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The main place we advertise opportunities to study for a PhD within the QOLS Group is this website. From time to time we may also advertise in publications such as the New Scientist or Physics World but this is not our usual practice. We also do not make much use of commercial websites that advertise PhD opportunities. Along with all the other research groups in the Physics Department, we will be represented at the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ PG opportunities fair, usually held in November or December, and we will also take part in the Physics Department PG opportunities fair, held in the Physics Department, that is sometimes arranged to be on the same day. In January or February of each year we provide a tour of the QOLS Group for interested UG and MSc ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. While this is mainly directed at our own Imperial Physics ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½, it is open to anyone. The PG opportunities fair and tour will be advertised on the QOLS Group website closer to the time.

We welcome applications for PhD research from ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ around the World. Applicants should have, or be expecting, a First Class honours degree, or a good Upper-Second, in physics or engineering and be strongly motivated to undertake challenging, cutting-edge research. We believe that our research ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½' achievements are, and should be, competitive with those of the best research universities in the world. This implies a world-class level of commitment and professionalism from our staff and our ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. We place significant emphasis on teamwork and effective communication.

In principle a PhD can start at any time of year although, in practice, the majority of PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ begin their studies in October at the start of the academic year. For DTP ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips, we aim to make offers to suitable candidates by March and most successful PhD applications are received before then. Recently, however, because the fraction of PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips derived from Research Council Quota awards is steadily decreasing in favour of project ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips (Research Council and EU projects) and industrial ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips, we do have an increasing number of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ who begin their studies throughout the year.

We therefore recommend that interested applicants apply for to study for a PhD with us as soon as possible in the academic year. We note, however, that funding opportunities do arise later in the year – when most applicants have settled their PhD arrangements - and encourage anyone interested to apply at any time up to September.

Applications should be submitted via .

If you require further information, please contact Marcia Salviato, Assistant Optics Administrator.

Each year the QOLS group expects to be able to offer three or four EPSRC DTP PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips. Other possible ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips include occasional Research Committee ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips from BBSRC, project ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips supported by a Research Council or DTI grant, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips sponsored by companies and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips supported by research contracts from the EU.

For the Quota awards, the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hip will be offered to the most promising applicant to the relevant members of the QOLS Group although, in some circumstances, preference may be given to applicants wishing to work on projects supervised by particular members of staff. Other ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips, such as project ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips, are usually within the gift of specific members of academic staff.

Read more information on scholarships and awards.

Check current tuition fees.

RCUK ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips: Research Council funding for postgraduate research training. For UK ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½, these pay the tuition fees and provide a stipend. EU ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ may also be supported by these ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips on a fees-only basis, i.e. they will not receive a stipend. The RCUK ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips may be converted to CASE PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips if a suitable company can be found to act as sponsor. For more information, please check the website of the RCUK that you are considering: , , .

CASE PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips: In some cases a UK Research Council ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hip may be converted to a CASE ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hip or a company can offer an Industrial CASE ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hip in partnership with a university. A CASE PhD student is expected to spend up to 6 weeks per year working at the sponsoring company’s site and their project will be in an area of interest to the company. In some cases the CASE student’s stipend can be increased compared to the normal award. For more information, please check the or websites.

EU sponsored Project PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips: These are open to EU ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ who must not have been resident in the country hosting the PhD student for the previous 3 years. Normally this means that our EU-funded PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ are from another EU country than the UK. The fees are paid and stipends are similar to Research Council CASE ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips although this does change from year to year.

Company-sponsored ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips: The conditions associated with these ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips will vary with each case but, in general, they are not necessarily restricted to UK or EU ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. Accepting overseas ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ to these ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips will i ncur the overseas stu dent fees rate and so increase the cost of sponsoring the PhD student.

Other ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips and scholarships: There are a small number of scholarships available for PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ from schemes operated by the DTI and/or the Research Councils to promote industrial collaboration. These will be advertised on this web page when they become available. For Optics ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½, there is a special .

For overseas applicants, there is a limited number of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½hips available from the Dorothy Hodgkin Post Graduate Awards scheme. In addition, many national governments have their own programmes to support PhD ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ studying abroad.