Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships

In order to attract the best and brightest PhD students, the University seeks to offer not only unparalleled research facilities and superb supervision, but also to provide development opportunities which will support our research students as they progress beyond their PhD through an exciting scholarship scheme.

This scholarship is awarded in collaboration between the University's Doctoral College and the Business School.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

All candidates must hold a conditional or unconditional offer to one of our PhD programmes and expect to join in September 2026. Applicants may submit a scholarship application while their programme application is still pending. However, to be considered eligible for the scholarship, applicants must receive an offer of study by the scholarship deadline, 2 February 2026.

For this reason, the deadline for scholarship applicants to submit a programme application is Monday 12 January 2026. Please note that your programme application must be complete by this deadline. If we are unable to issue you an offer by the scholarship deadline due to missing or incomplete documentation, you will not be eligible for scholarship consideration. We therefore encourage you to check your programme application regularly via the Applicant Hub, as this is where the Admissions Team will notify you of any outstanding documents and/or request additional information.

Other factors such as financial status and nationality are not taken into account. We aim to attract the greatest diversity of applications to this scheme and will ensure that recruitment processes are robust and unbiased so that traditionally underrepresented groups, including those from a minority background, and those from the most deprived communities in Scotland and the rest of the world, are treated fairly.

Value

Each scholarship covers the University tuition fee as well as a stipend equivalent to the UKRI stipend rate (for 2025/26 this is currently £20,780), subject to satisfactory progress, the scholarships are awarded for between three and four years as agreed by the School/Deanery (or pro-rata for part time).

How to apply

To be considered, candidates must submit both a programme application and a scholarship application using the University's Online Application System. You will only be able to access the scholarship application after you have applied to your chosen programme.

• Programme Application Guidance
• Scholarship Application and Guidance

We strongly encourage applicants to reach out directly to potential advisors at the Business School by email to discuss the opportunity of doing a PhD under their supervision. Applicants should take care to ensure the academic staff they contact have similar research interests to their own. For more information, please refer to our staff profiles.

Selection process

Eligible applicants will be ranked initially by a selection panel comprised of senior academic colleagues within the Business School and broadly aligned with the applicants’ respective disciplines. The top-ranked candidates will then be invited to an interview with the Business School PGR Programme Director and senior Business School research colleagues. The interview will focus on each applicant’s motivation, research experience, and contribution of the proposed research.

Applications are ranked according to a number of criteria, most importantly:

• Academic background, including academic achievements and research experience
• Research proposal (e.g. novelty, contribution)
• The applicant’s preparedness and potential to:
  • undertake and complete a PhD
  • flourish with funding
  • contribute to a positive/diverse PhD community

Scholarship awards are subject to the candidate’s successful receipt of an offer and subsequent enrolment in one of the following programmes in September 2026: PhD with Integrated Study in Management, PhD with Integrated Study in Accounting, PhD with Integrated Study in Finance, PhD in Business Economics, PhD in Management Science & Analytics, or PhD in Financial Technology.

Award announcement date

Candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application in late spring 2026.

Please be aware that we also hold a reserve list. In the event that a successful candidate later declines their award, the award will be offered to the top candidate on the reserve list. Candidates will be notified if they are listed as a reserve candidate.

The University reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to amend or withdraw any of the advertised scholarships, without notice.

College advertisement of Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships