Frequently Asked Questions

For the ten Department of Aeronautics PhD Studentships in the 2026-27 admissions round, you need to apply online through My Imperial. You can find out more about how to apply on our Admissions webpages.

You can apply for a maximum of two PhD projects in any academic year – this includes PhD projects in other departments at Imperial and the Doctoral Programme in Sustainable Aviation (DPSA) within our Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation.

You can find more instructions on completing the application form in the ‘Completing your application in MyImperial’ section below.

For these ten Department of Aeronautics PhD Studentships in the 2026-27 admissions round, you must submit your application by 23.59 on 4 January 2027 (UK time). Under no circumstances can we accept late applications.

We anticipate the shortlisting process and interviews to take place between 11 January 2027 and 5 March 2027. We can only consider complete applications with two references – as we collect references after applications are submitted, this can lengthen the time it can take for the Department to receive complete applications and shortlist candidates. We aim to inform successful candidates in the week commencing 8 March 2027.

Please note, to ensure we do not delay the admissions process for our applicants, any incomplete applications without references by 23.59 on 5 February 2027 (UK time) will be rejected.

For the ten Department of Aeronautics PhD Studentship in the 2026/7 admissions round, you can start between 1 August 2027 and 1 July 2028.

You can apply for a maximum of two PhD projects in any academic year – this includes PhD applications for other departments at Imperial and the Doctoral Programme in Sustainable Aviation (DPSA) within our Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation.

For the ten Department of Aeronautics PhD Studentships in the 2026-27 admissions round, applications are only open until 23:59 on 4 January 2027 (UK time) and the PhD Studentships can be started between 1 August 2027 and 1 July 2028. 

If you want to apply for a PhD Studentship in the following academic year, do check this information regularly as new projects will be launched each November.

Yes, for the ten Department of Aeronautics PhD Studentships, there will be an interview as part of the admissions process.

If you are invited to interview and you need any reasonable adjustments, please contact the relevant supervisor with details for further advice.

Find out more about our Disability Advisory Service and the support available to you during the admissions process and during your studies at Imperial. 

No, the PhD Studentship will be for the specific research project outlined in the project description. You will need to submit a personal statement.

Yes, you will need to include a personal statement as part of your PhD Studentship application. If you are applying to two projects, we recommend tailoring each personal statement to the relevant project. 

All eligible PhD applicants are considered according to the same scholarship allocation criteria, which are:

•  Academic qualifications/excellence.
• Motivation and enthusiasm to do research and the PhD: Explaining the reasons why you want to do research and this PhD; why the topic is important to you.
• Research experience: Any projects, placements, internships done, showing the skills relevant for the PhD and research.
• Research output: Such as publications, conference talks or scientific papers.
  Honours and awards: List any prizes, special mention, awards, scholarships, grants, honours.

Your personal statement should not be longer than two pages.

Your CV should summarise your educational qualifications and awards and indicate any relevant research experience, internships or work experience. Please also include a list of relevant publications with web links if available.

Please ensure that the CV is no longer than 2 pages.

For the ten Department of Aeronautics PhD Studentships, each project will list their minimum entry requirements on the relevant PhD Studentship webpage.

You can find guidance on the equivalent international entry requirements on our Admissions webpage. If you meet these minimum requirements but you are still uncertain if you are qualified to apply for the PhD Studentship, we recommend you submit your application for assessment. 

We cannot provide guidance on your suitability for the PhD Studentship without a full application.

You can find out more on our minimum English language requirements on our Admissions webpages. 

You can find out more on our minimum English language requirements on our Admissions webpages. You can apply without meeting these requirements but if we make you an offer to study with us, this will be conditional on meeting the minimum English language requirements by a set deadline.

You can read more on our exemptions for English language requirements on our Admissions webpages.

You will need to upload:

• CV
• personal statement
• transcripts

We will also ask for the contact details of two referees when you submit your application - read our FAQs on references for more information.

When submitting your application, you can find the Search course/Programme, Research Topic, Research Supervisor and Research Group information on the relevant PhD Studentship webpage.

Most of our PhD Studentships begin in October, therefore you can use the entry term Autumn 2027/8. 

If you are submitting two applications for different PhD Studentships in the same academic year, you will need to select different entry terms – one application must be for the entry term Autumn 2027/8 and one application must be for the entry term Spring 2027/8. 

You will need to submit two separate applications and we recommend tailoring each application to the PhD Studentship in question. 

When submitting each application, you will need to select different entry terms – one application must be for the entry term Autumn 2027/8 and one application must be for the entry term Spring 2027/8. 

If you are successful in receiving an offer, we can amend the entry term of the relevant PhD Studentship provided it begins between 1 August 2027 and 1 July 2028.

When submitting each application, you can find the Search course/Programme, Research Topic, Research Supervisor and Research Group information on the relevant PhD Studentship webpage

You can apply for a maximum of two PhD projects in any academic year – this includes PhD projects in other departments at Imperial and the Doctoral Programme in Sustainable Aviation (DPSA) within our Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation.

Any additional applications submitted for the same academic year will be withdrawn

If you are having technical difficulties with the application portal, please use this enquiry form to contact the Technical team

You will need to provide the contact details of two referees – we will then contact them directly to request the references after you have submitted your application. One must be an academic reference, the second referee may be another academic referee, or where appropriate/relevant, a professional referee. Find out more about the importance of references and how to check the status of your references on our application references webpages.

Please note that references sent from personal email accounts are not acceptable. 

It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees respond to any reference requests – to ensure we do not delay the admissions process for our applicants, any incomplete applications without references by 23.59 on 5 February 2027 (UK time) will be rejected.

You can find instructions on how to check the status of your references on our Application references webpage

If your referee has not received our request, you can find instructions on how to submit the reference directly to our central Engineering Admissions team on our Application reference webpages.

How do I change my referee?

You can find instructions on how to change your nominated referee on our  Application references webpage.

Do read all the project information on the relevant PHD Studentship webpage and these Frequently Asked Questions before contacting us as this may answer your question.

If you have a question about a particular project, you will find a Supervisor contact for each PhD Studentship on the relevant PhD Studentship webpage for further questions.

For queries regarding the application process, email Lisa Kelly, PhD Administrator: aerophd.admissions@imperial.ac.uk

Please note, we cannot provide guidance on your suitability for the PhD Studentship without a full application.

If you are having technical difficulties with the application portal, please use this enquiry form to contact the Technical team