The University of Manchester will award 45 PhD studentships each year through the EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership, with at least seven of those placements requiring students to spend three months working inside a company. This funding structure addresses a persistent gap in UK research training: early-career scientists often lack exposure to industrial settings, while companies struggle to recruit PhD graduates who understand how research translates into products. By embedding students in businesses and offering leadership training through the President’s Doctoral Scholars programme, the scheme aims to produce researchers who can move fluidly between academic discovery and commercial application. If successful, the programme could reshape how fundamental science feeds into manufacturing, energy, and healthcare sectors. Students trained across chemistry, engineering, physics, and materials science will enter the workforce already familiar with industrial workflows. The 10% of funding reserved for EPSRC Doctoral Prizes also supports recent PhD graduates transitioning into independent fellowships, helping retain research talent in the UK.
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The University of Manchester allocation of EPSRC DTP studentships is based on student excellence (academic record and research potential), and makes full use of the flexibility offered by the DTP. For 2016/17 (and again in 2017/18) we will have approximately 45 x 3 ½ year studentships (home fee and standard RCUK stipend) available for application. At least 7 of these will be in collaboration with Industry (CASE), whereby a minimum of 3 months will be spent by the student researcher in an industrial setting co-supervised by a qualified employee of that company. We will also consider a limited number of exceptional non-UK applications i.e. applicants that do not fit the RCUK residential criteria for 'home' student status. Our selection process is straightforward and transparent. Applicants select a pre-approved project from those advertised, or may devise their own project in collaboration with a potential supervisor (subject to approval). The project approval confirms that all necessary support is in place for the work, and ensures that any strategic steer from the institute has been considered before a subject is opened for applications. Student ability then becomes the over-riding factor in awarding studentships, excepting where matched funding or CASE support is used to distinguish between students of equal ability. In this situation the project with the additional financial input would usually be supported by award of the studentship. A small number of the most exceptional candidates will also be offered the opportunity to become part of the annual cohort of President's Doctoral Scholars, an honour that provides them with advanced leadership training as well as an enhanced stipend. Applications are made centrally, but the selection of successful applicants is devolved to discipline specific experts. The top candidates are invited for interview by potential supervisory teams and a selection panel, before any offers are made. We welcome applications throughout the academic year, but the majority of DTP funded students begin their studies in September, with the studentship offers made during the early months of the year. Decisions are made as soon as possible (from the announcement of offer) although core science subjects tend to interview and offer earlier in the year than the engineering subjects. Broad subject breakdown We have studentships available for programmes in all EPSRC-themed areas: PhD Chemical Engineering PhD Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science PhD Chemistry PhD Inorganic Chemistry PhD Materials Chemistry PhD Organic Chemistry PhD Physical Chemistry PhD Computer Science PhD Electrical and Electronic Engineering PhD Composite Materials PhD Materials PhD Textile Design, Fashion and Management PhD Applied Mathematics PhD Mathematical Sciences PhD Aerospace Engineering PhD Condensed Matter PhD Photon Physics PhD Soft Matter and Crystals PhD Theoretical Physics PhD Social Sciences PhD Molecular Biology PhD Medicine Training offered In addition to an individual project, all our PhD programmes incorporate research training for early career researchers. This is widely available across the University and includes discipline-focused training as well as generic skills illustrated with discipline-specific examples. All training is provided on a needs-based model. Early career researchers undertake an annual skills audit to identify gaps in their skills appropriate to their stage of study. They can then be directed to the appropriate training programme to meet their needs.Finally, we are committed to support for early careers researchers and as such 10% of the DTP will be used to fund the University's EPSRC Doctoral Prizes. These are fellowship awards which are open to all EPSRC-funded researchers who have submitted their PhD thesis within 6 months of the start of the prize (from April 1st 2016).
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