News - New PhD Funding Opportunities
University of Exeter press release
Cornwall's students are set to benefit from funding for PhD study at one of the UK's top ten universities. The University of Exeter will be awarding funding for over 100 new PhD places for 2010 across its campuses in Exeter and Cornwall. There are opportunities for postgraduate research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities on the Tremough Campus, Penryn.
The awards range from full studentships covering all fees and a maintenance grant for three years, to bursaries worth £7,000 a year for three years. All positions will start in Autumn 2010.
Professor Robert Van de Noort, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Research at the University of Exeter, said: "Postgraduate study at Exeter is more popular than ever, particularly now the University is recognised as one of the top 10 in the UK. However, we are aware that the cost of postgraduate study can be prohibitive. We are determined to ensure that this does not deter the best students, from the UK and abroad, from pursuing a PhD with us. We believe these studentships will help encourage the most talented students to realise their academic potential here at Exeter."
These studentships will help boost Exeter's growing international reputation for excellent research. In the last Research Assessment Exercise, all subjects were assessed as including world-leading research and nearly 90 per cent of the University's research was rated as being internationally recognised. The University is investing £80 million in science, medicine and engineering over the next three years.
The University of Exeter is a key partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) which is supported by European investment, firstly via Objective One and now the ERDF and ESF Convergence programmes. Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office, explained: "This investment helped to create the flagship CUC, a collective partnership of Universities and Colleges, and is aimed at marrying academic expertise with business acumen to strengthen our economy. The announcement of these PhDs is great news and offers even more possibilities for businesses to benefit from postgraduate knowledge."
Dr Sue Brownlow, CUC Director added: "The expansion of postgraduate education in Cornwall supports a wider move in the CUC partnership to create world class centres of research excellence which will support and attract high growth businesses looking to turn the latest discoveries into commercial opportunities. It also sends a powerful signal about the progress made in establishing university education in the county - this is now a place where the very best students can pursue their research interests at the highest level."
Anyone interested in applying for these studentships or bursaries can find out more at: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/2010studentships
New postgraduate research studentships are available on the University of Exeter's Tremough Campus in the following subject areas:
Biosciences
English
Geography
Geology
History
Institute of Cornish Studies
International Relations
Law
Mining and Minerals
Politics
Renewable Energy
The £100 million Tremough Campus is a Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative ¬of which the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth are two of the founding partners. It is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council. Set in 70 acres of countryside, but close to the waterside towns of Penryn and Falmouth, the campus offers a lively student community. The University of Exeter now offers degrees in Biology, Modern Celtic and Cornish Studies, English, Geology, Geography, History, Law, Mining Engineering, Politics and Renewable Energy on the Tremough Campus, which has expanded rapidly as part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative.