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Postgraduate Study

Funding Opportunities

Applicants are encouraged to discuss funding opportunities directly with prospective supervisors before applying, or contact the Course Director if they have specific projects that they wish to pursue.

Funding provided by the UK Research Councils may be available from Departments participating in the programme: Physics, Materials Science & Metallurgy, Chemistry, Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics. Please visit the departmental websites for further information.

In addition, there is funding for scholarships managed by the Department of Physics and applicants will be considered for these awards automatically if they enter the Postgraduate Funding Competition.

Other funding opportunities offered by colleges will have a variety of different deadlines which will be listed on their webpages.

Please note that fees shown for the PhD portion of the course are an estimate based on the current PhD fee, as fees applicable to your year of entry to the PhD have not yet been confirmed.

General Funding Opportunities


Fees and Maintenance

My fee status is:

I shall have the following financial dependants:

Your Estimated Annual Commitment:


Component Cost
University Composition Fee £13,554
Maintenance £18,625
Total Annual Commitment £32,179
Component Cost
University Composition Fee £9,858
Maintenance £18,625
Total Annual Commitment £28,483

Please note that fees shown for the PhD portion of the course are an estimate based on the current PhD fee.  Fees applicable to your year of entry to the PhD have not yet been confirmed, but are likely to be 5% higher than the estimate presented.

Additional costs may be incurred in relation to PhD associated fieldwork and/or research trips or long term attachments, bespoke to the individual student and project. These could also include equipment, books, IT, photocopying, bespoke training, travel for conferences and summer school.

Supervisors are often able to cover or partially contribute to these costs, depending on the financial resources available. Where not possible, or where research-related costs are not specifically included in a stipend, or if students are self-funded, students will usually be expected to find additional funding elsewhere, e.g. from University or College. In some cases, research costs may be much higher, for example, if a long-term attachment is required, and in these cases, applicants should agree with their supervisor what an appropriate amount might be, or consider a more feasible project, before accepting an offer or signing the Financial Undertaking Form.

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Key Information


1+3 years full-time

Study Mode : Research

Doctor of Philosophy
Master of Philosophy in the first instance

Department of Physics This course is advertised in multiple departments. Please see the Overview tab for more details.

Course - related enquiries

Application - related enquiries

Course on Department Website

Dates and deadlines:

Michaelmas 2024

Applications open
Sept. 4, 2023
Application deadline
May 16, 2024
Course Starts
Oct. 1, 2024

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Course Funding Deadline
Jan. 4, 2024
Gates Cambridge US round only
Oct. 11, 2023

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.


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