Current Student Funding

Doctoral College Research Enhancement Fund

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Purpose of the Doctoral College Research Enhancement Funds

The Doctoral College Research Enhancement Funds support a range of research-orientated activities, the funding is there to provide opportunities for Doctoral and MPhil students to enhance your experience, develop your academic profile by presenting at key conferences in your field, enhance your networking skills and to develop your career prospects.   

This funding is not intended to replicate school-level funding or be used to support your research project.

There are Doctoral College Funds to support activity in the following areas:

• Travel and Conference Fund
• Additional Training Fund
• Internship Bursary
• Knowledge Transfer Bursary
• Career Development Post Submission Bursaries

You may also be interested in applying for a ESRC Impact Transition bursary which is a new opportunity this academic year.

Calls for Applications:

In order that potential applicants are provided with an opportunity to apply for support throughout the whole of the academic year, there is a published timetable of Calls for Applications.

A new open call is available for applications now.  If you wish to attend a conference or event over the summer period and did not submit an application to call 4 you should submit to this call now as such applications will be considered ahead of the call deadline of 2pm on the 30th June 2024.

ESRC Impact Acceleration Award

Many of our social science PGR students are doing research with the potential to make real social and economic impacts. From 2024, Newcastle University’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Award will fund social science Impact Transition Awards every year to support the development of impact work in the post-submission period.

The awards are to support a project working with a non-academic partner that will advance and extend the impact of recently-completed PhD research.

Up to 4 months of stipend (UKRI rate at time of application), PLUS funding for activities up to £1500.

Applications are now open and will be considered on a rolling basis.

PGR Led Engagement

The Doctoral College provides funding for PGR students to organise their own University wide events.  In 2023-24 support was provided for :-

• The Newcastle University Translation and Interpreting Conference 2023 which took place in December 2023 and centred around the theme of embracing interdisciplinarity and explored ‘innovative investigations in Chinese and English translation and interpretive studies. The event featured 18 speakers representing 11 universities across the UK and China and had over 50 attendees.
• The PGR Community Hub which is a collaboration between the NUSU PGR Community Society, Doctoral College, Research Culture Team and HASS RED programme that offers a friendly and informal interdisciplinary space where PGRs from all faculties can come together, share ideas and make progress on their research. Events are primarily run by PGRs and designed to create a relaxed environment to share experiences and develop PGRs skills researchers.

Funding opportunities in Singapore

There are a number of opportunities availlable in Singapore including an existing partnership with the Singapore based ‘Agency for Science, Technology and Research’ (A*STAR)

As part of the University’s PGR Strategic Delivery Plan, the Doctoral College has funding available for one PhD student per academic year, where they are interested in engaging in A*STAR’s prestigious Academic Research Placement Programme.

The A*STAR Research Attachment Programme is an excellent opportunity for current first and second year PhD students who wish to undertake a collaborative research project, spending time in Newcastle and in a Singapore, Government funded, A*STAR research institute.

Under this programme the successful awardee would spend one or two years at Newcastle University.  They would then spend a minimum of one and a maximum of two years at an A*STAR Research Institute under the supervision of staff of the A*STAR Research Institute and Newcastle University.

Expressions of Interest to be considered as a nominee by Newcastle University are invited from Newcastle University registered first or second year PhD students and their academic supervisors.  Details of eligibility, funding support available, guidance and links to the webforms are available on the Doctoral College webpage.

Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore also offers the Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA) to attract top international students from around the world to pursue their postgraduate studies in Singapore's world-class universities. SINGA is a collaboration between A*STAR and 5 top-ranking universities in Singapore: Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Singapore Management University (SMU).

There are additional opportunities in Singapore working with SGInnovate which includes the Helix Immersion Programme, Summation Programme and Power X. 

Other funding opportunities

Covid-19 funding

If you consider that your research is still being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic please contact the doctoralcollege@newcastle.ac.uk, as funding may be available for exceptional cases.

Student Financial Support

If you are experiencing financial difficulties and are worried about money please contact Student Financial Support.  The Doctoral College have given additional funding this year to the Student Financial Support Fund to specifically support PGR students.

Funding for FMS students

Graduate School travel Grant

Learn more, including how to apply

Post submission scholarship scheme

Are you a talented FMS student, writing your thesis or final dissertation? Do you have a vision for your next steps?

The post submission scholarship scheme could fund you to:

• apply for an internship related to your research
• explore how you could apply your research commercially
• reformat your thesis into a career-defining paper

Grants and Scholarships, learn more here

Funding for Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) students

There are currently no funding opportunities specifically for HaSS students. Keep an eye on this page for future updates.

Funding for Science, Agriculture and Engineering (SAgE) students

There are currently no funding opportunities specifically for SAgE students. Keep an eye on this page for future updates.