LSE offers studentships to new research students in the form of LSE PhD Studentships, ESRC Studentships, and other funding opportunities. These are open to high calibre students of all nationalities studying on programmes leading to a PhD at LSE.
For information on the application process, see 'How to apply'.
LSE PhD Studentship
LSE PhD Studentships are for four years and cover full fees and an annual stipend. They are available for UK, EU and international students undertaking research in any LSE discipline, with annual renewal subject to satisfactory academic performance.
ESRC Studentship
LSE has an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) and has ESRC studentships in a number of programmes for students of all nationalities.
The structure and duration of the studentship offered will depend on a candidate's previous academic experience, and social research training & experience. Studentships cover full fees (for international students, LSE will cover the difference between Home and Overseas fee rates) and an annual stipend.
Enlighten PhD Scholarship Programme
This scholarship programme is for offer holders from China in pursuing a research degree at LSE. The programme will support 27 students in total over a period of five years, with the last scholarships being awarded for those starting their programme in the 2029/30 academic year.
Khodorkovsky Scholarship
This scholarship is for Russian citizens who have completed their first degree at a Russian institution. The funding covers tuition fees, an annual stipend, and some additional arrival expenses.
Lee Family PhD Scholarship
There is one four year scholarship awarded every year to an offer holder from China or Hong Kong. The funding covers tuition fees and an annual stipend.
LSE CSC Scholarship
In partnership with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) the LSE-CSC Scholarship is available to support outstanding students from China in pursuing a research degree. We offer up to eight new scholarships each academic year, each scholarship is for up to four years.
This is the general process for all funding opportunities. Some studentships have an additional process so check the specific funding pages for more information.
Everyone who applies for admission to study a master's (research) that is eligible for ESRC 1+3 funding, an MRes/PhD or an MPhil/PhD will be considered for research funding by their admitting department.
To be eligible, candidates must submit a complete application for admission to LSE by a specific date. This date differs by academic department/programme, find your programme to confirm the relevant deadline.
Read the guidance on how to apply for admission.
Once an academic department receives an application for admission, they will consider the candidate for admission to the programme. Academic departments will then consider those with an offer of admission for any funding opportunities via two streams:
- Cross-School competitive funding where there are a number of studentships that offer holders from any academic department across the School can be considered for - see above. Candidates that are nominated by their admitting department will be considered with all other nominated candidates by the Central Monitoring Panel (CMP). Decisions are made by CMP in March each year and successful candidates will be notified by email in early April each year.
- Department funding where there are studentships for offer holders within one or more academic departments department - see department funding. Candidates are considered by their admitting department, sometimes before the cross-School studentships, but mostly afterwards. Successful outcomes are communicated by the department as decisions are made, and are followed with a funding offer letter from the Financial Support Office.
For both streams, successful candidates will be notified as soon as possible. There is the possibility of late notification of funding where a studentship is declined and therefore becomes available to reallocate.
All studentships are awarded pre-entry so that offer holders can make an informed decision about whether to register and enrol on a programme of study, knowing what funding they have. If there is no funding offered we do not recommend registering, as there will be no opportunities to secure funding in subsequent years of study.