Mental Health Research UK PhD Scholarships Open for Application

Funding available to universities in the UK to host PhD research programmes on aspects of mental health research.

Mental Health Research UK (MHRUK) funds and co-funds a range of PhD scholarships to support doctoral research on a variety of mental health topics, focusing on the underlying causes of mental ill health and treatments for mental health problems.

MHRUK offers several scholarships each year to support PhD research programmes on a range of specified topics, including the John Grace QC PhD Scholarship, which is co-funded by the Schizophrenia Research Fund. Funding is available to universities and university supervisors in the UK seeking to host a PhD project on mental health research.

Applications for the 2022/23 round are invited for PhD research projects on the following topics:

  • John Grace QC PhD Scholarship – for a research project focusing on early intervention in psychosis
  • Mental Health Research UK Scholarship – for a research projects on “Health Inequalities in Mental Illness”.

The scholarships cover fees and stipend (not for research support costs) based on the Medical Research Council’s minimum stipend and fees for UK students, currently as follows:

  • 2021/22 stipend: outside London – £15,509; inside London: £17,509.
  • 2021/22 fees: £4,500.

Funding ceases at four years or on submission of the PhD thesis, whichever is earlier. The fourth year is regarded as a writing-up year and the grant will cover the stipend and thesis fee only.

MHRUK only accepts one scholarship application per year from any one university.

Applications for the 2022/23 application round, for PhDs to commence in September 2023, should be submitted by the closing date of 20 May 2022.