DTP 2018-19 University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh consists of three colleges. The EPSRC strategic areas are largely included in one of the Colleges: Science and Engineering. This consists of seven Schools: Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, GeoSciences, Informatics, Mathematics, Physics & Astronomy.
We welcome applications for PhD places in almost every research area covered by EPSRC and beyond. All Schools except Physics allow the studentships to be used for all areas of research within the EPSRC portfolio. In the case of Physics they are limited to the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems.

We particularly welcome interest in interdisciplinary areas including those bridging funding councils. As examples, we have top Medical and Informatics Schools and so we are well placed to support projects at the cutting edge of healthcare and data science.

Applications can be made on-line and the main entry point on the web is
https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate
PhD places are also advertised through Findaphd.com.

The timetables for admissions varies somewhat from School to School but normally there is a deadline early in the new year and decisions are made by March. Students are advised to make contact directly with project supervisors at the earliest opportunity. Schools will know their annual allocation of EPSRC studentships in the Autumn, typically in October providing ample opportunity to plan for distribution amongst their individual research institutes. A small number of scholarships are specifically reserved to promote CASE studentships where an industrial partner will enhance the studentship both by providing training but also additional research expenses.

All applicants for studentships will be interviewed and awards are made on merit. Students are encouraged to visit the School but interviews can be conducted by skype if this is not possible. How the studentships are used depends on the School. Almost all EPSRC DTP scholarships fund 3.5 years stipend and it also covers home fees. Some of the studentships are partly funded by industry and will often include industrial training sometimes in the form of internships. The DTP is actively used to lever additional or matched funding from a variety of companies and other organisations. Examples of partnership companies in EPSRC research areas include Optos Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson-Matthey, XFEL, Atra-Zenica, Aquila Biomedical, AkzoNobel, ARM, Microsoft, Toshiba, AkzoNobel coatings, Ingenza and the National Grid.

Studentships generally start in either September or October but it is possible to start at other times of the year. Many of our programmes have taught elements which cover both hard and soft skills aiming to train our students to be fit for the workplace as well as to continue as postgraduate researchers. Examples of such training are:
- (Mathematics) attendance to SMSTC (Scottish Mathematical Sciences Training Centre) courses (including tutorials).
- (Statistics) attendance to Academy for PhD Training in Statistics (APTS) courses,
- Institute for Academic Development courses such as: Managing your PhD, Introductory Statistics and Experimental design and Data Management
- (Engineering) First year residential field trip trip that focuses on sharing knowledge, developing research skills, and planning ahead
- (Physics) Training through SUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance) courses.
Students will also have access to a huge array of research facilities. For example, Physics will be able to access x-ray, neutron and laser facilities across the world such as in Los Alamos and the Livermore National Labs. Students in all Schools can access annual travel grants funded from School budgets to help with conference travel and subsistence and other major research costs.