Bell Burnell Scholarship Award (Awarded by the IOP)

A highly competitive Bell Burnell Scholarship Award offering Academic Fee at UK Fee rate, together with a tax-free Maintenance grant matching the EPSRC rate of 19,237 GBP (currently for session 2024/25) per year for 3.5 years, open to UK Fee rated applicants only. <br /> <br /> Please note this Scholarship is Competition-Funded, therefore, if you are successful in securing an academic offer, this does not constitute an offer of funding.<br /> <br /> <br />

<p>The IOP and leading physicist Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell launched the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund to encourage greater diversity in physics. The fund is made possible thanks to Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell's generous donation of her £2.3m Breakthrough Prize. This scholarship fund is being used to support full or part-time graduates who wish to study towards a doctorate in physics and are from groups that are currently under-represented in physics. The Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund is a restricted fund established under the management of the IOP to support Full-Time or Part-Time postgraduate studentships for people from groups that are currently under-represented in Physics. The Fund has been created with an endowment of £2.3m to provide support to the scholarships. The School of Physics and Astronomy will put one candidate forward to the IOP’s selection panel (IOP deadline 17:00 UK Time on 20 January 2025). The Guide to the process is given here in the <a href="https://www.iop.org/sites/default/files/2024-09/bell-burnell-graduate-scholarship-fund-guide-sep-2024.pdf">Bell-Burnell Guide</a>.</p> <p>The Fund will be administered by the IOP, and supported by a panel who will review qualifying applications and select those to be funded. Funding will be provided as a contribution for up to 4 years (or equivalent if by part-time study) of PhD studies, agreed as part of the application process and paid annually from the allocation. The scholarships will normally be paid in support of course fees, living support grants and any additional funding to support accessibility, including support for carer responsibilities.</p> <p>In addition, successful applicants will be able to apply for additional support from the IOP Carers Fund if this is not able to be granted from the scholarship fund. For the purpose of this fund the definition of underrepresented groups in physics will be kept under review. In this first instance our definition includes:</p> <ul> <li>women,</li> <li>students of Black-Caribbean, Black-African and other minority ethnic (BAME) heritage,</li> <li>students with disabilities, or who require additional funding to support inclusive learning,</li> <li>LGBT+ students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds who may struggle to find the levels of funding needed to complete their studies.</li> <li>People with qualifying refugee status who meet the above criteria are also encouraged to apply.</li> </ul> <p>Priority will be given to students who meet multiple criteria and the decision of the panel on qualification and funding amounts will be final. No institution will be able to hold more than one student with a funding grant in each academic year.</p> <p>The funding can be linked to a physics project being offered by the School of Physics and Astronomy.  The successful candidate will receive support in completing the IOP application form.  The IOP will only fund one scholarship in the School per academic year.</p>

<p>Please visit the <a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/physics">School of Physics & Astronomy</a> website for further information.</p> <p>Please refer to the <a href="https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/">UKCISA</a> website for information regarding Fee Status for Non-UK Nationals.</p>

<p>Formal applications for research degree study should be made online through the <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/research-applying/doc/applying-research-degrees">University’s website</a>. Please state clearly that the funding you wish to be considered for is <em><strong>Bell Burnell Scholarship Award (Awarded by the IOP).</strong></em></p> <p>If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence that you meet the University's minimum English language requirements (below).</p> <p> </p>

Applicants to research degree programmes should normally have at least a first class or an upper second class British Bachelors Honours degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline. The criteria for entry for some research degrees may be higher, for example, several faculties, also require a Masters degree. Applicants are advised to check with the relevant School prior to making an application. Applicants who are uncertain about the requirements for a particular research degree are advised to contact the School or Graduate School prior to making an application.

The minimum English language entry requirement for research postgraduate research study is an IELTS of 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in each component (reading, writing, listening and speaking) or equivalent. The test must be dated within two years of the start date of the course in order to be valid.

<p>For further information please contact Doctoral College Admissions by email to <a href="mailto:EMAIL@leeds.ac.uk">m</a><a href="mailto:maps.pgr.admissions@leeds.ac.uk">aps.pgr.admissions@leeds.ac.uk</a></p>