Funding for PhD students

[hopefulJD]

Hello,

I'm an American looking into doctoral programs in Europe, especially the UK. Through my online research, I've gotten the impression that funding is not as readily available for doctoral students in the UK as it is in America. Is this correct?

[db2290]

You're kind of right - it's certainly more complicated (I'm British and applied for Ph.Ds in both locations).

The general distinction is this, from my experience: In the States, funding is more or less given with the offer of a place and comes from a big centralised 'pot'. In the UK, funding is a separate issue from actual admission to do a Ph.D. For instance, you might get offered a Ph.D place but your supervisor might not be able to get the necessary funding, or the other way around (although in practice, if you come with funding, a university is very likely not going to turn you down).

In the UK, supervisors will offer 'studentships' which are basically funded Ph.D positions. In order to apply for them, you will have to contact the supervisor in question and sufficiently convince them that you want to apply). You will then probably have to apply formally to the University.

My advice to you is to contact potential supervisors first and they will let you know if they have/can get funding to support you.

Hope that helps.