The University of Southampton

Applications for our postgraduate programmes are made using our online application form.

Before applying for postgraduate study you should identify the postgraduate programme you wish to apply for:

PhD programmes in ECS

Read on for application details for PhDs in Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Web Science

iPhD Minds CDT

Find out about opportunitites in the Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Intelligence for Nano-Electronic Devices and Systems

How to apply for a Postgraduate Research Degree - a PhD

  1. Choose your research programme
  2. Identify a research area or a potential supervisor
  3. Identify how you will fund your PhD
  4. Apply online

1.   Choose your research programme

First, you should choose a PhD programme from those available at ECS and check that you meet, or are expecting to meet, the entry requirements.

If you wish to apply for the iPhD Minds programme, please visit the Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Intelligence for Nano-Electronic Devices and Systems

2.   Identify a research area or a potential supervisor

If you wish to apply for any of the ECS PhD programmes, we encourage you to browse our research and make contact with academics working within your field of interest to discuss potential PhD projects.

If you decide to write your own research proposal, it is still recommended that you propose a potential supervisor. You may wish to look at our research themes to help you find an appropriate supervisor with relevant expertise. We suggest you then email your proposed supervisor to discuss your research proposal before you apply online.

3.   Identify how you will fund your PhD

Explore our fees and funding information. This gives details on the four main ways that PhDs are funded in ECS.

4.   Apply online

You are now ready to complete the online application here, making use of the following notes:

  • To list the ECS PhD programmes available, select Research as the “Programme type” and select “Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences” as the Faculty.
  • Choose from the currently available PhD programmes on the list and click on “Apply online”.
  • After confirming your details, you will arrive at the Application Checklist page where you can access and fill in the different sections of the application form:
    • Under “Area of Research” you should enter the topic or field of research in which you are interested. You also have the option of naming a proposed supervisor/contact. If you have not yet been in contact with one of our academics, just leave this blank and we will try to send your application to academics working in the research field that you specify.
    • Under General Information, you will find a section to fill in about funding. In the box provided for further details about your funding, please include as much information as possible on how you are planning to fund your PhD. You should refer to the funding options detailed on our fees and funding page.
    • Please ensure that you submit a complete application. Applications that are not complete (eg those with incomplete sections or missing attachments) will not be processed.

More general guidance on filling in the form can be found on the University's postgraduate applications page.

What happens next?

On receipt of your application, the University’s Admissions Hub will send an acknowledgement of receipt by email to you and provide you with an individual admissions reference number. If your application is complete, it will be forwarded to the ECS postgraduate admissions team and then distributed to relevant academics within ECS who will study your application and decided whether they would like to proceed with the application. You may then be invited for an interview, following which a decision will be made on whether to make you an offer. 

You will be able to track the progress of your application at any time using your individual admissions reference number.

“I chose to come to Southampton to study my MSc in Artificial Intelligence. The research staff and advanced experimental facilities in ECS are great, and I had such a good supervisor I decided to stay here to do my PhD in Computer Science.”

Jia Bi - PhD Computer Science

PhD Studentships

Details of current PhD studentships are advertised on our job opportunities page.