21st October 2026
Candidate applications go live on FindAPhD

18th November 2026
Candidate applications close at 5pm

15th December 2026
Supervisor nomination deadline

20th January - 3rd February 2027
Candidates informed of interviews

3rd February - 18th February 2027
Possible interview dates

19th February -9th March 2027
Possible dates for offers to be sent out

Yes, a small number of awards will be available to support outstanding International applicants. The proportion of international students appointed will be limited up to 30% of the total studentship.

Unfortunately the University and the NEEDL studentship are unable to provide financial support for relocations cost for example visa costs, flights etc

It would be advisable for any international students who wishes to apply to the NEEDL studentship to check with the partner University they will be studying at before they submit an application.

Yes it still may be possible to apply to NEEDL however if you do not have a passport at the time of application an alternative form of ID may be required. If you receive the missing documents before the application process has been completed we ask that you send these in to us.

If a candidate is successful and they did not have their passport or English language certificate at the time of apply to the one of the partner University this would be added as part of their offer.

Please check with the lead supervisor of the programme you are applying too.

To ensure that all candidates receive a comparable and equitable assessment experience the following is applied.
• Each panel will consist of 2-4 members
• Each panel will interview approximately 10 candidates across a full day
• All panels follow a standard operating procedure.
• The panel use the same question set for all candidates.
• A shared marking framework is applied across all interviews.

The Candidate
• The Candidate will give a 5-minute presentation at the outset, using screen share mode on the online platform used for the interview.
• There will be around 25 minutes of questions from a panel of academics. who are not directly involved with the project the candidate is applying for.

Each panel member independently scores candidates out of 10 across three areas:
1. Academic background, knowledge and experience,
2. Suitability for the proposed PhD,
3. Communication skills and maturity.

Scores will be assigned using defined descriptors (e.g. Outstanding =10/9, Excellent =7, Good =5, Borderline =3).

To ensure fairness across different panels and scoring styles:
• scores were standardised (z-scores),
• an overall mean z-score was calculated,
• candidates were then ranked across the full cohort.

There are 20 studentships available and offers are made taking into account this ranking.

To ensure that all candidates receive a comparable and equitable assessment experience the following is applied.
• Each panel will consist of 2-4 members
• Each panel will interview approximately 10 candidates across a full day
• All panels follow a standard operating procedure.
• The panel use the same question set for all candidates.
• A shared marking framework is applied across all interviews.

Each panel member independently scores candidates out of 10 across three areas:
1. Academic background, knowledge and experience,
2. Suitability for the proposed PhD,
3. Communication skills and maturity.

Scores will be assigned using defined descriptors (e.g. Outstanding =10/9, Excellent =7, Good =5, Borderline =3).

To ensure fairness across different panels and scoring styles:
• scores were standardised (z-scores),
• an overall mean z-score was calculated,
• candidates were then ranked across the full cohort.

There are 20 studentships available and offers are made taking into account this ranking.

We hold a reserve list in case the nominated candidate(s) withdraws. If this happens we will contact the reserve candidate and offer them an interview time.

Yes, all students are expected to spend three months completing an internship outside of their academic research

Yes, there will be an application process for additional funding for training

As a part of the BBSRC NEEDL DLA there are core training and events which will be delivered to all NEEDL students within Years 1, 2 and 3. Please look ouNEEDL students are strongly encouraged to attend these activities.