Funded doctoral training programmes

About the project

• Study
• View all courses
• Taught postgraduate study
• Postgraduate taught degree courses
• Online master's degrees
• Postgraduate taught tuition fees
• Funding your postgraduate taught studies
• Pre-masters for international students
• How to apply for a postgraduate taught degree
• Postgraduate offer holders - prepare for your studies
• Pre-sessional English courses
• Subjects
• PhDs and research degrees
• Create your own research project
• Inaccessible
• Find a PhD project
• Funding your research degree
• How to apply for a PhD or research degree
• How to make a PhD enquiry
• Support while studying your PhD or research degree
• Exchanges and studying abroad
• Undergraduate study
• Undergraduate degree courses
• Foundation year programmes
• Undergraduate tuition fees
• Customise your degree
• Funding undergraduate studies
• How to apply
• Application advice and resources
• -
• Tuition fees, funding and scholarships
• -
• Short courses
• -
• Lunchtime evening and weekend courses
• -
• Clearing
• -
• Summer schools
• -
• Get a prospectus
• Student life
• Accommodation
• Choose your halls of residence
• Your accommodation options
• Apply for accommodation
• Our accommodation guarantee
• Postgraduate accommodation
• Fees and contracts
• Essential university packing list
• Our cities
• Southampton
• Winchester
• Malaysia
• Sports and gyms
• Sports facilities
• Sports clubs
• Watersports centres
• Our campuses
• Avenue Campus
• Boldrewood Innovation Campus
• City Centre Campus
• Highfield Campus
• University Hospital Southampton
• Waterfront Campus
• Winchester Campus
• Join our student community
• What's on
• Clubs and societies
• Sports teams
• SUSU places
• Representing you
• SUSU support and advice
• Support and money
• Living costs
• Academic and mental health support
• Inclusion and respectful behaviour policy
• Support for disabled students
• Part-time work
• Health services
• Research
• Our impact
• Research projects
• Research areas
• Research facilities
• Collaborate with us
• Institutes, centres and groups
• Support for researchers
• Faculties, schools and departments
• Interdisciplinary research
• Find people and expertise
• Research Search | Research projects
• Research jobs
• -
• Business
• Develop your organisation
• Access start-up support
• Invest in our start-ups
• Become a research partner
• License our technology
• Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
• Hire our facilities
• Academic consultants
• Specialist consultancies
• Research studentships
• Develop your workforce
• Continuing professional development
• Set up a staff secondment
• Host a placement student
• Collaborate on a short term student project
• Advertise graduate jobs and internships
• Become a supplier
• -
• Find people and expertise
• Global
• International students
• Visiting delegations
• University of Southampton Delhi
• Career Advantage
• International Office
• Visiting fellowships
• University of Southampton Malaysia
• Partnerships and initiatives
• Online master's degrees

Funded doctoral training programmes

A doctoral training programme studentship takes care of your PhD funding so you can focus on your doctoral degree in the subject area that inspires you. We offer built-in training and development to help you prepare for a career in research or beyond academia.

Our programmes forge new paths of inquiry across a range of themes. Some of these include engineering, dementia research, AI for sustainability and quantum technology.

Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and other external partners, they can also be referred to as:

• Study
• Funded doctoral training programmes
• More Funded doctoral training programmes
• Funded doctoral training programmes
• Doctoral Training Partnerships
• Centres for Doctoral Training
• Doctoral Landscape Awards
• Doctoral Focus Awards

Doctoral training programme benefits

The benefits of choosing a doctoral training programme usually include:

At Southampton, we've received £62m in funding for more than 760 studentships since 2023. We're also one of 50 UK universities to be awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Landscape Award.

In the 2025 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey we achieved 87% overall satisfaction among our postgraduate researchers.

• funding for fees and an allowance for living costs, plus a grant for research activities
• expert supervision and support to help you navigate your PhD
• academic and practical training embedded throughout
• industry internships or placements – great for professional skills and networking
• part-time options so you can fit your research into your life
• an inclusive community of researchers from all walks of life, with plenty of opportunities to connect and share ideas

Our active doctoral training programmes

Our current funded programmes include:

Supporting the development of talented researchers in the arts and humanities disciplines. Learn more about the AHRC DLA .

