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As well as applications for a specific funded project and for priority research projects, Abertay welcomes enquiries and applications from prospective research students for Research Degrees in a range of subject or interdisciplinary areas and on topics across different Divisions. You can also search our A-Z of Research Opportunities.
The minimum entry requirement for all our research degrees is an Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent) at undergraduate level in an appropriate discipline and/or a Master’s degree. In some cases, appropriate professional or experiential learning may be considered in combination with a lower classification of Honours degree.
If you're not from the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Switzerland, you may need to apply for a visa. You can find out more about applying for a visa and collecting your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) on our Tier 4 visa page. To identify whether or not you need to apply for a visa, please visit the UKBA website.
We accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:
For candidates whose first language is not English or your undergraduate/Master’s degree was not awarded from a University from a UKVI designated English Speaking country, you are required to show evidence of one of the following qualifications:
If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than three and a half years old at the beginning of your programme of study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.
To identify whether or not you need to apply for a student visa, please see here or visit the UKVI website.
You can look for potential supervisors by searching keywords, names or publications using Staff Search. This will ensure that we have appropriate expertise within Abertay. You will also gain an understanding of the prior work of the researcher.
You should consider contacting the potential supervisor to discuss your ideas and the possibility of undertaking a research degree under their supervision. Discussion will also help you tailor your application to suit Abertay’s specific expertise in the area. Ask for feedback and be prepared to take those comments into consideration when finalising your research proposal.
You can also contact our Graduate School if you would like advice on potential supervisors.
Please avoid vague blanket emails to several potential supervisors as these are unlikely to be successful.
There are two different routes to studying a research degree at Abertay – you can apply for one of our funded studentships or propose your own area of research. Find out more about our funded studentships.
If you are proposing your own area of research, you will need to consider how you will fund your studies – either through self-support or by securing a scholarship or some other form of external funding. See what scholarships are available to Abertay research students.
This is your opportunity to state your research objectives, to grab the reader’s attention and highlight your suitability for research degree study.
The proposal should be around 6-8 pages in length (including references) and follow the section headings below.
Some good practice tips:
You can start a research degree at Abertay in February, June or October of each year. You can apply to defer from one entry point to another on one occasion, however, subsequent requests must be supported by an additional full application.
Unless otherwise stated, the deadlines for submitting a full application are:
You will need to include the following documentation when you apply online: