University of Exeter International Student PhD Studentship 2026

Exeter's Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences is offering up to four PhD studentships (open to International fee paying students only) for candidates aiming to begin studying in September 2026.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineFebruary 23, 2026
• Study LevelPhD
• SponsorUniversity of Exeter
• City to studyExeter
• School to studyUniversity of Exeter
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

International tuition fees and an annual maintenance allowance at current Research Council rate of £20,780 per year (2025/26 rate) plus stipend top-up of to £5,000 to help with visa fees and health surcharge costs.

Requirements

Applicants should have at a minimum a good first degree (at least 2.1, or international equivalent) in a relevant field of the humanities, arts or social sciences, and have obtained, or are currently working towards a Master's degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Evidence of relevant professional expertise can also be taken into consideration.

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements and provide proof of proficiency. Click here for more information.

Applicants must have identified and approached a potential supervisor and have supervision agreed in principle. To help find an appropriate supervisor please look at the staff pages of departmental webpages or use the Research Expertise search function on our Postgraduate Study pages: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/pg-research.

• Applicants would be expected to start their studies in September 2026.
• Recipients are expected to commit to engagement beyond their doctoral studies through contributing to the research environment of their discipline and the Faculty by participating in research activities, accessing skills development training and opportunities and career development etc. Continued funding would be dependent on satisfactory evidence of this engagement having taken place.

This award is only open to applicants whose fee status is classed as International. Click here for further information about fee status.

Please note that these studentships are only open to applicants who will start their study in September 2026, not those who have already started.

Applications will only be supported for campus-based programmes as this studentship is not open to Distance-Learning programmes.

Residency Entry Requirements

1)      International only

This studentship, including full tuition fees and maintenance allowance, is available to International fee-paying candidates. 

Application Deadline

How To Apply

To apply, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button. You will be asked to submit the following by 12 (Noon) GMT Monday 23 February 2026:  

• A Research proposal of 1,500-2,000 words (exclusive of bibliography), with supervisors agreed in principle. Guidance about how to write a research proposal is available here.
• The University encourage you to include in your research proposal a 250-word (max) statement outlining how your background will enrich our diverse and inclusive research community. You are encouraged to reflect on your own experience, interests and/or proposed research for the statement. Please note this is optional.
• A 200-500 word statement on your fit with the department/Faculty research culture and your prospective supervision team. You should also name which programme of study you are applying for
•  A CV
• Proof of academic track record (transcripts/certificates)
• Two references, at least one to be an academic reference
• Proof of your English language proficiency, if relevant

Please submit all documents, apart from your references and degree transcripts, as one combined file and submit this against the research proposal section of the application form.

All application documents must be submitted in English. Certified translated copies of academic qualifications must also be provided.

Please note that we will seek a supporting statement from named prospective supervisors for all shortlisted candidates as part of the final assessment process.

Please quote reference 5724 on your application and in any correspondence about this studentship.

Reference information
It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees email their references to [email protected], as we will not make requests for references directly; you must arrange for them to be submitted by 23 February 2026.  Please note that applications with missing documentation will not progress to shortlisting.

References should be in the form of a letter. Referees must email their references to us from their institutional email accounts. We cannot accept references from personal/private email accounts, unless it is a scanned document on institutional headed paper and signed by the referee.

No interviews will be held for these studentships. We expect to be able to communicate outcomes to all applicants by the end of April 2026.

For more details, visit University of Essex Scholarship webpage