Available PhD opportunities
Discover the studentships we currently have available and find out more about our involvement with a range of Doctoral Training Partnerships and similar schemes.
Current studentship opportunities
Our studentships are usually advertised in the autumn of each year, with deadlines in January, and projects beginning the following academic year. This page will be updated when the next call for applications is launched.
Below is a sample of our recent PhD studentships to give you an idea of the range of topics we supervise.
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Royal Holloway, University of London
Pollinator health
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University of Leicester
Agricultural history and climate change
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Imperial College London
Bioindicator fungi
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Imperial College London
Epiphyte evolution and extinction risk
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University of Warwick
Creolising Caribbean foodways
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University College London
Records and empire
Potential supervisors or students interested in working with us on a science PhD are invited to contact our Doctoral Partnership Manager (sciencetraining@kew.org). Those interested in working with us on a PhD in the arts, humanities or social sciences are invited to contact the Interdisciplinary Research team (planthumanities@kew.org) to discuss project proposals.
Doctoral training partnerships
Kew partners with more than 50 universities across the UK and internationally to deliver outstanding doctoral training to the next generation of researchers.
In the UK, Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs), Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) and Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDPs) are a key part of how we do this, providing excellent research, professional, technical and personal development training in a multi-disciplinary environment. All of these schemes are funded via UKRI research councils. Recruitment usually starts in the autumn a year before the intended start date, with a January application deadline and interviews/selection in the spring. Below is a list of the schemes we participate in; please follow the links for further information about each.
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) partnerships:
Central England NERC Training Alliance (CENTA)
Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet DTP (SSCP)
Oxford DTP in Environmental Research
Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment DTP (ACCE)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) partnerships:
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) partnerships:
Science Museums and Archives Consortium (SMAC) CDP
Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England (CHASE) DTP
White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities Collaborative Doctoral Awards
Other sources of funding
The Emily Holmes Memorial Scholarship is administered by Kew and open to PhD students. For more information visit our bursaries page. It is also worth looking on the website of your partner university for other sources of funding.
Explore more
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Research facilities
We have a wide range of state-of-the-art platforms that supports the delivery our scientific research.
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Projects and programmes
Our work addresses key global challenges such as climate change and food security.