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Competition for scholarships and grants to study in the UK is extremely competitive and there are usually strict requirements. You should check carefully that you are eligible to apply for a particular scholarship before making an application, as most of the schemes are restricted to certain nationalities and/or courses. We also advise you to start looking for funding as soon as you have decided to apply to Oxford, if not before. Your potential supervisor may also be able to offer help and advice on funding your DPhil.

To be considered for funding for any of the Department of experimental psychology graduate courses, you must submit your University application(s) by the December 2023 deadline.

If you are made an offer then you will automatically be considered for funding from a number of sources including the Wellcome Trust, MRC, BBSRC, CR-UK, ESRC, British Heart Foundation, the Clarendon Fund, Oxford Colleges and numerous charitable sources. 

Medical Science Division Graduate School Studentship Competition 2023-24

The Department of Experimental Psychology can nominate suitable applicants for the Medical Sciences Graduate School Studentship Competition. 

Prospective students do not apply directly for the Medical Science Division Graduate School studentships; they are nominated by the department based on an evaluation during the graduate admissions process.

Applicants will be notified if you have been nominated for this funding when they receive an initial conditional offer.

BRC DPhil Studentship 2024

Funded through the Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre’s Psychological Therapies Theme, we are pleased to advertise one funded full-time D.Phil. studentship at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.  The studentship is funded for three years at Home student fee levels from October 2024.

Note that the Studentship is open to all applicants but the award will fund tuition fees up to the value of Home fees only (students with overseas fee status would need to fund the remainder of their fees from alternative sources).

Applicants will need to submit a research proposal on the development and/or evaluation of effective psychological therapies for adults, adolescents or children or the analysis of moderators and mediators of treatment outcomes with their application. The project will be supervised by one of the following BRC investigators or members of their teams, and you will need to contact a supervisor from this list to discuss your proposal ahead of submitting an application:

  • Prof Daniel Freeman (Department of Experimental Psychology)
  • Prof Paul Salkovskis (Department of Experimental Psychology)
  • Prof Cathy Creswell (Department of Experimental Psychology)
  • Prof Polly Waite (Department of Experimental Psychology)
  • Dr Eleanor Leigh (Department of Experimental Psychology)
  • Dr Lucy Bowes (Department of Experimental Psychology)
  • Prof Frances Gardner (Department of Social Policy and Intervention)
  • Prof Alan Stein (Department of Psychiatry)
  • Prof Willem Kuyken (Department of Psychiatry)
  • Dr Rebecca Murphy (Department of Psychiatry)

Your application should include a research proposal that indicates how your proposed research would fit the development or improvement of psychological therapies. The application form, all supporting materials required for the DPhil programme (including references) and payment must be submitted by 12 noon UK time on 15 December 2023.  The application link can be found here

ESRC FUNDING COMPETITION 2023-24

We are able to nominate eligible applicants for funding via the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership. The two forms of funding available to us are:

ESRC +3 - This funding will cover 3 years of a DPhil study. Applicants will need to have fulfilled the majority of core training requirements as set down by the ESRC – see the ESRC postgraduate training and development guidelines for further information.

ESRC 1+3 - This covers funding for the one year MSc in Psychological Research followed by 3 years of DPhil in Experimental Psychology study. Strong DPhil candidates being considered for an ESRC studentship but without meeting the sufficient ESRC core training requirements may be offered this 1+3 award in order to complete the relevant Masters level training before starting the DPhil. We require candidates who are interested in this pathway to apply for the DPhil in order for the application to be considered by the relevant panel.

Additionally, applicants with appropriate research proposals will be considered for an AQM (Advanced Quantitative Methods) studentship.

In order to be considered for an ESRC studentship you will need to complete the scholarships section of the University's graduate application form and submit additional supporting material. The required form can be accessed via the Research Council Studentships page.  

The ESRC award funding packages depend on eligibility criteria that are explained on the Grand Union DTP website FAQ page.

We will notify you if you have been nominated for ESRC funding and formal notification, if your nomination is successful, will come from the Grand Union DTP at a later date. 

