Postgraduate (PhD) Study

The School of Physics and Astronomy is a vibrant centre of research in a wide range of fields, this has been recognised over the years by excellent scores in the UK-wide research assessment exercises, consistently high levels of funding for research, and national and international honours for our top researchers.

We have studentships available for the degrees of PhD and MSc by research to work in our various research groups. Some of these are provided by the UK research councils (primarily STFC and EPSRC)‌ and are primarily designed for those who fill UK residency requirements, but other scholarships are available (see also this link), including SUPA Prize studentships which pay all fees together with living expenses and are open to outstanding candidates, irrespective of nationality or residency. More details on stipends may be found at the following link.

Application Procedure

If you are looking to apply for a postgraduate research degree in Physics and Astronomy at Glasgow, there are a number of clear steps to take:

1. Find out about our research groups and potential projects/research areas.  Links are provided on the right to pages describing potential research topics from our research groups.  You do not need to propose your own research project.
2. Make contact with potential supervisors to discuss your application and how you would fit into their research group.
3. Consider sources of financial support (do you need a scholarship? are there closing dates for this?)
4. Once you are clear about a potential project, a supervisor and where you wish to apply for financial support then please go to the College of Science and Engineering graduate school webpages where application instructions and a link to the online application system are provided. 
5. If you have any questions about the research aspects, please contact your potential supervisor.  If you have more general questions about application procedures, then please contact our postgraduate admissions tutor.