The Innovation and Social Impact scholarships are for outstanding UK students who want to pursue a PhD and make a difference in the world. Your PhD could drive social impact by influencing policy, or could lead to innovation through a commercial research output or founding a new startup.
The scholarship provides:
- £20,000 per year, tax free for 3.5 years
- full UK fees
- a £1,100 training and support grant each year
There are 2 paths for the Innovation and Social Impact scholarships:
Innovation pathway
This pathway is for students with an interest in enterprise activities or creating startups.
You will work with Future Worlds, the University’s on-campus startup accelerator. They will guide and support you on how to commercialise your research or create a startup. You'll carry out a standard PhD programme with a research project which has the potential to be commercialised by bringing new products or services to the market. This could be either directly by founding a startup or indirectly through other companies.
Social Impact pathway
This is for students with an interest in knowledge exchange and social impact.
Knowledge exchange is the collaborative process where knowledge, ideas and research are shared between researchers and the community to drive positive societal change. You'll be supported by Public Policy Southampton, a team dedicated to creating policy impact at the University. You'll benefit from initiatives like their Policy Associates scheme, placements and secondments and dedicated training.
You'll carry out a standard PhD programme with a research project focused on delivering social impact. This could be by influencing or implementing policy, or engaging in other knowledge exchange activities.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this scholarship you must have:
- a 2.1 or first class bachelors degree, or a master's at merit level
- a PhD project starting in 2025
If you have been working before you apply to study for a PhD, you will need to meet the University's criteria and good practice guidelines for accreditation of prior experiential and/or certificated learning.
Deadline to apply
You must apply by 5pm on Friday 14 March 2025.
If your application is successful we will email you in April 2025.
How we award scholarships
This is a competitive process - not all applications will be successful.
There are 3 stages to the shortlisting process:
- Eligibility: we check your application to make sure you meet the eligibility criteria.
- Applications: we review your research degree and funding applications, to gain a complete picture of your academic qualifications and your motivations for undertaking a PhD.
- Faculty selection panel review: our dedicated selection panel review your application and allocate funding.
The decision of the scholarship panel is final.
How to apply
Before applying, you should read our guidance on How to apply for a research degree.
- Find a potential PhD supervisor, view current PhD projects or create your own PhD proposal.
- Apply for your chosen PhD course.
- Apply for the Innovation and Social Impact scholarship.
Contact us
If you have any questions, email: Doctoral-College@soton.ac.uk