 

ESRC Funded collaborative studentship: Identifying barriers to accessing Early Years services and supports 

For more information on this studentship, please visit the Grand Union DTP Website.

This project will be supervised by Dr Alexandra Hendry.  The application form, all supporting materials required for the DPhil programme (including references) and payment must be submitted by 12 noon UK time on 15 December 2023.  The application link can be found here

 

ESRC FUNDED COLLABORATIVE STUDENTSHIP: Managing uncertainty in medical decision making 

For more information on this studentship, please visit the Grand Union DTP Website.

This project will be supervised by Professor Nick Yeung.  The application form, all supporting materials required for the DPhil programme (including references) and payment must be submitted by 12 noon UK time on 15 December 2023.  The application link can be found here

Leverhulme trust biopsychosocial doctoral scholarship programme - Moving beyond inequality

For more information on this studentship, please visit the Department of Social Policy and Intervention website.

Please note that applications by DPhil in Experimental Psychology candidates received by 1 December who are interested in this programme, which aims to research on the impact of poverty and social inequalities in early childhood, will also be considered by the Leverhulme funding panel.  

 

DPhil Studentship in neural mechanisms of learning, planning and decision making

Funded through Professor Kennerley’s Wellcome Trust Investigator Award, we are pleased to advertise one funded full-time DPhil studentship at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.  The studentship is funded for three years at Home student fee levels from October 2024. Note that the Studentship is open to all applicants but the award will fund tuition fees up to the value of Home fees only (students with overseas fee status would need to fund the remainder of their fees from alternative sources).

Professor Kennerley’s Investigator Award explores the neural basis of learning, planning and decision-making. The student’s DPhil project will examine how neurons in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe represent complex tasks, whether place cells and grid cells are used to form cognitive maps of these tasks, and whether neural replay is a mechanism for planning. The student will learn to use a variety of techniques for recording and manipulating neural activity, including transcranial ultrasound and high-density single unit neurophysiology, and there will also be opportunities for computational modelling of the data.

The project will be supervised by Professor Steve Kennerley, but the student may also be co-supervised by, or collaborate with, Professors Matthew Rushworth and Tim Behrens.

Please apply for this project using the main application portal by the 1 Dec deadline.  The studentship code for this project is 24EXPY01LPD

DPHIL STUDENTSHIP IN NEURAL MECHANISMS OF LEARNING AND DECISION MAKING

Funded through the Department of Experimental Psychology and a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) sLoLa Award, we are pleased to advertise a funded full-time DPhil studentship at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.  The studentship is funded for three and a half years from October 2024.

We aim to understand how two brain systems, the ascending neuromodulatory systems and the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex (PFC/ACC) interact with one another to support learning, decision-making and complex behaviours. We aim to measure the key features of the environment that are encoded in the two systems and to determine how they differ from one another, and determine when each system is most critical for guiding behaviour. In addition, we also seek to examine how information is generalized from one context to another in meta-learning, and how this supports decision making. The student will learn to use a variety of techniques for recording and manipulating neural activity, including fMRI, TUS, and high-density single unit neurophysiology.

The project will be supervised by Professors Matthew Rushworth and Steve Kennerley, but the student may also be co-supervised by, or collaborate with, Professors Jill O’Reilly and Laurence Hunt.

Please apply for this project using the main application portal by the 1 Dec deadline.  The studentship code for this project is 24EXPY02LDM

Funding for your graduate studies

The University is committed to providing a wide range of funding opportunities and, every year, there are hundreds of scholarships available to applicants for graduate study.

How to search for Potential Funding

The Funding Search will help to determine which scholarships, studentships or awards for which you may be eligible to apply.

If you are an international student, you should also contact the Ministry of Education or Education Department in your own country for information on national aid schemes, as well as your nearest British Council Office for advice on opportunities and funding for studying abroad. 

Applicants who have already succeeded in finding funding to come to Oxford should be aware that this does not automatically guarantee a place on our programmes of study. We will still assess your application along with all the other applications we receive.