International postgrads able to apply for UKRI funding from 2021

International postgraduate students will be able to apply for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding from the 2021-22 academic year.

The UK’s main research funding body has updated its eligibility criteria, which will enable international students to apply for both a stipend to support livings and fees at the UK fee rate of research institutions.

According to the UKRI, this move means that the country will be able to attract talent from around the globe.

It said that international PhD students “play a valuable part in the UK’s research system, contributing skills, ideas and networks”, these funding opportunities will help the UK remain “a world leader is research and innovation”.

However, it added that it would “normally limit” the proportion of international doctoral training students to 30% of its total appointments.

It also said that although the funding would not cover international fees set by universities, students would be permitted to find extra funding from other sources.

European and Swiss nationals who are starting UKRI-funded programmes in 2020 will remain eligible for funding under the same terms, which were guaranteed by the UK government in July 2019.

Through our ambitious R&D Roadmap, we want to make it easier for top global science, research and innovation talent to come to the country so we can cement the UK as a science superpower

– Amanda Solloway

 

Science minister Amanda Solloway said: “International PhD students are invaluable to supporting our world-leading research across a range of disciplines, providing new energy, ideas, and creativity.

“I am delighted that they will now be eligible for UKRI-funded PhDs in the UK.

“Through our ambitious R&D Roadmap, we want to make it easier for top global science, research and innovation talent to come to the country so we can cement the UK as a science superpower. [This] measure is a key part of that.”

Further details will be laid out later this year, ahead of the change coming into effect in August 2021, but the UKRI warned that these funding changes would not apply to students who started their degrees in previous academic years.