VC Scholarship Scheme 2026
We are pleased to confirm that the VC Scholarship Scheme will continue in 2026, supporting the career development opportunities for both PGR students and their supervisors.
The 11th VC Scholarship Scheme contains more than 25 awards made in two tranches.
Tranche 1
The VC Scholarship Scheme 2026 aligned with the Forensic Research Institute (FORRI), Liverpool Research Institute for Climate and Sustainability (LiRICS) and Institute for Health Research (IHR).
These will be advertised, interviewed and enrolled under the guidance of the research institutes and, as in previous years, admission will be during the February 2026 Doctoral Academy window. (In addition, match grant support scholarships for Music Futures and the N0MES CDT will also be appointed early in the 2025/26 academic year).
Tranche 2
The Open VC Scholarship scheme 2026 will this year be delayed from the timeline adopted in previous years to allow for the full faculty transformation process to be completed and new roles and responsibilities to bed-in before the full assessment processes begins.
This will also allow the university and its staff to focus on the British Science Festival 2025 during September 2025, as well as to guarantee a full VC Scholarship scheme in terms of numbers of available PhD places.
The VC Scholarship open scheme will take submissions from 22 September 2025 to 30 January 2026.
The application window has been extended to provide flexibility, recognising that different staff and students may need alternative timeframes
From February 2026 through to April 2026, the applications will be assessed as before, by faculties and the university, with new students enrolling in August/September 2026.
We will also continue with the positive action programme within the open VC Scholarship scheme
