Application FAQs

1. Identify and seek the agreement of a supervisor.
2. Make an online application and upload your supporting documentation.
3. Send confirmation of your online application to the Research Degrees Administrator via email to researchdegreeenquiries@imperial.ac.uk.
4. Admissions and Departmental reviews of your application take place (all successful PhD/ MD(Res) applicants require an interview as part of the application process). You will be contacted following the outcome of your application reviews.

All students undertaking a PhD or MD(Res) require two supervisors. You only need to identify one at online application stage.

The first step in the application process is to identify and speak to a supervisor. Please browse our Research web pages in order to do this. 

You will be required to meet Imperial College London’s eligibility requirements with regard to academic qualifications and English language before you register for a PhD or MD(Res). Full information can be found on the College's eligibility webpage.

Please note that if you are applying for the President’s Scholarship, you will need to have obtained a UK First in your undergraduate degree or equivalent. If you have an additional Master's, it must have been awarded with a Distinction.

Once you have found a supervisor who has agreed to supervise you, please apply online by clicking on ‘Apply for Doctoral Courses’.

You will be prompted to create an account, once you have done so please log in and select the options below, before following the online instructions to complete the remainder of your application:

• Under Course Type, please select ‘Doctoral’
• Under Academic Programme,
  • For PhD applications, please select your research area of interest, e.g. ‘Clinical Medicine Research (Brain Sciences)’
  • For MD (Res) applications, please select your research area of interest, e.g. ‘Clinical Medicine Research (Brain Sciences) MD (Res)’

Once you have completed your online application, please email confirmation to researchdegreeenquiries@imperial.ac.uk so that the Research Degrees Administrator can follow up your application with our Admissions Team.

Once you complete your online application Registry will assess your qualifications and English language certificate where required to confirm you meet Imperial College London’s eligibility requirements, before forwarding for Departmental review.

Advanced Standing refers to taking into account previous periods of study before a student's registration for a research degree at Imperial College, and allowing this work to contribute towards their PhD at Imperial College. This is typically a period of doctoral level study at another institution. It can also refer to prior experiential learning undertaken by a Research Assistant or Clinical Research Fellow (at Imperial College or Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust), though such cases are unusual and require a clear reason why the student was not previously registered for a PhD.  

Advanced Standing applicants should follow the standard application and interview procedure and a supporting case should be submitted outlining the reasons for the period of registration exemption sought due to research engagement. It should provide details of work, activities, progress and assessments already undertaken whilst engaged with research and must be supported by documentary evidence and a supporting statement from the supervisor.

The case will then be considered by the Department’s Higher Degrees Research Committee, Director of Postgraduate Studies (Research) and the Graduate School. If the application to register with Advanced Standing is approved, registration must be for at least 12 months (full-time) or 24 months (part-time), and would typically be for longer periods than this. Approval may be conditional on successful completion of Research Plan, ESA and LSR milestones after registration.

Please refer to the College's Postgraduate Tuition Fees webpages for current tuition fee information.

Self-funded Imperial College staff members (usually Research Assistants and Clinical Research Fellows) with a contract for the minimum duration of a PhD (3 years) are eligible for the College Tuition Fee Remission Scheme. A copy of your contract must be forwarded to the Research Degrees Administrator and uploaded as part of your online application which must be submitted a minimum of two months ahead of your PhD start date. This allows a month for completion of the application, internal reviews & approvals plus a month for satisfying conditions and obtaining any additional documents.

Please note that an Imperial College contract of employment must have commenced by the start of the research degree programme and end on or after the date on which the research degree programme is expected to finish in order to be eligible for the College Tuition Fee Remission Scheme.

Further information can be found on the remission scheme webpage.

The Faculty of Medicine policy offers self-funding Imperial College Trust staff and staff from associated Trusts (e.g. Chelsea and Westminster, Northwick Park, St Mark’s) a discount of one-third of the home fee. A Trust contract of employment must be provided at the time of application. Contract extensions are permitted during the course of the research degree.

Backdating enrolment is not permitted.

For all postgraduate enquiries, please contact the Research Degrees Administrator via email at researchdegreeenquiries@imperial.ac.uk.

If you are unable to upload supporting documents to the online application system, please forward them to the Research Degrees Administrator via email at researchdegreeenquiries@imperial.ac.uk

You can browse a list of PhD funding opportunities on our Funding webpage. Additional opportunities can be found on via the College's Scholarships page.