Entry requirements

2.1 Honours degree or equivalent

Required documentation

Applicants should submit:

• Transcripts/degree certificate 
• Two references
• A one-page research proposal
• CV
• Name of potential Supervisor

Research proposal

Candidates are required to provide a single page outline of the research subject proposed (approximately 1000 words). This need not be a final thesis proposal but should include:

• a straightforward, descriptive, and informative title
• the question that your research will address
• an account of why this question is important and worth investigating
• an assessment of how your own research will engage with recent study in the subject
• a brief account of the methodology and approach you will take
• a discussion of the primary sources that your research will draw upon, including printed books, manuscripts, archives, libraries, or museums
• an indicative bibliography of secondary sources that you have already consulted and/or are planning to consult

Fees and funding

Fees

2025/26

• UK: To be confirmed [24/25 fee was £4,786]
• International & EU: £31,800

Prices are based on the annual fee for full-time study. Fees for part-time study are half the full-time fee.

Irish nationals who are living in the Common Travel Area of the UK, EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status, and Internationals with Indefinite Leave to remain status can also qualify for home fee status.

• Fee status and policies

Alumni discount

We offer a 20% discount to our alumni on all Postgraduate Research and full Postgraduate Taught Masters programmes. This includes University of Glasgow graduates and those who have completed Junior Year Abroad, Exchange programme or International Summer School with us. The discount is applied at registration for students who are not in receipt of another discount or scholarship funded by the University. No additional application is required.

Possible additional fees

• Re-submission by a research student £540
• Submission for a higher degree by published work £1,355
• Submission of thesis after deadline lapsed £350
• Submission by staff in receipt of staff scholarship £790

Depending on the nature of the research project, some students will be expected to pay a bench fee (also known as research support costs) to cover additional costs. The exact amount will be provided in the offer letter.

Funding

• View a full list of our current scholarships

Support

Resources

• James Watt Nanofabrication Centre 
• Kelvin Nanocharacterisation Centre

Our outstanding facilities include an environmental lab, structural testing apparatus and high-performance computing facilities for modelling and simulation.

Graduate School

PhD students iwill have at least two supervisors, one of whom will be very closely engaged in their research. With over 50 students in the Division, students enjoy a great sense of camaraderie, and often life-long friendships are formed.

You will be part of a Graduate School which provides the highest level of support to its students.

The overall aim of our Graduate School is to provide a world-leading environment for students which is intellectually stimulating, encourages them to contribute to culture, society and the economy and enables them to become leaders in a global environment.

We have a diverse community of over 750 students from more than 50 countries who work in innovative and transformative disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields. An important part of our work is to bring our students together and to ensure they consider themselves an important part of the University’s academic community.

Being part of our Graduate School community will be of huge advantage to you in your studies and beyond and we offer students a number of benefits in addition to exceptional teaching and supervision, including:

• A wide-ranging and responsive research student training programme which enables you to enhance your skills and successfully complete your studies.
• Mobility scholarships of up to £4000 to enable you to undertake work in collaboration with an international partner.
• A diverse programme of activities which will ensure you feel part of the wider-research community (including our biannual science slam event).
• A residential trip for all new research students.
• The opportunity to engage with industry-partners through training, placements and events.
• Professionally accredited programmes.
• Unique Masters programmes run in collaboration with other organisations.
• State-of-the-art facilities including the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre and the Kelvin Nanocharacterisation Centre.
• Highly-rated support for international students.

Over the last five years, we have helped over 600 students to complete their research studies and our students have gone on to take up prestigious posts in industries across the world.

Email: scieng-gradschool@glasgow.ac.uk

Career prospects

Our graduates have excellent prospects ranging from careers in academia,to  start-up entrepreneurship, to blue-chip engineering. Recent examples include:

• a research fellowship in the USA
• pioneering gene sequencing technology with a US start-up
• joining a GU spin-out to build PhD research into a new product
• joining a major integrated circuit design company.

Our doctoral graduates have consistently been in demand in a great variety of challenging and exciting roles, and benefit immensely from the experiences, friends, and networks they have gained while studying at Glasgow.

Collaborations

The Research Division works in close partnership with a range of leading companies and government bodies including:

• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• European Space Agency
• Honeywell
• IBM
• Motorola
• NASA
• Philips
• Scottish Enterprise
• Scottish Funding Council
• SELEX Galileio
• SEMATECH

How to apply