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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 2024 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 2024-25

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.

ESRC FUNDING COMPETITION 2024-25

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 Grand union collaborative studentship 2025

There is one Experimental Psychology related project available under the ESRC Collaborative Studentship Programme for this year:

Enhancing early intervention strategy for young people affected by sexual harm: A multi-method approach.

Lead supervisor:  Dr Alex Lau-Zhu

Before applying for this studentship we recommend you contact the lead supervisor for an informal discussion.

To make a formal application, please follow the instructions on the Grand Union DTP website.  You must ensure that you complete the dedicated application form for this funded project.

 

MRC ENTERPRISE STUDENTSHIP PROGRAMME 2025 (INDUSTRIAL CASE AWARDS)

Designed to nurture the academic entrepreneurs of the future, the Enterprise studentship programme offers a stimulating educational experience as part of the Oxford-MRC DTP cohort, with the additional benefit of working closely with an industrial partner. This will provide entrepreneurial training opportunities and an insight into how commercial science is conducted alongside a superb academic base within the University. Students will work for at least 3 months in the associated company.

There are two Experimental Psychology related projects available under the MRC Enterprise Studentship Programme for this year:

Combating memory decline during sleep

Lead supervisor:  Prof. Bernhard Staresina - Commercial partner: Clarity Technologies

Optimising digitally augmented psychological therapies for children and young people through analysis of routinely captured data

Lead supervisor:  Prof. Cathy Creswell - Commercial partner: Koa Health

Before applying for these positions we recommend you contact the lead supervisors for informal discussions.

To make a formal application, please complete the University’s online application form for the Experimental Psychology DPhil course. Please indicate the iCASE project clearly by inserting ‘iCASE’ before the project title and by using the reference code iCASE

You will need to provide a personal statement (500 words max) detailing your interest and fit for the studentship. Note that no project proposal is required for the iCASE studentship applications.

Other Funding opportunities

department of experimental psychology/brasenose college studentship.

Lead supervisor:  Professor Dejan Draschkow

Funded through the Department of Experimental Psychology and Brasenose College, we are pleased to advertise a funded full-time D.Phil. studentship at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.  The studentship is funded for three years from October 2025.

We are seeking a graduate student to join our research team at the Department of Experimental Psychology to work on a project investigating the neural and behavioural mechanisms supporting internal attention.

Specifically, we aim to understand attention when it is directed internally to memory contents originating (i) from both recent and distant experiences within (ii) dynamic contexts spanning multiple spatial reference frames. To achieve this, it will be necessary to develop and refine methods for co-registration of full-body behavioural VR measures (including responses, eye-, head-, hand-movements, posture) and Electroencephalography (EEG) during active unconstrained behaviour.

The project will be supervised by Professor Dejan Draschkow

In order to apply for this project, please complete the University’s online application form for the Experimental Psychology DPhil course. Please indicate your interest in this opportunity by using the reference code EXPSYDD2024.  You will be required to submit a statement of purpose/personal statement (500 words) and a Research proposal (2500 words) with your application.  

Only complete applications submitted by the 3 Dec deadline will be eligible for this opportunity.  Candidates who do not select Brasenose College as their preferred college will also be considered, but will be transferred to Brasenose if successful.

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.