Doctoral College Research Enhancement Fund

Doctoral College Research Enhancement Funds

The Doctoral College Research Enhancement Fund (DCREF) provides support for PGR students at Newcastle University to participate in research-enhancing activities.

From the 2026–27 academic year onwards, the Doctoral College will no longer offer funding for Travel and Conference activities or Additional Training. 

Applications for 2025–26 are now closed, and we cannot accept any further applications until the new financial year begins on 1 August 2026.

Funding Guidelines

• Applicants must be registered on a Doctoral or MPhil programme at Newcastle University. Students on Research Masters programmes (MRes, MMus, MLitt) are not eligible.
• Preference is given to self-funding PGR students and applicants who have not previously received DCREF support.
• Awardees must use their funding within the same financial year it is awarded, as it cannot be rolled over. This applies to all awards, so activities must be scheduled to be completed by 31st July.
• Please take the time to read the specific eligibility criteria for along with the DCREF Funding Criteria before submitting your application.

Post-Submission Bursary (PSB)

Purpose: This bursary supports students during the post-submission period to conduct activities that advance their professional trajectories, such as preparing and submitting papers to high-quality journals, delivering exhibitions or performances based on their research, or engaging in further dissemination or community outreach activities.

Funding: Stipend at current UKRI rate for a period of 6 weeks up to a maximum of 3 months depending on the impact and scope of the additional research needed. Please note that the bursary amount awarded may be lower than the amount requested.

Eligibility & Conditions:

• Applications must articulate how the bursary supports future career goals and professional development. Candidates should clearly outline expected outputs and outcomes, while demonstrating how the proposed work aligns with NU Research Priorities.
• The latest date in the 2025/26 financial year for consideration of a PSB award is the end of April 2026. This is to ensure that all payments due can be paid to successful applicants before the financial year end (by 31 July 2026). This means eligible students must have their thesis under examination or plan to submit by end of April 2026. Please note that the last date for applications for those due to submit in April 2026 will be by the 30th March 2026.
• Applicants must submit their PSB award application within the 3 months leading up to their submission deadline. If you list a submission date that is prior to the date published in S3P, we will contact your supervisor to confirm your intended submission date and verify that satisfactory progress has been made and that you are within 3 months of submission.
• Payments begin after the Doctoral College receives confirmation of submission and the student’s registration status is updated to “under examination” (may take up to two weeks).
• Working during the bursary period may impact your eligibility. Employment may result in the cessation of payments, and any overpayments must be refunded.
• Payments will cease upon successful completion (as you will no longer be a registered student). If you receive payment for a period you are no longer entitled to you will be required to repay the overpayment back to the University.

 

FMS Student feedback - "The post submission bursary was fantastic to receive and use. Having received the funding almost 2 months after submitting my PhD it enabled me to take a step back and think of my PhD in a new way. This therefore has meant my research will be published which benefits myself, my supervisors and the university."

If you have any questions on DCREF eligibility criteria or application process, please contact the Doctoralcollege@ncl.ac.uk

Decision-Making Process

Once the monthly deadline has passed, applications move through the review process. First, the Doctoral College triage all submissions to ensure they meet the eligibility criteria. This includes verifying proposed submission dates, ensuring costings are realistic, and confirming that proposals comply with the University Travel Policy. Applications are then assessed and ranked by a cross-faculty decision panel comprising Postgraduate Research Deans and Doctoral College representatives. You can view the specific scoring criteria in the Checklist for DCREF Decision Panel (available via the drop-down below).

Please note that funding is limited for each call and awards are competitive. Consequently, we may be unable to support all applications, or we may offer a lower level of funding than originally requested.

Successful applicants will then be notified via email and will receive further guidance on the actions to take post-award.

If you are unsuccessful and require any feedback to help inform future applications, please contact us at doctoralcollege@ncl.ac.uk.