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University of Essex homepage Postgraduate Research Fees and funding
Postgraduate Research

Fees and funding

Research Degree Finder
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The cost of research degrees and funding your studies

Our Postgraduate Research level courses benefit from a range of support and funding opportunities, drawing from internal schemes for current students and alumni, external grant funding, and scholarships made available through our international partnerships and national university alliances. You can find full details of the scholarships and bursaries currently available here.

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Save 20% on future tuition fees

If you're currently studying at Essex or have completed a degree with us before, you could save 20% on the first year of your next degree.

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Research degree fees
Find out the details of our full-time fees for one year of research study.
Visiting research degree fees
Find out about our tuition fees for visiting research students.
Postgraduate funding
Find out more about the scholarships, bursaries, loans and discounts available to help you with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate doctoral course, such as a PhD.

Government funding

You may be eligible to apply for postgraduate funding from the Government. Details are provided

Doctoral training centre studentships

  • Soc-B studentships - Postgraduate research students in biological, medical and social sciences

Other funding sources

Many of our PGR students receiving funding from other sources, including scholarships from charities and national scholarship schemes. Our Scholarships finder is a great place to start when looking for funding sources, as well as discussing opportunities your department may be aware of.

Employment opportunities

Our PhD students play an invaluable role in supporting the University’s delivery of excellent teaching through their role as Assistant Lecturers (AL) and Graduate Laboratory Assistants (GLA). In recognition of this, the University pays and contracts ALs and GLAs in line with other employees to ensure they are treated fairly. Such positions are competitively awarded and it should be noted that the roles are not guaranteed. Further information is available here or by contacting your Department or School. 

"When I emailed an Essex lecturer to discuss my ideas, they explained that my area of research (domestic abuse) would lend itself to collaborative funding. They suggested I speak to my current employer, Essex County Council (ECC), to see whether I could secure collaborative funding from ESRC and ECC. They helped me to turn my proposal into a collaborative application, and with the support from my manager at ECC I got the agreement from my director to give me the funding."
Ruth Weir Phd criminology
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