In the UK, this function is fulfilled primarily by the UK Research Councils. The central role of the Research Councils is to fund research. A recent study by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) reveals that a large part of students studying in the UK rely on funding subsidies from one of three primary sources: research councils, institutions and private funding.

UK Research Councils:

The Research Councils in Great Britain invest some £2.8 billion in funding research activities that cover the full range of academic subject areas, from Astronomy to Zoology. There are seven individual research council bodies that oversee the promotion and support of research in the various academic disciplines:

• Arts and Humanities Council (AHRC)

• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

• Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

• Medical Research Council (MRC)

• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

• Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

Each of these councils has made it their mission to provide support and funding for the transfer of knowledge in their respective academic disciplines. The Councils play a pivotal part in helping deliver the Government’s objective for science and innovation. In total, the Councils invest £1.3 billion in research in UK universities, funds that are in part allocated to help PhD students fund their research projects. Funding is typically provided for three to five years and awards are made to UK universities and/or relevant affiliated institutions, which then allocates the funding to research projects, programmes and/or students accordingly. Students can apply through the university for these types of funds and it is advisable to speak to the university department early to find out what funds are made available on this basis. Each of the Council websites delineates clearly the eligibility requirements for funding.

The ESRC, for example, awards research funds to postgraduate students involved in either a Masters course which leads to a doctoral course of study (the so-called 1+3 model) or the award may be for PhD study only (the +3 model). The ESRC does not, however, fund PhD graduates unless they have the requisite training, which is typically acknowledged through a recognized Masters programme. Research Council funding is available to EU students studying in the UK, as well as non-EU students under certain, strict conditions.

You can find more detailed information on each of these funding bodies on the UK Research Council website www.rcuk.ac.uk.

Similarly, in Germany, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG) focuses its activities on funding research projects carried out by academics and scientists at universities or research institutions and serves as the central public funding organization ‘responsible for promoting research in Germany’. Awards are given to support individual projects, research cooperation, scientific infrastructural programmes and to encourage contacts in science and research overall. A number of these programmes have an international outlook. However, a considerable number of the DFG initiatives focus on post-doctoral research projects. The DFG also funds internationally oriented research programmes. More detailed information can be obtained on www.dfg.de.

Europe-wide, the European Science Foundation (ESF) makes available a number of funding opportunities by inviting proposals for relevant science projects. Like the UK Research Council, the ESF covers all academic disciplines including Physical and Engineering Sciences, Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Medical Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences. The ESF as such is not a funding agency but coordinates and facilitates cooperation and collaboration in European science in behalf of its member organizations and Europe’s scientific community. The ESF does not allocate grants to students or individual researchers, but funding is provided by various national ESF member organizations. Detailed information on the various calls for proposals under www.esf.org.

In the United States, the National Science Foundation (NSF) poses the American counterparts to the ESF. The NSF is a government agency that supports research in all non-medical fields of science and engineering and acts as a major source of federally backed funding for disciplines such as Mathematics, Computer Science, Economics and the Social Sciences. The NSF is just one of a handful of federal research agencies, others include most notably NASA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NSF awards are made to individuals or research groups carrying out research at their home campus. The NSF website has an extensive database that allows doctoral and other students to find appropriate funding opportunities. More information on how to find funding through the NSF can be found under www.nsf.gov/funding.

» Back to Master/MBA infocenter