Are Funding Opportunities Limited for Graduate Studies in the UK?

AI Thread Summary
Graduate students in the UK often face challenges securing funding, as many universities, including Imperial College London, do not provide tuition waivers or stipends. It's common for UK residents to seek funding from external sources like the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) or through specific programs with pre-secured funding. International students may find it beneficial to explore scholarships offered by their home governments, as funding opportunities can vary significantly across institutions. Some universities, like Cambridge, do offer partial or full funding through trusts. Overall, prospective students should conduct thorough research and directly contact universities for the most accurate information regarding funding options, as the landscape is diverse and competitive.
d3nat
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I'm not sure how familiar people on here are with this topic.

I really love the UK (studied in London for a few months) and was considering going there for my graduate studies.

However, the university I was really interested in (Imperial) stated that they do not offer graduate students funding/waive tuition/provide stipends.

Has anyone run into this problem before?

Is this applicable to the UK as an entity?


Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
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It's very, very common not to be funded by your university when doing graduate studies in the UK. Most UK residents seek funding from EPSRC directly or enter a programme for which funding has already been secured from a body external to the university. Some universities, however, are wealthy enough to offer at least partial funding; a case in point is here at Cambridge, where the Cambridge Trust and Cambridge European Trust offer bursaries or scholarships that cover tuition fees either in part or in full. Alternatively, if you're a foreign student you might find more success in checking if your government offers scholarships for studying abroad; Germans, in particular, often go down this route when they study here.

In other words, there's no single correct answer to your question; the funding situation here in the UK is as heterogeneous as it is in any other country and the only way you'll be able to figure out what your options are is by doing some legwork and contacting universities for up-to-date information on their funding situation.
 
d3nat said:
I'm not sure how familiar people on here are with this topic.

I really love the UK (studied in London for a few months) and was considering going there for my graduate studies.

However, the university I was really interested in (Imperial) stated that they do not offer graduate students funding/waive tuition/provide stipends.

Has anyone run into this problem before?

Is this applicable to the UK as an entity?Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

I'm also studying in London at the moment as part of an exchange program, which I suspect was your case as well. Afaik, EPSRC/NRC does not fund non-UK citizens/EU residents that haven't resided in the UK for less than 3 years (excluding phds, but it's still harder for foreigners to obtain funding). This is why I discarded the UK for graduate study about a year ago. You'd have a far easier time getting into schools with funding in the US I'm afraid.
 
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A lot of good universities offer full funding for good/excellent international students for science and engineering subjects

Imperial are exploiting the fact that foreign students will pay a lot of money to get status.
If you go to (almost) any other UK university and get full tuition funding.

So, if you have a lot of money you can go where you want. If you have limited funds you will have to compromise and go somewhere you can afford.
 
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