Fees and Funding
Postgraduate research students are responsible for arranging their own funding to cover fees and living expenses.
Acceptance to the School of Law doctoral programme does not guarantee funding. However, most doctoral candidates who are accepted to the programme receive a substantial amount of funding to support their studies. Funding resources available to doctoral candidates are divided to sources internal and external to the university. Below is a short overview of the different funds. Please pay special attention to the different deadlines and conditions for applying to the various funding schemes.
The university postgraduate funding website is an excellent place to start looking for help with the cost of your postgraduate studies, providing information on scholarships and awards you may be eligible for. Note that in most cases to apply for a scholarship you will already need to have applied for a place on the PhD Programme. We recommend applying early for your PhD place and discussing funding opportunities with your proposed supervisor at this stage.
External sources
Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership
The University of Nottingham is part of the Midlands Graduate School ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership, which offers funding opportunities for postgraduate students each year. Among the pathways of this highly prestigious training partnership are the School of Law's Socio-Legal pathway.
The Socio-Legal pathway supports projects in all fields of law that have a substantial empirical aspect. Applicants who wish to apply to this path way should contact Dr Nell Munro by early December.
The deadline for applying to this program is usually around mid-January. For further information, please see the ESRC DTP application page.
Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership
The University of Nottingham is part of the AHRC-funded Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (M4C) that brings together six leading universities in the Midlands region. M4C awards funds for doctoral researchers in various fields, including law. This highly prestigious program provides combined research expertise for the professional and personal development of the next generation of doctoral researchers.
If you are interested in applying for the Midland4Cities DTP please contact Dr Will Eves by early December. For further information, please see the M4C application page.
Government loans for doctoral study
The government introduced PhD loans that are available to help doctoral students, resident in England, pay for their fees and living expenses.
Doctoral training programmes
Linked to research councils, doctoral training programmes offer funding opportunities connected to our research priorities.
International and EU students
Research scholarships are available for outstanding international and EU students. You must already have an offer to study at Nottingham to apply. Please note closing dates to ensure your course application is submitted in good time.
Internal sources
The university and the School of Law offer funding for PhD candidates. The amount of funding available varies year upon year and the exact value of each individual award will be decided after decisions on acceptance to the PhD programme are made.
Some students may receive a scholarship which covers the full tuition fee; others may receive a maintenance grant to support living costs; alternatively, a full scholarship including both fees and stipend may be awarded. These scholarships include the prestigious Sir Francis Hill Scholarship, the Vice-Chancellor's Scholarships for Research Excellence and School of Law Scholarships.
Scholarship awards are made on the basis of academic merit and the strength of the proposed doctoral research. These scholarships are available in all areas of law in which the school is able to offer supervision.
Applying before the end of January guarantees that you will be considered for funding by internal sources.