SWDTP Psychology studentships

Applications close on 9 January 2026 (12:00 noon UK time) and the studentship will start on 1 October 2026

Apply

To apply for the SWDTP Psychology pathway studentship simply select the ‘online application’ link below for PhD Psychology :
Within the Research section of the application form, in the following fields, please add:
  • Proposed project title/studentship title: add your project title
  • Proposed supervisor: add the potential supervisor’s name 
  • Studentship code: add SWDTP 26-10 Psychology
When the application asks for a research proposal, please just upload the SWDTP Studentship Application Form 2026 Entry (Annex A)
Application guidance 
It is important that you follow the instructions above or your application for this studentship may be missed and therefore will not be considered.
Before applying, please ensure you have read the Doctoral College’s general information on applying for a research degree . 
For more information on the admissions process, please contact research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk. 
Psychology
School of Psychology
Faculty of Health
In the Research Excellence Framework, 83 per cent of Research in the School of Psychology was judged to be of a world leading or internationally excellent standard. This places us within the top 20 psychology, neuroscience and psychiatry schools across the country. We have a thriving PhD community with around 70 postgraduate research and DClin students. 
ESRC-funded studentships can be taken up in any of the specialist areas of research supported by the school. The school has a wide range of psychology research interests including cognition, learning, vision, music, developmental, emotion, health, clinical, social and neuroscience. Students have access to extensive, modern, and well-equipped laboratory facilities supported by a dedicated team of technical staff. 
There are two routes to an ESRC-funded PhD in Psychology at Â鶹´«Ã½:
Successful applicants will be part of a large, vibrant, highly collaborative community of PhD students with good interdisciplinary links, providing opportunities for research, training and collaboration.

Initial enquiries

You can search through a list of potential PhD projects or have a look at our staff pages . You need to identify a supervisor in the School of Psychology if you want to apply to the psychology pathway at the Â鶹´«Ã½.
If you would like advice on potential supervisors, please contact Dr Patricia Kanngiesser .

How to apply

Closing date: 9 January 2026, 12:00 noon (UK time)
Start date: 1 October 2026 
The studentship is supported for three to four years depending upon the pathway and includes full home tuition fees plus a stipend which is currently £20,780 per annum 2025/2026 rate (2026/27 rate TBC). There are a limited number of places for international students.

Eligibility 

Information on the eligibility criteria for full awards can be found on the .

Application process

You will need to discuss your proposed research topic with an academic staff member in psychology before submitting your application and have a letter of support from your prospective supervisor (Annex B).
You will need to submit the following documentation in order for us to consider your application:
  • Completed Â鶹´«Ã½ online application form, accessible via the link at the top of the page in the ‘Apply’ box. 
  • Completed  
  • Completed
  • Completed SWDTP EDI survey – a link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents.
  • Copies of your academic qualifications (both certificates and transcripts of module/course marks).
  • Please include a CV with your application.
  • If applicable, appropriate proof of English proficiency.
Documents not included in the online application form can be emailed to research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk by the application deadline.
Your application will only be considered if it contains the above and you have met our . If we need further details or additional documentation, we will contact you.
For full details on the studentship process, please see the South West Doctoral Training Partnership and pages.

SWDTP Equal Opportunities Student Data Form 2026 Entry

Why do you collect data about people’s personal characteristics?
Across UK Higher Education it is generally suspected that access to postgraduate study is neither as open nor as inclusive as it should be and that more needs to be done to widen participation and equality of opportunity. However, the data needed to help make the system be more equitable is not as complete or as reliable as it needs to be to most effectively support change.  
Providing EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and equal opportunity data helps to better understand issues of selection and under-representation in postgraduate study. Such data are held confidentially and separately from the rest of your application. They are used only in aggregated and anonymised forms for internal monitoring purposes and as part of our required reporting to our funder, the ESRC – for example, as counts or percentages of the numbers in each category. We ask all applicants to complete the monitoring form. A link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents.