PhD Research

ESRC North West Doctoral Training Centre

Lancaster is proud to be a partner in the ESRC NWDTC, the largest centre for social science postgraduate training in England.  Applications are welcome for fully funded training routes: both masters plus PhD (1+3 years) or PhD for existing masters graduates are available (3 years). 

Students awarded these prestigious positions will benefit from the significant collaboration between the NWDTC institutions (Lancaster, Manchester and Liverpool) which gives you chance to experience training in a variety of research environments. 

ESRC funding provides full support for UK/EU tuition fees, an annual tax-free maintenance stipend and a training support grant which allows you to reclaim expenses associated with your studies.  (Non UK/EU nationals who have not been permanent UK residents for at least three years prior to the start of the ESRC training qualify for studentships covering their tuition fees and training costs only.)

How to apply

You will need to apply to ESRC in the first instance, as well as applying to Lancaster University.  If you have any questions about this process, please contact our Postgraduate Coordinator, Clare Race on 01524 594975 or postgraduate.psychology@lancaster.ac.uk.

Leverhulme Trust

Our well established relationship with The Leverhulme Trust means that we can offer fully funded PhD studentships over a five year period.  We currently have 6 positions in infancy research available for entry in October 2016.  Lancaster has one of the largest infancy research groups in Europe, exploring infants’ cognitive, social and language developments employing a large range of methods (eye tracking, EEG, computational modelling and NIRS). 

The scholarships will cover UK/EU fees and provide a living stipend (currently £14,057) and a training allowance for 3 years.  We strongly encourage you to informally contact individual staff members to discuss your specific interests and to develop a research proposal.  We’re interested in how your research project would be aligned with the research interests of our Leverhulme programme, details of which can be found here. 

Closing date:  1 March 2016

How to apply

Department Funded Scholarship

The Department will be offering one fully funded teaching scholarship commencing in October 2016. The award is for 3.5 years for UK/EU applicants and provide full tuition fees, a generous stipend of approximately £14,000 and access to a grant towards research training support.

We welcome applications from students in all areas of supervisory expertise; we very much encourage students to liaise with staff over their research topics and plans. Applications that bring important and innovative ideas to match and complement the research agenda of current staff are more likely to be successful. Enquiries can be directed to members of staff prior to application, using the contact details on their departmental web page www.psych.lancs.ac.uk/people/

We particularly encourage applications for scholarships to work with early career staff who have not previously taken primary supervision of PhD students (a list of such staff can be provided by the Postgraduate Office  postgraduate.psychology@lancaster.ac.uk)

We have excellent research facilities and a first class supervision record with an outstanding submission success rate for our students.   In addition, all our students receive their own research support budgets which can be used to attend national and international conferences.  The successful applicant will be asked to provide (reasonable) support for teaching activities in the department, with training support provided by the University. This would normally involve leading first or second year seminar groups, and assisting in laboratory classes.

Further information about PhD study at Lancaster can be found here.

How to Apply

By the deadline of Tuesday 1^st March at 12.00pm, applicants must have completed an application to the department via the University Portal, stating clearly that you are applying  for the FST Teaching Scholarship. We ask for a research proposal of up to 1000 words – note that this is different from standard applications because of the selection process involved. The application should identify an appropriate supervisor(s) and the applicant must ensure that references have been provided by the deadline (otherwise the application may not be considered).  After the deadline, applications will be reviewed and shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview, before award decisions are made.  Applicants who are unsuccessful for the scholarship will nonetheless be considered in terms of an offer of registration to the department (on a self-funded basis or where alternative funding can be identified). 

The expectation is that applicants will have completed, at the start of their award, an MSc degree in Psychology or a related discipline. 

Apply online here

For further information concerning the scholarship, or about postgraduate study more generally, please contact Dr Dermot Lynott, Director of Graduate Studies (d.lynott@lancaster.ac.uk)