Discover Funding Opportunities

Purpose-led leadership model with embedded sustainability for nuclear decommissioning

This research will develop a purpose-led leadership model which embeds sustainability behaviour within the NDA group and its supply chain by making sustainability the gold standard against which 'good leadership' is measured. Transforming the culture of the complex and interdependent context of the NDA in this way, requires a systems perspective that emphasises the purposeful work of leadership at all levels and organisations as well as the diverse and emerging interpretations and solutions of sustainability. It also requests a purpose-led leadership model that is tailored to the specific challenges faced in a highly regulated organisational environment that requires balancing safety, security, and cost-effectiveness commitments with sustainability opportunities, and ensuring projects remain flexible to respond to emerging sustainability challenges and opportunities whilst maintaining commitment to plans. By developing a purpose-led leadership framework which embeds sustainability behaviour systemically in a highly regulated environment, the research will catalyse the development of cultures that truly value sustainability, cultivation of individual and collective capacity to take actions and decisions that have a lasting, positive sustainability impact, and raise the level of ambition and quicken the pace of change with respect to sustainability. This project is part of the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in SATURN (Skills And Training Underpinning a Renaissance in Nuclear) and includes technical training in the nuclear fuel cycle to ensure all candidates are familiar with the nuclear sector, and specialist research skills training.

Design of smart packaging using novel processing technology

This PhD research project focuses on understanding the mechanisms of smart packaging film and its various applications, with an emphasis on sustainability and waste reduction. The project addresses environmental concerns related to plastic products by developing sustainable biodegradable films as replacements for conventional packaging materials. The research will explore the integration of bioactive substances such as anthocyanins and essential oils into films to enhance antimicrobial properties. The project will utilize non-thermal processing technologies, specifically novel needle-less electrospinning techniques, to produce sensors while preserving the activity of thermosensitive compounds. The research aims to develop multifunctional packaging films that can effectively extend the shelf life of food products while maintaining the efficacy of bioactive substances. This innovative approach addresses current limitations in electrospinning production yield and seeks to enable large-scale industrial applications of novel packaging films.

Leeds Masters Scholarships

Leeds Masters Scholarships are worth £7,000 and aim to encourage eligible UK fee-paying students from under-represented groups to study a Masters qualification at the University of Leeds. For successful applicants, the scholarship can be awarded as a fee waiver or as monthly payments direct to the recipient. These scholarships are funded by a combination of generous alumni donations and University funding. Successful applicants are automatically registered on the University's Plus Programme which offers many free and bespoke activities, extra funding opportunities and more. The scholarship is available for full-time, part-time, or distance learning Masters programmes leading to MA, MBA, MEd, MMus, MPH, MRes, MSc, LLM or Masters by Research qualifications. Applicants must be paying postgraduate tuition fees at the UK rate, not already hold a Masters degree, and meet specific financial eligibility criteria based on previous maintenance loan amounts or current income levels.

UCL Research Opportunity Scholarship

UCL's Research Opportunity Scholarship (UCL-ROS) supports Black, Asian, and minority ethnic postgraduate research degree students at the start of their academic career. The Research Opportunity Scholarship was conceived in response to the question 'Why isn't my professor black?'. The aim of the UCL-ROS is to address under-representation and help improve equality, diversity and inclusion in UCL's post-graduate research student body. The scholarship offers full financial support and a skills development programme, both designed to promote academia as a more attractive career option. The scholarship is run jointly by the UCL Student Funding Office and the UCL Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, in collaboration with the Windsor Fellowship. The UCL-ROS consists of tuition fees equivalent to the standard postgraduate UK/home rate plus a maintenance stipend during the research portion of the programme which increases each year with inflation. For the 2025/26 academic year, the stipend rate is £22,780 for full-time study. The scholarship includes additional research costs of up to £1,200 per year plus a single allowance of £1,000 towards conference costs. The UCL-ROS also offers a comprehensive personal and professional development support package including coaching, mentoring support, advocacy, training and skills development through UCL's Doctoral Skills Development Programme and the Windsor Fellowship.

Social Macroeconomics PhD Scheme and Scholarship

The UCL Institute for Global Prosperity's PhD scheme in Social Macroeconomics aims to advance research on new approaches to the economy and the development of a new economic paradigm. This scheme is part of the Institute's Global Prosperity MPhil/PhD programme and offers students the opportunity to work on various key themes linked to a new hub on Social Macroeconomics. The research interprets the macroeconomy as a system to create and use knowledge in the context of fundamental uncertainty. Students will work under the guidance of leading professors including Professor Angus Armstrong, Professor William Hynes, and Professor Dennis Snower, advancing the next phase of Rebuilding Macroeconomics' work on Social Macroeconomics. The programme focuses on five main themes: rethinking macroeconomics embracing fundamental uncertainty, knowledge as a distributive and evolving system, new empirical measurements of human and planetary flourishing, network and agent-based models to address complex macroeconomic issues, and industrial policies for an era of challenges to security and sustainability. The scholarship provides full tuition fees for UK Home students pursuing full-time (3 years) or part-time (5 years) MPhil/PhD studies at the Institute for Global Prosperity, UCL based in London.

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.

The IMPACT Scholarship

The IMPACT Scholarship is offered by UCL to support applicants pursuing the Master of Public Health (MPH) program who have demonstrated financial need and lived experience of inequality. Preventing and redressing the impact of inequalities is a core philosophy of the UCL MPH program, and this scholarship reflects that commitment. The scholarship provides up to £20,500 to contribute towards tuition fees for the online MPH program. Two scholarships are available annually for students studying full-time, part-time, or through modular flexible pathways, with funding applied pro rata for non-full-time students. The scholarship is available to both home and overseas students who meet the admissions criteria for the UCL online Master of Public Health program and have submitted an application for the 2026/27 academic year. Selection is based on applicants' descriptions of how their experience of inequality has shaped them, why they should receive the scholarship, and how they will use their experience and the MPH degree to make a difference to population health in their future career.

Luciano Zucchi Bursary

The Luciano Zucchi Bursary is a £6,250 award established in memory of Luciano Zucchi (1931-2022), a renowned industrial designer specializing in light. The bursary supports students pursuing postgraduate studies in Light and Lighting at UCL's Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. The scholarship encourages students to think about lighting, natural and artificial, in the broadest way possible with sensitivity to creative choreography of light, texture, and shadow. The award is open to both current Light and Lighting MSc students and those with offers to study Light and Lighting MSc or Environmental Design and Engineering MPhil/PhD with a focus on Light and Lighting. Applicants must demonstrate alignment with the scholarship's motivation through a written statement and design portfolio showing design aptitude and appreciation of the human response to light. The selection process includes submission of portfolio work and may require an in-person interview for shortlisted candidates. Luciano Zucchi was Director of Design at Concord lighting for over 20 years, where he designed iconic products including Tubetrack (which won a Design Council Award in 1977 and is now in the V&A Museum collection), Silverspan fluorescent light, and Lytespan track system. This scholarship exists to provide support that did not exist in his day and to encourage recipients to think holistically about lighting design, from product design to integration within buildings.