How to apply

How do I apply?

At the beginning of the application process, the School encourages applicants to contact a prospective supervisor with similar research interests, attaching a research proposal and CV for their consideration and guidance. 
Your chance of successfully applying for a postgraduate research degree will be strongest if you have a well-developed research proposal. If you have not yet written a research proposal, please see our guidelines on how to write a MAR proposal or PhD proposal. 
Please also do some research to identify a potential supervisor whose expertise closely matches the topic you propose to research. Ideally, you should be able to clearly demonstrate that you have read your suggested supervisor’s work and are inspired to want to conduct your own original research with their guidance. 

Please only contact one prospective supervisor at Leeds at a time rather than emailing a whole range of different people simultaneously as this wastes valuable staff time, creates confusion and will give the impression that you have not thought carefully about your application.
Once the research proposal is received, if the prospective supervisor expresses an interest, they will invite you to submit a formal application online. We receive a high number of applications for certain research areas, so it is possible that the supervisor you identify as the best match for your proposed topic may not have the capacity to accept new postgraduate researchers, at least for the time being. If they are not able to offer supervision, they may refer you to other potentially suitable colleagues or to the Deputy Director of Postgraduate Studies for Admissions for advice.

What documents do I need to submit a formal application for a research degree?

•    Your research proposal.
•    A completed application form for research postgraduate study.
•    Copies of your degree certificates and transcripts - if your original degree certificates and transcripts are not in English, certified English translations in addition to the original documents are required.
•    Two academic references - your references should be from academic sources (eg. from lecturers who have taught or supervised you during your most recent studies), they must have been written within the past two years, and must contain substantial information about your previous academic work, potential for research degree study, capacity for independent learning, and any further relevant details. References should be written or typed on to the University of Leeds’ referee’s report form and sent by the referee from their University / institutional email account to ahcpgradmissions@leeds.ac.uk. Alternatively, references can be written or typed on official paper with a formal letterhead, including a date within the past two years and the referee’s signature. (Please note that letterheads and / or signatures which have been cut and pasted into Word documents will not be accepted).
•    If English is not your first language, you will also need to provide evidence of an English language qualification. The required IELTS score is an overall band score of 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any component. For further information about alternative English Language qualifications accepted by the University, please consult the University entry requirements information. 
•    If you were awarded a degree from a country in which English is the first language and the degree is less than two years old at the time of your start date at Leeds, you will not be required to provide an additional English language qualification.

When completing your online application form, please provide the name of at least one academic supervisor who you would be interested in working with, in order to show you have considered how your research corresponds with the research expertise available within the School.

Deadlines and timescales

You can apply to study for a research degree at any time of year. However, we recommend you contact a potential supervisor before submitting a formal application and make sure you give yourself plenty of time before your intended start date to ensure that all documentation is in place.
We have two start dates for our postgraduate research degree programmes: 1st October and 1st February. Deadlines to apply for these start dates are below. Applications submitted after these dates will be automatically considered for the next available start date unless otherwise stated. 

If you are applying for funding you should ensure you apply for the academic place of study well in advance of any scholarship deadlines. The majority of scholarship deadlines are in January and will stipulate an October start date. 
 

Scholarships deadlines

If you intend to apply for scholarships these usually have deadlines early in the year and most require you to have already secured your place on a course. We advise you to apply for a place on the PhD at least 6 weeks before a scholarship deadline.

How do I write a research proposal?

Please see our guidelines on how to write a MAR proposal or PhD research proposal.

If you have any enquiries, please contact the School research postgraduate officer at ahcpgradmissions@leeds.ac.uk.