果冻传媒 Doctoral College PGR Scholarship Applicant Guidance

How to apply for a scholarship

Stay informed by selecting 鈥楴otify鈥� at the top left of this page to receive updates as soon as they鈥檙e available.Prepare Early

Preparation

Prepare Early

We strongly recommend preparing both your course and scholarship applications well in advance of the deadline. These applications take time to complete thoroughly, and early preparation ensures you can submit high-quality materials.鈥�

You only need to submit one scholarship application to be considered for the 果冻传媒 Postgraduate Research Scholarships competition. Applicants will automatically be considered for all eligible funding streams within the competition, including:

AHRC Doctoral Scholarships
Chancellors' Scholarships
Faculty Scholarships
Interdisciplinary Chancellors' Scholarships
Doctoral Access Scholarships
Pathway Scholarships
Sanctuary Scholarships
China Scholarship Council Scholarships

Other postgraduate research funding opportunities at 果冻传媒 operate through separate application processes.

Contact Your Supervisor

Before applying, contact your potential supervisor or academic department to discuss:

Your course application
Your scholarship application

This conversation can help clarify expectations and strengthen your application.

Tips for Success

Start early and give yourself time to gather documents.
Reach out to your supervisor with clear questions.
Review scholarship criteria to understand eligibility.

Use of Generative AI

Extensive use of generative AI may weaken your application.

AI-generated content can:

appear generic or inauthentic;
contain information that sounds plausible but is inaccurate;
include references to academic publications that do not exist; and
fail to represent your individual experience, expertise or research interests accurately.

Your application will be assessed by academic experts who may identify factual errors, invented material or content that does not demonstrate your own understanding.

You should take the time to write an authentic application that reflects:

your own experience and achievements;
your understanding of the proposed project;
your reasons for undertaking doctoral research; and
your genuine interest in the research area.

You remain responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of all information submitted.

Course application

Submit Your Course Application

You must submit your course application via the Universal Admissions System before you can access the scholarship application.
When prompted for scholarship or funder contact information, enter:
Doctoral College Doctoralcollege@warwick.ac.uk
If you鈥檝e already submitted your course application without this, don鈥檛 worry鈥攊t is not essential.

ITS Account Setup

After submitting your course application:

You鈥檒l receive an email within 48 hours containing:
Your 7-digit student ID
Instructions to register your ITS applicant account
Once registered, you鈥檒l be able to access the scholarship application system.

Need Help?

For ITS issues, contact: helpdesk@warwick.ac.uk, +44 24765 73737

Scholarship application

Starting Your Scholarship Application

Begin Your Application

Start your Scholarship Application [opening 5 October 2026].
You will be taken to the 鈥楽elect Scholarship鈥� page where you can review your details and qualifications. The information here has been taken from your course application so that you do not need to enter it again.
You will need to select the course your scholarship application will be linked to. It is very important that you select the correct course, if you select a course which you later withdraw from or decline, this will also withdraw your scholarship application

Application Questions

Departments and Faculty Assessors responsible for the assessment of your application will follow the Postgraduate Research Ranking CriteriaLink opens in a new window in their evaluation.

Faculty Assessors will only have access to your scholarship application and associated supporting documents, they will not see your course application, CV or full research proposal.

In 300 words or less, describe how best you meet the person and preparedness descriptors. You may wish to consider your academic history, skills and expertise, professional experience, and awards or publications.

In 500 words or less, describe how best you meet the project and place descriptors. You may wish to consider the significance of your project, and it鈥檚 fit with your proposed supervisors and department(s), including how the multiple groups complement each other if you are applying for an interdisciplinary or joint programme. How will you and/or your project contribute to 果冻传媒鈥檚 commitment to excellence in research and education through advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Research question/title (20 words)

In 500 words or less, describe the general area and fundamental open problems that motivate you to pursue the topic provide a summary of your research proposal. This will be reviewed by assessors who do not have access to your course application and who may not be from your disciplinary background, so descriptions should be in plain English and jargon free. A bibliography is not required.

If you would like to be considered for an Interdisciplinary Chancellor鈥檚 Scholarship, in 300 words or less, please describe which Research Spotlight and/or Research Centre your project aligns to and how it will be co-supervised across multiple areas of research expertise/interests.

If you would like to be considered for a MWA Joint Scholarship, in 300 words or less please identify the specific joint programme and describe value you will gain from undertaking a joint programme over a single degree at either institution.

If you would like to be considered for a Pathway Scholarship, in 300 words or less please describe how you meet the Pathway Programme criteria.

We will automatically consider you for all funding streams where you meet the eligibility criteria. Are there any eligible funding streams for which you do not wish to be considered?

