UKRI Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) Studentships

Since the 2021-22 academic year, UKRI has confirmed that international (non-UK) applicants are eligible to apply for UKRI-funded studentships on the same basis as domestic applicants, subject to a cap: DTPs and CDTs may allocate a maximum of 30% of their funded studentship places in a given cohort to international students. This means international competition for each place is real but the door is explicitly open, unlike some legacy funding schemes that excluded non-UK residents entirely.

A standard UKRI studentship provides a tax-free stipend (minimum GBP 21,805 per year outside London, GBP 23,805 within London for 2026/27 starters) for three to four years, plus a Research Training Support Grant for conference travel, fieldwork, and equipment. Critically, UKRI's core contribution to tuition only covers the UK 'Home' fee rate; international students are typically responsible for the difference between Home and international fees unless the host university has a specific top-up fund - some universities, including the University of Edinburgh's E5 DTP, explicitly cover this fee gap for their international awardees, while others do not, so this must be checked DTP-by-DTP.

Because DTPs and CDTs are run individually by university consortia rather than through one central UKRI application portal, applicants must identify a specific DTP/CDT in their field (for example an EPSRC-funded engineering CDT, an ESRC-funded social science DTP, or an MRC-funded biomedical DTP), check that consortium's specific international eligibility and fee-funding policy, and apply directly to the relevant university - deadlines and quotas vary by partnership and year.