PhD programmes
For information about our entry requirements, fees and how to apply:
Applying for PhD
When applying as a Computer Science PhD student, the research proposed should be relevant to the research interests of a potential supervisor (see the School's research themes and personal home pages of academics for suitable topics). We have a number of funded PhDs, which can be seen on this page.
You are encouraged to contact a potential supervisor informally, whose name can then be given on the formal application via the online admissions portal. Your application can be processed more quickly if it is clear who the potential supervisor is. On the other hand, many applications cannot be accepted because there is no suitable supervisor.
Part-time PhD
Most of our PhD students are full-time students; a small number are part-time students, usually working for UK companies. Note that only Home/EU students can be part-time.
Research Themes
Academics and their PhD students are loosely organised into research themes, please see our research homepage for more information.
Alan Turing Institute
The Alan Turing Institute and the University of Birmingham offer a number of places each year to motivated graduate students to complete a fully funded PhD, find out more on the Alan Turing Institute website.
Split-site PhD in Computer Science
It is possible to study for a PhD here in split-site (also called split-location) mode, where most of the research is not done at Birmingham. Such split site PhDs may be an attractive option for some international students. When applying for split site PhD study, you will need some careful preparation:
- You must have identified a supervisor here who is interested in split-site supervision.
- In split site mode, several months need to be spent at Birmingham, to attend taught modules such as Research Skills and to agree on the exact research topic for the thesis proposal.
- In addition to your research supervisor here, you need to find a local mentor, typically an academic at a local university, to work with you while you are away from Birmingham.