NERC - CENTA Studentships

Applications for entry in autumn 2026 are now open with a deadline of 7^th January 2026. To find out more, search for projects and apply, please visit the CENTA website.  

CENTA offers studentships through two main pathways.

Project-based studentships: Please search through the list of projects available at Birmingham, and note the information in ‘how to apply’ below.

CENTA Science Opportunity Scholarships (CSOS): In order to address a historical imbalance, it is our ambition to offer up to 3 fully-funded scholarships to Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) Home-award-eligible applicants who meet the academic requirements. Please see the link for how to apply for this scholarship opportunity, noting the application is to CENTA directly and not to the University. Please note that applications to CSOS have an earlier deadline of Monday 5 January 2026.

You can apply via one or both of these pathways.

Eligibility

Our project-based studentships are open to all applicants who meet the academic requirements (at least a 2:1 at UK BSc level or at least a pass at UK MSc level or equivalent). International candidates can apply; however, please note the number of international fee-waiver opportunities is extremely limited. Please consider this constraint when submitting your application, and ask if you have any questions.

To be eligible for a full (Home) award, a student must have no restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the studentship.

The full eligibility criteria can be found in Annex B of this document from UKRI.

CENTA also particularly welcomes applications for PhD studentships from under-represented groups.

CENTA recognises that a diversity of pathways through education exist and that there may be challenges to studying for a PhD alongside other personal commitments. Our assessment of applicant’s eligibility and experience involves appraisal of track records. If disclosed, the supervisors, host institution recruitment teams and the CENTA board will take into consideration circumstances that may have taken time away from study and thus limited the candidate’s opportunity to demonstrate their full educational potential, for example through parental leave, other caring responsibilities, ill-health, disabilities or the need to engage in paid work. Each application will be considered individually.

CENTA studentships are for 3.5 years and are funded by NERC. Successful home-fees-eligible candidates will receive:

• An annual stipend, set at £20,780 for 2025/26, paid directly to the student in monthly increments.
• Full university fees paid directly to the university.
• A research training support grant (RTSG) of £8,000, held at their host institution.

Successful international candidates will receive:

• An annual stipend, set at £20,780 for 2025/26, paid directly to the student in monthly increments.
• A contribution to the university fees at the level of support for Home-fee-eligible students. Please note that there will likely be a shortfall in fees that will need to be covered from another source. Some universities may waive these fees; please contact the supervision team associated with your project to ask for further information.
• A research training support grant (RTSG) of £8,000, held at their host institution.

There are a wide range of support options available to you as a postgraduate student at CENTA. Some specific support available, depending on circumstances, is provided below. This information is mostly a summary from the terms and conditions specified by UKRI, of which NERC is a part.

Part-time study

Both full and part-time study options are available to all students. If studying part-time, then a minimum of 50% of the full-time equivalent is required. An exception to this is where it has been determined that a lower FTE would be a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person.

Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Parental Leave

A range of support options for students having children during their PhD is available. A summary from the UKRI guidelines is below:

• 52 weeks maternity leave – first 26 weeks at full stipend rate (pro-rated for part-time). The following 13 weeks paid according to statutory maternity pay, and the final 13 weeks are unpaid.
• Partners/paternity – 10 days leave on full pay.
• Neonatal care leave, where a student is the birth parent or non-birth parent/partner of a birth parent of a child receiving neonatal care in hospital.
• Unpaid leave for students to provide care to a child for whom they are a parent/carer of up to 1 month each year.
• Adoption leave is on the same basis as maternity leave.

Sick leave

Support is available when students are sick during their studies, and students can apply for leave to be taken.

Disabled students allowance

UKRI-funded students who are, or suspect they may be, considered disabled according to the UK Equality Act 2010 (which includes physical disabilities but also other conditions which may benefit from support and reasonable adjustments, such as neurodivergence) may be entitled to support from the UKRI Disabled Students Allowance (UKRI-DSA). This is available to both Home and International Fees students.

If you are eligible for DSA support then costs are eligible from the point at which the studentship is offered, allowing needs assessments to be organised and adjustments put in place before the start of the studentship. You may continue to be eligible for support after the end of your funded period and until you have had your viva and submitted any corrections.

In order to access this support, we advise you to get in touch with your Host University’s Disability Support Office as soon as possible after being made an offer of a CENTA studentship. These offices often have a backlog, so the sooner you contact them, the less likely you are to experience delays/interruptions in getting the support you need.

In addition, the University of Birmingham has a range of support services available to assist students during their PhD.

• Projects live – 20 October 2025
• Application deadline – 23:59 on 7 January 2026
• Expected interview weeks – 2-13 February 2026
• Universal acceptance date for offers – 12 noon GMT 18 March 2026

Projects align with one of the following CENTA themes:

1. Climate and Environmental Sustainability
2. Organisms and Ecosystems
3. Dynamic Earth

Applications for entry in autumn 2026 are now open with a deadline of 7 January 2026. To find out more, search for projects and apply, please visit the CENTA website.

Applicants must apply online through the University of Birmingham Postgraduate application system. Please thoroughly read the guidance on how to apply on CENTA's website. Each Birmingham project listed on the CENTA website contains a link to the application portal and instructions on whether to select PhD Bioscience (CENTA) or PhD Geography and Environmental Science (CENTA).

You must complete the CENTA application form, found on the Apply section of the CENTA website and attach it to your University of Birmingham application when prompted to upload any supporting documents.

Within the application, please detail the supervisor and project title you are interested in under the Research Information section of the application form.