King’s Joint PhD Scholarships 2023-24, London, UK
Three scholarships are available for the 2023/24 academic year for students applying to joint PhD programmes run in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong, the National University of Singapore or the University of Sao Paulo, with King’s as their home institution.
The King’s Joint PhD Scholarship provides full tuition fees, a stipend and an annual research grant.
Download the guidance for the 2023/24 Joint PGR Scholarships.
Find out more about the Joint PhD Programmes available at the National University of Singapore, the University of Hong Kong, and the University of Sao Paolo by visiting the International Education webpage.
VALUE OF AWARD
The scholarship covers the following:
• Tuition fees
• Annual stipend (living allowance): at the UKRI rate (for the year 2022/23, this was set at £19,668)
• Annual research grant of £1,500
LENGTH OF AWARD
The award is offered for four years and depends on the successful progression of the candidate, as noted in the below Conditions & Regulations.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Applicants MUST:
• be due to commence one of the below-mentioned full-time joint PhD programmes run in collaboration between King’s College London and the stated partners during the 2023/24 academic year;
• have applied to King’s College London as the home institution;
• have provisional agreement from supervisors at both King’s and the partner university;
• have submitted all the required application materials by the funding deadline, including references and the Travel Plan form, which can be found online or obtained via the King’s Admissions office. Please note that:
• scholarships cannot commence prior to September/October 2023;
• the funding is only offered for full-time study;
• applications for joint PhD programmes must be approved by both King’s College London and the partner university before a formal admissions offer can be made. As such, the process may take longer than for a single PhD programme. Students are able to apply for the scholarship whilst their application is being considered in order to meet the set deadline;
• students are required to spend a set minimum amount of time at the partner university (12 months for the Humboldt, NUS and USP partnerships and 50% of the overall time for the HKU partnership). Students must note their potential periods of candidature in the Travel Plan form mentioned above.
Eligible programmes
The funding is available for the following programmes. Students applying for programmes not listed below will not be eligible:
King’s-HKU programmes
• Chinese Studies Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Comparative Literature Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Dental & Craniofacial Sciences with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Digital Humanities Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• English Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Film Studies Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Geography Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• History Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Medicine Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Linguistics Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Mathematics Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Music Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Nursing & Midwifery Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Physics Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
• War Studies Research with the University of Hong Kong MPhil/PhD
King’s-Humboldt programmes
• Culture, Media & Creative Industries Research with Humboldt Universitat Zu Berlin MPhil/PhD
• English Research with Humboldt Universitat Zu Berlin MPhil/PhD
• German Research with Humboldt Universitat Zu Berlin MPhil/PhD
• Geography Research with Humboldt Universitat Zu Berlin MPhil/PhD
• Mathematics Research with Humboldt Universitat Zu Berlin MPhil/PhD
• Philosophy Research with Humboldt Universitat Zu Berlin MPhil/PhD
King’s-NUS programmes
• Comparative Literature Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Contemporary India Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Digital Humanities Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• English Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Film Studies Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Geography Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• History Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Language, Discourse and Communication Research with the National University of Singapore
MPhil/PhD
• Life Sciences & Medicine Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Philosophy Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Politics/Political Economy Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Political Science & China Studies Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
• War Studies Research with the National University of Singapore MPhil/PhD
King’s-USP programmes
• International Relations Research with the University of Sao Paulo MPhil/PhD
• Pharmaceutical Discovery, Development & Use with the University of Sao Paulo MPhil/PhD
APPLICATION PROCESS
Applications open from 17 October 2022
Application deadline: 26 March 2023 (23:59 pm UK TIME)
Deadline for references: 02 April 2023 (23:59 pm UK TIME)
Please follow the instructions below. Applicants who fail to apply as instructed will not be eligible for consideration.
1) Students must first apply to King’s College London for one of the above joint PhD programmes using the online admissions portal (https://apply.kcl.ac.uk/). It is recommended that the programme application is submitted by the deadline of 26 March 2023 (23:59 pm UK TIME).
2) As part of the above application, students must have been in contact with potential supervisors at both King’s and the partner university and obtained a tentative agreement to work with them. Evidence of this (e.g., email correspondence) must be provided with the application materials.
3) In the funding part of the online admissions application form, students must tick the box at item 5 (Award Scheme Code or Name) and enter the code 2324-JOINT. If this code is not entered or is not spelt correctly, the funding application will not be picked up and the student will not be put forward for consideration.
4) The student must have submitted all necessary information and supporting documentation, including the Travel Plan form and references, to the admissions portal by the funding deadline of 02 April 2023 (23:59 pm UK TIME). Students should refer to the relevant entry in the online prospectus for information on what is required for their programme. If any information is missing the funding application will be ineligible but the student can still proceed with the application for the programme itself, using alternative means of funding. Please note that students who have already applied for admission, and those who previously applied but deferred entry to 2023/24, will not be required to submit a new admissions application.
SELECTION PROCESS
Once the funding application deadline has passed, the Centre for Doctoral Studies will assess the eligibility of the submitted applications. Applications that are deemed eligible will be circulated to a selection panel for final consideration. Assessment of applications will be based on:
• evidence and strength of academic qualifications gained and, where applicable, professional qualifications and/or relevant experience;
• strength of the research proposal;
• match the applicant’s interests with their potential supervisors.
Students may be invited to attend a panel interview to assess their suitability for the scholarship. This will be in addition to any discussions that are part of the departmental admissions process.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS:
All results will be announced via email in the first instance. Candidates who are deemed ineligible for the scholarship will be informed about their ineligibility within 3 weeks of the funding application deadline.
