Research Excellence Scholarship

UCL's prestigious Research Excellence Scholarship (UCL-RES) aims to attract outstanding scholars to undertake doctoral research at UCL. For 2026/27, UCL is offering 40 fully funded Research Excellence Scholarships to exceptional applicants from any country. Only prospective UCL MPhil/PhD and EngD students can apply, meaning students who will begin on or after the academic year 2026/27 first permitted MPhil/PhD start date of 1 October 2026. The UCL-RES scholarship consists of full tuition fees (either Home or Overseas) plus a maintenance stipend during the research portion of the programme which increases each year with inflation. For 2025/26, the stipend rate is £22,780 for full-time study (rates are calculated pro rata for part-time students). The scholarship also includes additional research costs of up to £1,200 per year for the standard duration of the research portion of the programme. Awards are made for the standard length of the research portion of the programme of study, normally 3 years for a full-time MPhil/PhD/EngD degree programme (or 5 years for part-time study), subject to sufficient academic progress. Selection is based on academic merit, research potential, suitability of project proposal for the supervisors available and disciplinary need.