Scholarship overview

  • Degree level

    Postgraduate doctoral

  • Value

    Full tuition, £26,500 stipend & a consumables budget per annum, for 3.5 years

  • Number of awards

    3

  • Academic year

    2026/2027

  • Tuition fee status

    Overseas

  • Mode of study

    Full time

  • Available to

    Prospective students

  • Application deadline

    12/01/2026

  • Additional information

    student.funding@imperial.ac.uk

  • Available to applicants in the following departments

    • Aeronautics
    • Bioengineering
    • Brain Sciences
    • Business School
    • Centre for Environmental Policy
    • Chemical Engineering
    • Chemistry
    • Civil and Environmental Engineering
    • Computing
    • Design Engineering
    • Earth Science and Engineering
    • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
    • Immunology and Inflammation
    • Infectious Disease
    • Institute of Clinical Sciences
    • Life Sciences
    • Materials
    • Mathematics
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction
    • National Heart and Lung Institute
    • Physics
    • School of Public Health
    • Surgery and Cancer

Eligibility criteria

To be considered for this scholarship, you must

  • ordinarily reside in mainland China or Hong Kong (excluding Taiwan);
  • have been classified as Overseas for fee status;
  • submit a PhD application in the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Imperial Business School*.  Students must have a formal offer of admission by the time your department submits the completed 'Lee Family Scholarship - Nomination Form '.  (*For Business School current registered Imperial MRes students only, no PhD application is required. Students will need to approach the Business School and supervisor with details of their proposed project well before the 12 January 2026. To be eligible for this scholarship, MRes students must be due to progress to the PhD in 2026/27);
  • be a new PhD applicant. Current registered Imperial PhD students are not eligible for the Imperial Lee Family Scholarship. For the 2026/27 academic year, the earliest start date for funded places is 1 August 2026, the latest start date is 1 November 2026* (*later dates can be considered on a case by case basis only).

Other criteria

Applicants  must have  met the English language condition of the offer by 30 June 2026.   Please see our 'English language requirements page' for details on our language requirements and ensure you meet the English requirements by 30 June 2026.

Please note: This scholarship is not available to continuing students.

Application process

  1. Prospective PhD students must approach the departments and potential supervisors with details of their proposed projects well before the PhD application deadline of 12 January 2026. (*Important: Some departments may have earlier deadlines for the internal shortlisting for this scholarship so please check with your department). Students are strongly advised to contact the departments/supervisors before submitting their PhD admissions application. Guidance on finding a supervisor can be found in the 'Finding a supervisor'.
  2. There is not a specific scholarship application form. Students must submit a complete PhD admissions application by 12 January 2026.  You can apply online through My Imperial at the 'Application process'.  Please note: It can take 6-8 weeks for PhD applications to be processed.
  3. Departments will nominate candidates for this scholarship. Nomination will be based on academic merit and potential, assessed through the candidate's admissions application. Each department is required to submit the nominations by 11:59pm (UK local time) 9 February 2026.  Students must hold a formal offer of admission by the time their department submits the completed nomination form. All applications and pre-scholarship nomination processes are administered by the departments. As each department follows its own internal process, students should contact your supervisor directly for guidance on scholarship nomination. For specific enquiries regarding the department's nomination process, your supervisor can liaise with the relevant department contact. If your supervisor does not know the departmental contact details, they can email us at student.funding@imperial.ac.uk for further advice.
  4. Imperial's Selection Panel will then consider all nominations from the departments and make the final decision on the award selection. 
  5. Successful and unsuccessful candidates will be notified by 31 March 2026.

Additional information

  • The scholarship covers Full tuition, £26,500 stipend per annum, and a consumables budget of £2,000 in first 3 years and £1,000 in the final year. The scholarship duration is for up to 3.5 years. 
  • Applicants must not intend to exercise their skills obtained as a result of the PhD in the UK, after completing their studies.
  • Please note that The Lee Family Scholarship is different to The Lee Family - Faculty of Medicine Scholarships. More information about The Lee Family - Faculty of Medicine Scholarships can be found on the Clinical Academic Training Office (CATO) website The Lee Family – Faculty of Medicine Scholarships | Faculty of Medicine | Imperial College London This studentship is for clinical medicine students only. Please note that The Lee Family Scholarship is also different from The Lee Family - Imperial Business School Scholarship. 

Contact

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at student.funding@imperial.ac.uk.