Final decisions will be made by the end of May and all applicants will be informed of the outcome of their funding application in early June.
Candidates who are successfully offered one of the scholarships will be asked to provide a decision on acceptance/decline by a given deadline. If a successful candidate fails to respond by the given deadline or declines the offer, the award will automatically be transferred to a reserve candidate who is next in line
for the award. If a candidate is offered a scholarship but their programme application is subsequently rejected by either King’s or the partner institution, they will no longer be eligible for the award.
CONDITIONS & REGULATIONS OF FUNDING
• Awards are offered on the condition that the candidate has met/will meet all the conditions required for acceptance by their chosen faculty of study within both partner institutions.
• Each award will be made on the assumption that there are adequate resources for the research project, and that the candidate’s proposed course of study is acceptable to the department/division and faculty in which they wish to study.
• New awards offered in 2023 are valid only to commence in the 2023/24 academic session; deferral of an award to a later academic session is not permitted.
• Awards granted for the 2023/24 academic session cannot be used retrospectively for the whole or part of any earlier session.
• Awards cannot be transferred to another institution.
• An award-holder must be registered as a full-time student for the length of their research degree.
• Award-holders must comply with King’s regulations to submit their thesis within the required time frame.
• If an award-holder wishes to make a change to:
a) the research project,
b) the supervisor, or
c) department/division specified on their application form, they must first seek approval from the Centre for Doctoral Studies.
The award-holder would need to outline the changes proposed and provide confirmation of
a) the department/supervisor’s support of such changes, and
b) the tuition fees (if they are different from the amount attached to the original research project).
Failure to inform the Centre for Doctoral Studies of such a change may impact the continuation of an award.
• If an award-holder needs to take time out from their studies due to illness, accident, fieldwork or for any other serious cause, they must report this as soon as possible to the relevant faculty/registry office to request an interruption of studies. The award-holder must also inform the Centre for Doctoral Studies to request a temporary suspension of award funding. Suppose the Centre for Doctoral Studies is not informed and continues to pay for a student who is absent from their studies. In that case, a refund will be sought for overpayment, and it may also impact the continuation of an award.
• If an award-holder: a) already holds another funding award from an organisation; b) is otherwise financially supported by another organisation, or c) is to secure another funding award later on during the course of their research degree programme, and the Centre for Doctoral Studies considers the fund(s)/award(s), or another form of support to be sufficient to cover maintenance and/or the programme tuition fees, the award-holder will not be permitted to hold these funds/awards concurrently. The rule to remember is that if two funds/awards cover the same amount, e.g., both provide funds to cover full tuition fees, they cannot be held concurrently.
• Award-holders who receive funding from an alternative source(s) will be required to disclose details of those funds to the Centre for Doctoral Studies so that an assessment can be made regarding any potential overlap of funding.
• Applicants must be aware of all the additional financial commitments involved when attending their chosen course of study at King’s. Awards are granted on the understanding that the award-holder will take responsibility for any additional expenses incurred for the duration of the study.
• An award can be terminated at any time under the following circumstances:
1) If an unsatisfactory progress report on the award-holder is received from the student’s
supervisor/department
2) If an award-holder ceases to be a full-time research student
3) If an award-holder receives other overlapping funding
4) If an award-holder completes and is awarded their PhD before the funding end date.
CONFIRMATION OF AWARDS
• The initial offer email sent to successful students will include instructions on how to accept the award
and the deadline for doing so. If the student is unable to take up the award, they should provide a
reason why (this information is used for statistical purposes only).
• Awards must only be accepted on the understanding that the student has read, understood and agrees
to comply with the Conditions & Regulations of Funding as set out in this document.
• Successful candidates who confirm acceptance for the award(s) will be sent an official award
confirmation letter detailing the terms and conditions and the exact value of the award(s) granted.
• Where an offer-holder accepts an award but later decides that they are unable to take up the
opportunity for whatever reason, we ask that, as a matter of courtesy, the student informs the Centre
for Doctoral Studies as soon as possible so that the opportunity could be passed on to another
candidate.
• A scholarship will only be fully awarded once it is confirmed that the joint PhD application is accepted
by both institutions.
PAYMENT OF AWARDS
• The payment of tuition fees will be managed via internal transfer and no money will be paid to the
award-holder.
• Stipend payments will be made on a monthly basis into the award holder’s UK bank account.
• Research grant payments will be managed via departmental accounts and award-holders should
discuss with their supervisor how they plan to use this.
RENEWAL OF AWARDS
• All research degree awards are granted for one year in the first instance but will be renewed for the
remaining length of the funding period, subject to the award holder’s satisfactory progress.
• Awards are renewed only if the award-holder adheres to the Conditions & Regulations of Funding.
• The maximum tenure of awards is 4 years, providing the award-holder is still engaged in the full-time
the postgraduate research programme at King’s.
• Award-holders are not required to apply for renewal of their award for each subsequent year. The
Centre for Doctoral Studies will manage the renewal process internally, providing there are no
concerns with continuation. If there are any queries over the renewal of an award then the award holder will be notified.
SUBMISSION OF THESIS
• Award-holders are required to follow the university regulations when it comes to the submission of
their thesis and completion of their research degree, which requires students to submit their thesis
within a maximum of 4 years (full-time) of initial registration.