Cambridge launches £48 million PhD studentship fund

The University of Cambridge is committing nearly £5 million a year more to support doctoral candidates amid concerns over a decline in UK PhD studentships.

Under the Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships (TCRS), the university’s largest and wealthiest college, Trinity, will commit £2.4 million annually for at least five years to provide fully funded PhDs in each of the university’s six academic schools.

That sum will be matched by the university itself for at least five years, with the expectation that the scheme starting in September 2025 will eventually run for a decade, with at least £48 million being spent on PhD support.

The funding – which will provide £800,000 a year per school via TCRS and university match funding – is one of the largest stand-alone PhD support programmes launched by a UK university in recent years. It is expected to provide about 300 studentships over the next 10 years.

It follows a fall in the number of fully funded PhD students at Cambridge in recent years, with a drop of about 140 funded places per year between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

That decline matches the decrease in funded PhDs seen nationally, with the number of doctoral students supported by UK Research and Innovation falling nearly 20 per cent in three years, down from 6,835 starters in 2018-19 to 5,580 in 2021-22, according to data obtained by Times Higher Education.

The volume of PhD studentships has also been hit by the Wellcome Trust’s decision to withdraw institutional PhD funding, while charity-supported PhDs have been hit by pandemic-related income falls.

The funding stream has been launched despite the university being set to incur a £53 million deficit in 2023-24, and £47 million in 2024-25. Cambridge’s council has said it aims to cut costs by 5 per cent over the next five years.

Cambridge has just over 4,000 doctoral students and admitted just over 1,300 in 2023-24, about one in nine applicants. Some 30 per cent of doctoral students at Cambridge are self-financing, relying on either personal savings, family money or government or employer support. 

Bhaskar Vira, pro vice-chancellor for education at Cambridge, said the “generous support of Trinity College” would “ensure more students are able to continue their research careers here in Cambridge”.

“If the UK is to continue to be world-leading in research, it is important to support the next generation of PhD students,” he said, adding: “We are grateful for the funding provided to postgraduate research students through the UK government’s investments in science and research, but also aware of worrying pressures on budgets.”

“We work closely with many external partners and benefactors who allow us to continue to invest in this future research capacity, for the wider benefit of society,” Professor Vira added.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com