you the best of luck!
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