Postgraduate research Your application & offer

How can I apply?

You can apply at any time – all you have to do is pick your course and submit your application.

Entry requirements

You'll need a first or 2:1 UK Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, in a relevant discipline from a recognised academic institution. Search our postgraduate research degrees for the specific requirements for your research programme.

If English is not your first language, you'll also need to have a recent UKVI recognised Secure English Language Test (or a SELT) qualification

The application

During the application process you'll get an applicant account (so keep your log in details safe) and be asked for the following information:

Your full contact details.
Details of your education, please upload copies of your transcripts and certificates if you have them.
Details for your referees, one of which must be academic, if you have them. Please see our guidance on referees.
How you intend to fund your studies, if you know this. Find out more information on how to get funding.
Whether you have studied in the UK before. Note: international students must declare any previous UK study.
Details of your research proposal for some programmes. Not all programmes need this, you can apply for a research opportunity where the resource proposal is supplied. Otherwise, if you have your own research topic check out our postgraduate research degrees for research proposal guidelines for your area of interest. You can submit you application without a full proposal but you will need to complete it before you will get an offer of study.

Please provide as much as you can in your application as this will help your application to be processed more quickly by the University. You can still submit if you don’t have everything but you’ll have to supply the information at a later point. If you need help please contact us on pgenquiries@strath.ac.uk or for questions specific to your application contact the department that you are applying to and they will be able to help you.

Accepting an offer

If your application is successful, you will be sent your offer through the Pegasus application portal where you submitted your application. You’ll need your log in details that you set up when applying to log back in so keep these safe.

If you have any academic, administrative, or financial conditions these will be detailed in your offer and available for you to view. You can accept your offer even if you have conditions. However, you’ll need to complete these before you can join us and become a Strathclyde student.

Once you accept our offer of study, you're offer letter will be available for you in your Pegasus application portal for reference.

Funding your studies

Some research opportunities are funded.

Others don’t have specific funding attached to them, or if you want to study your own topic then you may have to secure your own funding. There are lots of options to help you fund your postgraduate study.

You can identify funding that you may be eligible to apply for to help to fund your studies

Bench fees

Some programmes may charge a bench fee in addition to tuition fees. Bench fees are charged when a programme (or specific project) incurs extra costs, such as laboratory space, consumables or equipment. If you need to pay bench fees, the cost will be confirmed by your supervisor and will be available to view in your online application.

International students

Once you have fulfilled the conditions of your offer you will be issued with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) for a Student visa. We will include the ATAS requirement and CAH3 code in your CAS if you need one. This will allow you to apply for your visa to study. Find out more about applying for a study visa.

An ATAS (Academic Technology Approval Scheme) clearance certificate is a mandatory requirement for some postgraduate students in science, engineering and technology. If it’s identified that you will need one for your research you must have your ATAS clearance certificate in place before you apply for your visa. Find out if you need an ATAS certificate.

Information on how to complete student registration will be sent to you once the University has been informed that you have used your CAS to apply for your visa to study with us. Find out more information for international students.

UK or EU students

If you're from the UK or EU you will be sent information on how to complete your student registration after you have accepted and completed all the conditions of your offer.

Start your application now