The purpose of this funding scheme is to provide eligible Doctoral and MPhil students with stipend support at the UKRI rate of payment beyond the end of minimum candidature (during the Pending Submission year) where a student has no other source of funding. This includes self-funded students and students whose original funding body is not providing further funding.   

The funding scheme will normally provide stipend support for up to 12 weeks.  However, applications for longer periods of stipend support of up to 26 weeks will be considered in cases where a student has made limited progress towards their degree, as a consequence of Covid-19, for longer than 12 weeks.

The scheme is open to all eligible Home and International research students.

Further information is available here.

As a research student, you have a period of minimum candidature during which tuition fees are paid. This is normally the period when you are expected to conduct and complete your primary research (e.g. full-time PhD students have a 3-year period of minimum candidature, part-time PhD students have a 6-year period of minimum candidature). If you require any additional time for primary research beyond this minimum candidature period, further tuition fees are normally required for this.

We have supported tuition fee-free extensions to minimum candidature where a Doctoral or MPhil student’s primary research has been disrupted due to the Covid-19 situation.  These tuition fee-free extensions to minimum candidature are currently available to students reaching the end of their minimum candidature during the 22/23 academic year.

A student will be able to apply for an extension to minimum candidature of up to 6 months in the first instance and should provide a justification for their request, along with supporting evidence (where appropriate) and a GANTT chart. If a student requires additional time beyond the 6 months, a further application should be submitted.

If you believe that you will require an extension to your minimum candidature, you should submit a request through the PGR CoP system normally  3 months before the  end of your minimum candidature.

We are prioritising support for those research students who are reaching the end of their studies (e.g. their thesis submission deadline) as we understand that that your ability to complete your thesis by your required deadline may be affected. This may be due to a variety of factors such as IT equipment availability, lack of access to resources, and/or personal issues – including caring responsibilities.

 We have supported tuition fee-free extensions to submission deadlines for Doctoral and MPhil students who have been impacted by the pandemic and we will continue to do this.  These tuition fee-free extensions to submission deadlines are available to students with a submission deadline up to  the end of the 22/23 academic year.

A student will be able to apply for an extension of up to 3 months in the first instance and should provide a justification for their request, along with supporting evidence (where appropriate) and a GANTT chart.  If a student requires additional time beyond this 3 months, a further application should be submitted along with an updated GANTT chart. 

All requests for an extension to your thesis submission deadline due to Covid-19 should be submitted through the  PGR CoP system  

using the Mitigating Circumstances form, normally 3 months before your deadline. The ‘Extension to Latest Submission Deadline (Covid-19)’ option in the Mitigating Circumstances form should be chosen, so that the Graduate Schools can prioritise the processing of these requests. 

If you are in receipt of an externally funded studentship and receive an extension to your funding, this does not automatically result in a corresponding extension of the same duration.  If your funding extension goes beyond your current submission deadline, you will need to apply for an academic extension to your submission deadline through the PGR CoP System.

Please be reassured that we will not forget the impact that Covid-19 has had and continues to have and we will keep these fee free extensions in place as long as it is necessary to support our students impacted by Covid-19.

You may be able to access the Student Financial Support Fund. This fund is available to PGR students but is only intended to assist students in cases of unexpected or immediate financial difficulty. Awards are therefore designed to alleviate immediate difficulty while students are encouraged to pursue alternative funding sources. Further information is available here.