Studentship Competition
The 2026 Iapetus studentship competition will open on 7th November 2025. Details about how to apply for an Iapetus studentship can be found below.
Application Process
Iapetus will support at least 13 funded postgraduate studentships in 2026.
To apply for an Iapetus studentship, please follow the guidelines below.
- Application Overview
- Widening Participation Scheme
- Diversifying Talent Scholarship Scheme
- Eligibility
- How to Apply
- Financial Support
- FAQs
Iapetus will hold an online Q&A workshop on 26th November 2025 , where the Director will outline the application process and answer any pre-submitted questions. To sign up for this online webinar, and to submit questions, please use this form.
Application Overview
To apply for an Iapetus Studentship, all applicants must complete the online Studentship Competition Application Form, below, by 5th January 2025 at 12 midday (GMT). Applicants must also email their 2-page CV and any relevant academic transcripts by the same date. Instructions on where to email these will be added here shortly. If you are shortlisted to the internal competition, you will be contacted on the 30th January 2026 and invited to put in a full PhD application to the university where the project is based.
Please note: if you are an international applicant, you will need to contact the primary supervisor of your chosen project by no later than the 8th December 2025, because only international applicants sponsored by a primary supervisor may apply to Iapetus.
- Studentship Competition Application Form – available from 7th November 2025
- Studentship Competition Application Form Template – available from 7th November 2025
- Studentship Competition Guidance and assessment criteria – available from 7th November 2025
Widening Participation Scheme
To address historical imbalances in the higher education sector, Iapetus is committed to recruiting a diverse, representative community of researchers in Environmental Science. We are guided by the UKRI policies on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and have developed our own Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy to further this. The Widening Participation Scheme identifies Home applicants from underrepresented groups. The DTP aims to give up to 30% of interview places to those eligible for the Widening Participation Scheme but who would not have been shortlisted initially by the host organisation. Eligibility for the scheme, includes those from a UK minoritized ethnic group; those who lived in a Polar 1 quintile postcode when at secondary school; and those who have a disability.
Diversifying Talent Scholarship Scheme
To further the DTP’s aim to recruit from a diverse, representative community of researchers, Iapetus is pleased to also run the Iapetus Diversifying Talent Scholarship Scheme, which takes place separately but concurrently with the Studentship Competition. It is a separate scheme with different deadlines and processes. Consequently, if you are keen to apply for both opportunities, you will need to understand the different applicant obligations. For more information about the Scholarship Scheme, please see here.
Eligibility & Requirements
All applicants need to meet NERC’s eligibility criteria to be considered for an Iapetus studentship and these are detailed in the current UKRI studentship terms and conditions
For International Students, UKRI only pay the home fees, so please check with the host organization (University) making the award about their policy on the differential between home and international fees.
Any of our studentships can be part-time if that mode of study is more appropriate for your circumstances. (International students should check the terms of the visa to see if this is possible).
Applicants may only apply to one Iapetus project in any given year. Where applicants submit more than one application, only the final application submitted before the deadline will be considered.
Iapetus is looking for candidates with the following qualities and backgrounds:
- A first or 2:1 undergraduate degree, or have relevant comparable experience – we welcome applications from those with non-traditional routes to PhD study; &
- Potential to carry out excellent research, as demonstrated by individuals with a passion to follow a career pathway in environmental research or applications.
How to Apply
Home Applicants
If you are a Home Student (please see here for the eligibility criteria), we encourage you to contact the primary supervisor of the project of interest, although it is not necessary for you to be sponsored in order to apply.
International Applicants
Iapetus are only able to appoint a maximum of 30% of international students each year. International Sponsorship has been introduced to avoid substantial numbers of international applicants investing significant time and effort in a competition with little chance of success.
If you are an International Student, please contact the primary supervisor of your selected project by no later than Monday 8th December 2025 at 12pm to be considered for sponsorship. If you are selected by the supervisor, they will provide you with a Unique International Sponsorship Code by the end of the day on Monday 15th December 2025. Please then apply to Iapetus by the deadline of 5th January 2026, 12 midday.
Any applications from international applicants that are submitted without a Unique International Sponsorship Code will not be considered.
All Applicants
Please use the template above to prepare your application before completing the online application form. The Studentship Competition application form is designed to provide us with the information we need to evaluate your application. We know that successful PhD students come from a wide range of backgrounds and with widely differing experience. By using the form, we can best evaluate your past achievements and potential for PhD research in the context of any past opportunities or barriers you may have faced. Our aim is to help you demonstrate your potential and make the best possible case for your future career in the environmental sciences.
We recommend that you use the template to enter and edit your supporting information in good time before the application deadline, and then use it to copy and paste the information required into the online form.
Please note that we can only accept applications via the online form, and you should NOT send the completed template document to us.
If you are uncertain about any of the elements of the form, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at contact.iapetus@durham.ac.uk. The DTP Manager will respond to your questions; the manager is not involved in the decision-making part of the evaluation process for studentships. We will also host an online Q&A session on 26th November 2025 to answer questions about the application process. If you have questions about the procedures for each of our partners, contact details for their administrators are also available via the link on our website, and again these administrators are not directly involved in the evaluation of applications. Academic contacts in each institution may be involved in the evaluation process.
Financial Support
Iapetus postgraduate studentships are tenable for up to 3.5 years and provide the following package of financial support:
- A tax-free maintenance grant set at the UK Research Council’s national rate, which in 2025/26 is £20,780;
- Payment of tuition fees at the Home rate (some of our partners have funding available for the additional fees charged to international students. Please get in touch with the primary supervisor of the project to learn more);
- Access to extensive research support funding; &
- Support for an external placement of up to six months.
Part-time award-holders are funded for seven years and receive a maintenance grant at 50% of the full-time rate.
FAQs
Choosing a project
All Iapetus projects will be online by Friday 7th November at 5pm.
You may only apply for one Iapetus project in this year’s Studentship Competition.
We recommend all applicants contact the primary supervisor. As an applicant, it is useful to discuss the project details with the supervisor and talk through your suitability for the project. After having this conversation, you can incorporate this into your application.
If you are a Home fees applicant, you are not required to contact the primary supervisor though it is encouraged.
If you are an International fees applicant, you are required to contact the primary supervisor in order to request sponsorship for the project. Only international applicants with the Unique International Sponsorship Code from the primary supervisor will be eligible to apply to Iapetus.
Applying
Anyone listed on the project is ineligible to provide a reference for your application. You will need to find two people unconnected to the project to provide references.
This refers to the grade or final mark you received for your degree. In the UK, degrees are classified as 1st, 2:1, 2;2 and 3rd. If you have an international degree please state the mark or grade you were awarded with the UK equivalence if you know it. If you don’t please do not worry, our supervisors are experienced in assessing international applications.
Iapetus are only able to cover the Home Fees for International students. So far, all of our institutions have paid or waived the difference in fees between home and international fees for those international applicants who have been successful, and we expect this to continue for 2026. Please do discuss this with the primary supervisor. International students receive the same stipend and research costs as home students.
Please use the Iapetus application template to draft your application. Applicants must then submit their applications by copying and pasting their answers from the template on to the online application form. As part of the Application Form, applicants also need to submit answers to some EDI questions. No parts of the EDI section are used for determining any part of awarding the studentships.
Application templates must not be emailed to Iapetus, only completed online application forms will be accepted.
The application deadline is Monday 5th January 2026 at 12 noon.
Iapetus supports 3.5-year PhD projects within the Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) structure. If you are interested in shorter-term opportunities, it is best to email supervisors directly to see what they may be able to support.
If you are still an undergraduate, we do offer Research Experience Placements (REPs) in the summer. These paid opportunities last 6 – 8 weeks and are advertised through a separate process from April each year.