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The Advancing Translation of Oral Health Research Doctoral Landscape Award is a partnership with Haleon and 5 leading UK universities, led by Glasgow Caledonian University and including:

Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The Transformative Technologies in Pharmaceutical Science Doctoral Programme is a collaboration between world-leading researchers and supervisors at GSK and from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Southampton, developing novel methods in pharmaceutical sciences.

Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The DTC for Lewy body dementia accelerates discoveries and translating them into real-world healthcare improvements through research into the cause, cure, care and prevention of Lewy body dementia.

Funded by the Alzheimer’s Society.

Supporting a safe, secure and prosperous UK by, this Centre for Training in CISDnS trains future research and innovation leaders across the multidisciplinary themes of digital, physical and biological systems engineering.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Specialist training and research across a range of projects in the field of quantum technology, from fundamental principles to application. Learn more about the projects and opportunities with the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in QTE .

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The Sustainable Sounds Futures CDT drives innovation in acoustics through research into new sound sources, perception of sound, machine learning for sound, and positive uses of sound.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The MFC CDT examines Harnessing the power of mathematics to address the urgent issues presented by climate change. The research focuses on weather and climate modelling, data analysis, and novel mathematical approaches to environmental challenges.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The EPSRC DLA supports students through cross-disciplinary projects and industry collaborations across engineering, physical or mathematical sciences, aligned with cutting-edge research themes such as generative AI and quantum technologies.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The Hub shapes the future of energy transfer technologies for defence and related sectors.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The ESRC South Coast DTP helps social scientists meet contemporary economic and social challenges, across themes including sustainability and resilience, health and wellbeing, population and policy, and data skills and methods.

Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Promoting interdisciplinary investigations into resilience in the context of societal challenges stemming from environmental change, social inequities, political and cultural disparities, health and wellbeing, and technological evolution. Learn more about the studentship opportunities with this Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme .

Funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

The Doctoral Focal Award in Engineering Biology for Environmental Applications is about moving engineering biology our of the laboratory and into the real world.

The Focal Award is lead by Cranfield University and partners with:

It is further supported by the National Measurement Laboratory and the National Physics Laboratory.

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

The IGNITE DLA is developing the next generation of researchers to lead our responses to environmental challenges to meet the needs of business, government and society.

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

The SustAI is a multidisciplinary programme equipping researchers with state-of-the-art AI technical skills. Research themes include AI and sustainable operations and circular economy; AI and transport and logistics; AI and sustainable energy and buildings; AI and the natural environment; and sustainable AI.

Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The CREATE PhD Programme is led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in partnership with 5 UK institutions – including University of Southampton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Bristol and the University of Sheffield – and 6 institutions across Africa and South Asia.

The programme will address existing and emerging global health challenges, working across professional and research disciplines, to provide interdisciplinary training to up to 50 PhD fellows.

• Queen Mary University London
• Kings College London
• University of Leeds
• University of Southampton
• Newcastle University
• University of Glasgow
• University of Southampton
• Brunel University of London

Programmes no longer recruiting

Our doctoral training programmes that are no longer recruiting include:

The SWW1 and SWW2 nurture disciplinary expertise and interdisciplinary perspectives across the arts and humanities.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Developing future leaders in biosciences, biotechnology, sustainable agriculture and food, renewable resources and integrated health. Visit the SoCoBio site to learn more about the unique opportunities.

Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

MINDS equips researchers with the skills, assets and networking opportunities to innovate at the interface between AI and electronics.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Learn about the CDT for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics interdisciplinary science and engineering research for health care needs.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

This Defence and Security Mobility DTP is for existing and future workers in the defence and security sector.

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Research with the MRC DTP BIOMED focuses on cancer, neurological, inflammatory and infectious diseases, anti-microbial resistance and global health.

Funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Helping prepare the world to respond to flooding, through research on themes such as flood interactions; monitoring; modelling and data analysis; and natural, adaptive and cultural management. Learn more about the FLOOD-CDT to find out how to make a difference in climate resilience.

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Research areas