Your references, degree certificates and transcripts will automatically import from your course application. However, some funding streams require additional supporting documents to be uploaded. Please include the following if you wish to be considered for:

MWA Joint scholarships: Joint supervision statement
Doctoral Access (Sanctuary): Evidence of Home Office Status

In 300 words or less, please let us know if there is if there is anything else about your application or personal circumstances that we should be aware, such as a need for reasonable adjustments relating to a disability. This statement will not be used to assess your application and is to help us understand how best to support you.

Submitting your scholarship application

You will be able to review your application before submitting and the system will prevent you from submitting your application if you have not completed your application properly and will notify you of any issues. You will not be able to amend your application once it has been submitted. You will be sent a confirmation of submission email containing a link which will take you directly to your application. We recommend you bookmark this page so you can visit it directly.

Supporting documents

Supporting Documents

Please read this section carefully

The documents you need to provide, and where you should provide them, depend on whether you are a current 果冻传媒 student and the scholarship funding for which you are applying.

Applicants who are not current 果冻传媒 students

Please do not upload the following supporting documents directly to your scholarship application:

degree certificates;
transcripts; or
references.

These documents will be taken from your linked 果冻传媒 course application, which is managed by Postgraduate Admissions.

The scholarship application asks all applicants to provide referee information. You will therefore see the referee section when completing your scholarship application. However, for applicants who are not current 果冻传媒 students:

the scholarship system will not send separate reference requests to the referees entered on the scholarship application;
references will be collected and managed by Postgraduate Admissions through the course application; and
the references submitted for the course application will be imported for scholarship assessment.

You should advise the referees providing references for your course application that the references will also be used for scholarship assessment. References should provide relevant, evidence-based information about your capability, preparedness and potential for doctoral study.

Applicants who are Current 果冻传媒 students applying for China Scholarship Council funding

The only current 果冻传媒 students who should apply through the scholarship portal are applicants for China Scholarship Council (CSC) funding.

Current 果冻传媒 students applying for CSC funding must use the scholarship application to:

provide details of their referees in the referee section; and
upload any new degree certificates or transcripts that were not included with their original course application.

Only current 果冻传媒 students applying for CSC funding will have reference requests sent through the scholarship application system.

This reference process does not apply to applicants for any other scholarship. References for all other applicants are handled by Postgraduate Admissions through the course application process.

Current 果冻传媒 students applying for CSC funding should advise their referees that their references will be used for scholarship assessment. References should provide relevant, evidence-based information about the applicant鈥檚 capability, preparedness and potential for doctoral study.

Doctoral Access Scholarship: Sanctuary

If you wish to be considered for a Doctoral Access Scholarship through the Sanctuary route, you must upload evidence of an eligible Home Office status directly to your scholarship application.

Asylum Seeker

Please upload either:

a scanned copy of your ARC, or Application Registration Card; or
your most recent Bail 201 letter.

Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary Leave to Remain or Limited Leave to Remain

Please upload:

a scanned copy of your current visa; and
a copy of the Home Office decision on your asylum application, or other evidence showing that your visa resulted from an asylum claim.

Document deadlines

Course application deadline

If you are not a current 果冻传媒 student, you must submit your 果冻传媒 course application by:7 December 2026 at 16:59 GMT

You should submit your course application as early as possible. Postgraduate Admissions cannot request your references until you have submitted your course application and provided your referee details.

Scholarship application deadline

You must submit your scholarship application by:10 December 2026 at 16:59 GMT

All required supporting documents, other than references, must also be submitted through the correct application process by this deadline. This includes:

degree certificates;
transcripts; and
evidence of an eligible Home Office status for the Doctoral Access Scholarship through the Sanctuary route.

Reference deadline

All references used for scholarship assessment must be submitted by:21 December 2026 at 16:59 GMT

This is two weeks after the course application deadline.

For applicants who are not current 果冻传媒 students, references must be submitted through the course admissions process. References entered on the scholarship application will not generate separate reference requests.

For current 果冻传媒 students applying for CSC funding, references must be submitted through the scholarship application system.

We recognise that referees may need time to submit their references. However, applicants and referees should be aware that scholarship assessment begins immediately after the scholarship application deadline of 10 December 2026 at 16:59 GMT.

Applicants should therefore submit their course application as early as possible to allow sufficient time for Postgraduate Admissions to request and receive their references.

Current 果冻传媒 students applying for CSC funding should enter their referee details in the scholarship application as early as possible to allow their referees sufficient time to respond.

Problems viewing imported documents

In some cases, the following message may appear next to a supporting document imported into the scholarship application:

鈥淭here was a problem loading this PDF.鈥�

Please do not worry if this message appears. It will not affect the assessment of your scholarship application.

