University of Salford opens applications for research scholarships 2025/26

The University of Salford’s Doctoral School has opened applications for the research masters and doctoral degrees scholarship programme for 2025/26 entry, providing opportunities for those from under-represented groups to undertake funded research degrees. 

The University of Salford offers widening participation scholarships of up to 10 funded doctoral degrees (fees and stipend) and up to 15 research masters (fees only) each year. This is the third year the Doctoral School has provided this unique opportunity,  having recently completed the successful recruitment of an outstanding group of scholars for 2024/25.

Director of the Doctoral School, Katherine Yates, explains the scheme is fundamental to the University of Salford’s commitment to enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion in the researcher community. She said: “I am incredibly proud of these widening participation scholarships. They provide an opportunity for groups currently underrepresented in research to undertake funded research degrees on a topic they are passionate about. The scheme acknowledges the systemic inequalities and barriers to pursuing research careers and helps Salford take real steps towards the diversification of research communities.”

She says applications for 2024/25 entry were of a very high standard, with a diverse range of topics.  Successful scholars this intake include Beth Moore, who undertook her first degree in English and Drama in the School of Arts Media and Creative technology, and whose research masters topic will be Fight or Flight?: Sex, Violence and Control reflected in 21st Century Pop and Meme Culture. Fellow scholar Joseph Blackburn in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment is also joining this year’s research masters intake, with the research topic The impact of invasive parakeets (Psittacula krameri) on native wildlife.

PhD students starting in 2024/25 include Penina Wampamba in the School of Health and Society, who embarks on a PhD in Health and Social Care titled Exploiting the potential of Social Media to Deliver Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Uganda. Another successful candidate in the School of Health and Society is Soraya Beg who will research The Subaltern Woman: Western Colonial Reductionism and its impact on White female converts to Islam. Sora McGee in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment will investigate Impact of Renewable Energy Systems on Sustainable Airport Operations.

Katherine said: “It was a joy to meet this year’s candidates at interview, and to get to know them and their research passions, and it was incredibly difficult to select our final awardees. I look forward to seeing them and their research develop and I am already excited about what next year’s applicants will bring.”

Applications for 2025/26 entry are now open, with a deadline of 31 January 2024. To be considered for a scholarship, applicants need to be from one or more widening participation groups and qualify for UK fees. For research masters, they must be Salford graduates.

There will be two workshops for potential applicants in November.

If you have any questions about applying for a scholarship, please contact the following email addresses:

• School of Science, Engineering and Environment: [email protected]

• Salford Business School: [email protected]

• School of Health and Society: [email protected]
• School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology: [email protected]

Read more about the scholarship programme

Find out more about postgraduate research at the University of Salford