Funding

One of the biggest determining factors governing the likelihood of undertaking postgraduate study is funding. Unlike undergraduate funding, which does not take into account academic ability in any way and deals out money (in the form of loans) left, right and centre, postgraduate funding is based much more on ability and aptitude.

When I say that undergraduate funding is not based on academic ability in any way, I ignore scholarships and bursaries, which are of course based solely on ability. In such a way is undergraduate funding therefore very similar to postgraduate funding, since it is most often the case that postgraduate study can be undertaken by means of a scholarship/bursary given to the well-qualified student.

The means of obtaining such financial awards differ, though ultimately lead back to the same source: the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). The EPSRC is the government's funding agency for research and training in the physical sciences, and provides funding and training for research departments throughout the UK; as such, it is the main source of funding for postgraduate study at British universities.

In order to apply for funding, a student can consider one of two possibilities: direct to the EPSRC or through the department at which they wish to study. The majority of cases seem to pass through the latter of these two, as was the case for my own funding.

After speaking to a prospective supervisor, he informed me that the maths department had five full bursaries for students whom the department thought would compliment the department academically and fit within the current areas of research. Having already been an undergraduate at UniS, I was in the fortunate position of having the department know my track record and therefore offer me one such bursary.

If I had not been an undergraduate within the department, however, the process would have been similar to that of applying for universities as a prospective undergraduate: check prospectuses, arrange to attend open days, offer yourself for interview and hope you impress the department that way.

Once the bursary had been awarded, it was then a case of finding out how much it was going to be worth. For a maths postgraduate at UniS, a full bursary pays the student's tuition fees (some £2375) and awards them a tax-free maintenance grant on which to live for three years of full-time study, which starts at £9000 for the first year and increases according the the EPSRC's guideline (which this year stipulates £10k and £12.5k in the second and third years respectively). Such bursaries, therefore, ensure that a postgraduate can concentrate their efforts on producing quality research instead of wondering where their next meal is coming from.

If a department cannot award a bursary directly to a student, then it is possible to contact the EPSRC and apply for funding directly from them. I understand that this can be a relatively long process and so requires some planning and organisation on the student's behalf. For the student that is not awarded a bursary, there is always the option to pay their own way, which would equate to having to pay fees and all living expenses for the duration of their study.

This is by no means an extensive treatment of postgraduate funding (it is, in fact, far from it). For more information, please have a look at the funding links at the side of this page.