Document queries

If you have questions about your documents, references or the documents held with your course application, please contact Postgraduate Admissions by:

joining a live chatLink opens in a new window; or

submitting an enquiryLink opens in a new window;

The Doctoral College cannot upload documents on behalf of applicants or accept supporting documents by email.

Next steps

Assessment Process

果冻传媒 Postgraduate Research Scholarships are highly competitive, with significantly more applicants than available awards. Applications are assessed according to how strongly they align with the Person & Preparedness and Project & Place assessment criteria.

You should read the full 果冻传媒 Postgraduate Research Scholarships 2027 assessment criteriaLink opens in a new window to understand how applications are considered.

The University does not use a numerical scoring matrix to assess individual applications. Instead, candidates are ranked according to their alignment with the assessment criteria, first by their academic department and then by their faculty.

Once the scholarship application deadline has passed, applications are considered through the following stages.

1. Academic department nomination

The academic department linked to your selected course will review eligible scholarship applications from candidates intending to study in that department.

Each department has a limited nomination quota and will nominate its strongest candidates. For each nominated candidate, the department will provide:

a numerical ranking; and
a contextual nomination statement explaining how the candidate meets the assessment criteria.

The nomination statement will consider:

the strength of the scholarship application;
the evidence provided in the references;
the candidate鈥檚 capability, preparedness and potential;
the quality, significance and feasibility of the proposed project;
the fit between the project and the department;
the suitability and strength of the proposed supervision; and
how the proposed supervisory arrangements will enable the candidate to succeed during the doctoral programme.

Departments are best placed to assess the detailed disciplinary quality, feasibility and alignment of the proposed research.

Due to the limited number of nominations available, meeting the eligibility and assessment criteria does not guarantee that an application will be nominated.

2. Faculty assessment

Each faculty will review the applications nominated by its academic departments.

Because faculties include a wide range of disciplines, faculty assessors place particular emphasis on Person & Preparedness. Academic departments are best placed to assess the detailed quality, feasibility and disciplinary alignment of Project & Place.

Faculty assessors will use the departmental rankings and nomination statements as key sources of evidence when comparing candidates across the faculty. They will also consider whether the proposed supervision arrangements and research environment are sufficient to support the candidate and project.

The faculty will provide a numerical ranking of its nominated candidates. A high departmental ranking does not guarantee the same position in the faculty ranking because candidates must be compared across a broader range of departments and disciplines.

3. Allocation panels

Final award decisions and reserve lists will be confirmed by allocation panels. A separate panel will be convened for each scholarship funding stream.

Candidates will be considered for all funding streams for which they are eligible, provided that:

their academic department has nominated them;
they have completed any additional statement required for the funding stream;
they have uploaded any required supporting evidence; and
neither the candidate nor the nominating department has opted out of that funding stream.

Final decisions will be based primarily on faculty rankings, considered alongside the aims and eligibility requirements of each scholarship.

Where necessary, panels may also take account of relevant secondary considerations, including:

the distribution of awards across constituent departments and faculties; and
equality impact.

Being nominated by a department or ranked by a faculty does not guarantee that a scholarship will be awarded.

Receiving your application outcome

The Doctoral College will contact all applicants by the published offer release date. The outcome will confirm whether you have:

been offered a scholarship;
been placed on a reserve list; or
been unsuccessful.

Please do not contact the Doctoral College to request an outcome before the published offer release date.

Due to the high number of applications received, we are unable to provide individual feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Frequently asked questions:

I am a deferred applicant and am struggling to access the scholarships application portal, what do I do? Once I have submitted my scholarship application, can I make any changes? Can I receive a scholarship offer if I haven鈥檛 received an admission offer? I鈥檓 updating my CV, where do I upload it? My fee status is incorrect, how do I get this changed? I am a PGR current student, can I apply?

Current PGRs who are in the first 12 months of study can only be considered for the China Scholarship Council funding, which as additional eligibility criteria. All our scholarship schemes are open to applicants who are due to start in October 2027 only. Students on 2+4 schemes in WBS and Economics may apply if they are about due enter the +4 PhD element of their course in October 2026.

I am having IT troubles, who can I contact for help? What is the deadline for references?

We recognise that it can take time for references to be submitted by referees. References must be submitted by 22 December 2025 at 16:59 GMT. However, applicants and referees should note that the assessment process begins immediately after the scholarship application deadline.

All other supporting documents (degree certificates, transcripts, MWA joint supervision statement, home office status), must be submitted by the scholarship application deadline: 11 December 2025 at 16:59 GMT.

I have applied for a MWA Joint PhD and a standalone PhD, which course should I link my scholarship application to?

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