Iapetus is funded through the UKRI Research Council NERC. All UKRI Doctoral Training Partnerships are required to submit anonymised EDI Statistics within an Annual Report. None of the data is used in conjunction with your application in the Studentship Competition.
References need to be emailed directly from the reference provider to Iapetus by the deadline of Friday 9th January 2026. Please remember that any current Masters supervisors who are listed as supervisors on the project you are applying to are ineligible to provide a references for you.
No, when submitting your Iapetus application, you are just submitting an application to fund a PhD in one of the Iapetus institutions. You will be notified by email when you need to submit a PhD application to the awarding university.
It isn’t a specific criterion for assessment, although you may want to mention it in case it is helpful to show how your skills and background have changed since then to make you more suited for the project.
Please submit your 2-page CV and transcripts to Iapetus by the same deadline as the application form – 5th January 2026 – 12 midday.
If your referee(s) are not available then your application will be considered without the reference(s). Please ensure your references are available to provide a reference . If they are not, please request one from another referee.
No, if a supervisor of the project you are applying for is your current supervisor in your Masters, they cannot provide you with a reference for your Iapetus application. Please select another referee not listed on the project advertisement.
Yes. It should be included in the main education section of the form.
After Submission
Due to the large numbers of applications, Iapetus does not offer any feedback to applicants.
It is worth discussing this question with potential supervisors, but for the most part you should be able to reuse the material from the initial application in the personal statement part of the form – we’re not anticipating the need to rewrite the material substantially.
You apply to the university where the primary supervisor is based at. (The first supervisor listed on the project). If the primary supervisor is based at BAS, BGS or UKCEH, you apply to the university of the second supervisor.
You will be notified by email when you need to submit a PhD application to the awarding university. This will likely be in late January, early February after internal institution shortlisting. (The date depends on which institution you would be applying to).
Firstly, the Supervisory teams shortlist the top applicant who are the best fit for their project then each partner organisation produces a shortlist of up to seven applicants. The Studentship panel (made up of representatives from all Iapetus institutions) assess the shortlisted applications across the partners and makes awards based on their assessment of both the application (60%) and the interview (40%)
Criteria are published (Appendix 3 in Student Guidance document) based on background, project fit and future potential (50:40:10)
Please keep your CV to no more than 2 pages long, please do not include a photo on your CV and please ensure your CV is written in gender neutral pronouns to avoid unconscious bias during the application process.
Please email your CV and transcripts to Iapetus by the Application Deadline, Monday 5th January 2026 at 12 midday (UK time).
If possible, we are asking all referees to please use the Iapetus standard reference form in order to be able to compare all references like for like. Please encourage your referee to use the reference form provided.
Yes, please ask two reference providers for a reference using the form on the Studentship Competition page. You will need to tell them the project you are applying to and they should email the reference directly to Iapetus by the Friday 9th January 2026.
No one listed on the project description (Supervisor, CASE Partner, Collaborative Partner, University Collaborative Partner is eligible to provide a reference for your application.
Iapetus will contact applicants on the following dates:
Friday 30th January, 5pm – Confirm whether an applicant has been shortlisted to the host institution’s internal competition
Tuesday 17th February, 5pm – Confirm whether an applicant has been shortlisted for interview or not
Friday 27th February, 5pm – Confirm whether an applicant has been awarded a studentship or not
Please do not contact Iapetus in advance of these dates and times to check on the status of your application as notifications will only be sent out on these dates.
Interview & Notification
All interviewed applicants will hear from Iapetus on Friday 27th February 2026
No, you will not need to give a presentation. The interview will be structured in a question and answer format. There will usually be three interviewers and each applicant will be asked the same set of questions. Interviews will normally last no longer than 30 minutes.
All Iapetus interviews will be held online on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th February 2026.
If you are successful at shortlisting stage, you will receive your invitation to interview by 5pm on Tuesday 17th February 2026. If you are not successfully shortlisted, you will receive notification of this on this date.
Interviews will be held on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th February 2026. You will not get to choose the date and/or time of interview. Please ensure you are available to be interviewed on these dates.