Studentship opportunities

About our studentships

Our studentships, which are pre-defined research topics, provide funding and financial support for exceptional students looking to study for an MPhil/PhD at the University of Derby. Dependent on the individual studentship, successful applicants may be awarded a bursary to cover the full or partial cost of their tuition fees for the duration of the degree. A Postgraduate Research Studentship (PGRS) will be funded for three years.

In addition, for successful fully funded home/overseas applicants, you will also receive an annual, tax-free stipend to support with living costs (currently at £18,662 for 2023/24) which will normally be paid in instalments throughout the year. This will not be the case for partially funded projects, please refer to the individual opportunity for details.

Overseas applicants are encouraged to apply for studentships but are advised to check the project details carefully to assess the level of funding they are eligible for, before submitting an application.

MPhil/PhD research studentships available

• Linguistics and Popular Culture
• Developing a player-value rating system in elite football utilising machine learning and artificial intelligence
• Can family-focused interventions improve fundamental movement skill proficiency of Early Years children in the UK?
• Machine Learning and Progression in Diabetic Retinopathy

Studentships in Learning, Teaching and Pedagogic Practice

We are seeking to recruit to three Studentships to support the pedagogic core of the University’s learning and teaching. These projects serve to ensure that we are research led in our practice and have a strategic approach to the evaluation of the impact of our approaches to student support, developing skills and employability, education for sustainable development, inclusivity, and generative AI.

Below is a range of potential projects, from which we will appoint to three:

• Development and evaluation of the impact of a digital innovation to foster enhanced student resilience, self-efficacy and belonging in higher education
• Critically evaluate the impact of the Develop@Derby personal skills development programme
• The impact of generative artificial intelligence on higher education skills development
• The evaluation of inclusive curriculum and delivery projects
• An evaluation of approaches to embed Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at the University of Derby
• An evaluation of the impact of carbon literacy education at the University of Derby
• Decolonising university curriculum by learning ‘beyond discipline’

If you have any questions, please contact phdadmissions@derby.ac.uk.