Imperial President's PhD Scholarships 2027 — 50 Fully Funded
Fully funded PhD scholarship in United Kingdom for International students 2027
50 doctoral places at Imperial with fees, a GBP 27,036 stipend and research costs paid. The next cut-off is 11 January 2027, and you need a supervisor first.
Eligibility
- No nationality restriction, though some departments cannot support every international candidate
- A first-class undergraduate or integrated Master's degree, or a distinction in a standalone Master's
- New PhD applicants only; registered Imperial PhD students are not eligible
- A supervisor at Imperial must have agreed to supervise the project before you apply
Imperial's flagship doctoral award is deliberately simple: fifty places, fees paid whatever your fee status, a stipend above the UK national average, and money for research costs. It is also one of the few fully funded PhD schemes in London that states in writing that nationality is not a criterion.
What the award actually pays
Each of the fifty scholarships runs for three and a half years and covers tuition in full at either the home or the overseas rate. On top of that sits a stipend of GBP 27,036 at the 2027-28 rate, which is well above the standard UKRI minimum, and a consumables fund of GBP 2,000 a year for the first three years.
The consumables line is worth understanding before you write your budget. It is not a cash payment: it is money your department can spend on the things a project needs — reagents, compute, travel to a facility, a piece of equipment — and it is one of the reasons Imperial can attract projects that would be expensive to run elsewhere. Scholars also join a cohort programme run by the Early Career Researcher Institute, which is a soft benefit but a real one if you are moving to a new country alone.
Who can apply
There is no restriction on nationality, and both full-time and part-time study are eligible. The academic bar is the part that filters most applicants: you need a first-class undergraduate degree or a first-class integrated Master's, or — if your undergraduate result falls short — a distinction in a standalone Master's.
The scheme is only for new PhD applicants. If you are already registered on a doctorate at Imperial you cannot be considered, and the funded place must start between 1 August and 1 November 2027.
Run through this self-check. Do I meet the first-class threshold, or can I show a distinction at Master's level? Have I found a supervisor whose current work overlaps mine, and have they agreed in principle to take me? Is my project a research question rather than a topic area? Can I start in the autumn of 2027? If the answer to the supervisor question is no, stop and fix that first: without an agreed supervisor there is no application to make.
Deadline and what the calendar really means
Imperial assesses the scheme in three rounds. The first closed on 2 November 2026, with decisions by 31 January 2027. The second closes at 23:59 UK time on 11 January 2027, with decisions by 15 April 2027. The third closes on 1 March 2027, with decisions by 31 May 2027. Applying now means targeting the January cut-off.
Two things follow from that calendar. First, departments often set an internal deadline earlier than the college one, so the date that matters may be in December rather than January. Second, the January round is the last one that leaves comfortable time for a visa, a scholarship confirmation letter and accommodation before an August-to-November start. A March application is still eligible but compresses everything that comes after.
How to apply, step by step
There is no separate scholarship form. You apply for PhD admission through Imperial's online admissions system, and in the funding section of the additional questions tab you tick the President's PhD Scholarship option. Your department then decides whether to nominate you.
Before any of that, contact a prospective supervisor. Supervisors can hold only one President's Scholar at a time, and Imperial publishes a list of supervisors who are already committed, so check it before you write a proposal for someone who cannot take you. Once a supervisor agrees, prepare a two-page personal statement: page one is why you and why Imperial, page two is the research proposal. You will also need two academic referees who are not your proposed supervisor.
Documents to have ready
Transcripts and degree certificates with a clear indication of class rank, the two-page statement, two references submitted by the referees themselves, and evidence of English proficiency if your degree was not taught in English. If your grades sit just below the threshold but your research record is strong, gather evidence — publications, a substantial dissertation, a research placement — before you apply, because the department can only argue a special case if the file contains the material to argue with.
Common mistakes that sink applications
The first is applying without a supervisor, which produces an automatic rejection no matter how good the grades are. The second is padding the personal statement with admiration for the university instead of a specific account of the project. The third is choosing referees who can speak only to your coursework; the panel is assessing research potential, so at least one referee should be able to describe work you did independently. The fourth is ignoring the department's own earlier deadline and discovering, in January, that the internal shortlist closed in December.
Tips to win
Treat the research proposal as the centre of the application. Two pages is short, so every sentence has to do work: the question, why it is unresolved, what you will actually do, and what result would count as progress. Show that you have read your supervisor's recent papers and explain where your project touches them. If you are applying from abroad, say plainly what you bring — a dataset, a language, a field site, an industry link — because panels are assembling a cohort, not ranking transcripts. And apply in the January round: the same file scores the same in March, but the practical runway is shorter.
https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=88
https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=21
https://www.oeacnetwork.com/index.php?page=post&id=83
If you are unsure whether your degree maps onto a British first, an OEAC advisor can help you check the equivalence before you commit to an application.
Photo: sagesolar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (main entrance, Imperial College London).
Last updated: 4 November 2026
Always confirm the deadline and eligibility on the official page before you apply. Scholarship dates change between rounds, and this listing is a summary — the provider's own page is the authoritative source. OEAC Network lists scholarships for free and is not an agent for any university or funding body.
