Psychology PhD

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Currently, there are no mandatory courses for PhD students, but we expect students to take part in an informal year-long seminar series on key topics of academic work and research seminars of their research area. Also, many students audit various courses and take part in workshops and other modes of training, within the department and beyond.

We will assign you at least two supervisors who provide expert academic guidance on their research. We expect that at least some of your research will get published in peer-reviewed journals.

Many PhD students gain undergraduate teaching experience, for which we provide training and mentoring and you can gain formal recognition (a teaching certificate).

Psychology houses extensive facilities, including:

• several eye-trackers
• EEG recording equipment
• fNIRS recorder
• TMS, celspot recording equipment
• a suite of dedicated computers running experimental software

We work with the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for MRI scanning facilities.

Find out more about our community

The School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences is home to a large, supportive and active student community, hosting events and activities throughout the year which you can join. As a postgraduate student, you will have access to a range of research resources, state of the art facilities, research seminars and reading groups.

• Find out more about our community

While many of our PhD graduates choose to remain in academia as lecturers and researchers, going onto post-doctoral opportunities or progressing into faculty positions, some pursue employment and careers in other sectors.

Find a research opportunity and contact potential supervisors prior to making an application

We strongly encourage you to get in touch with a potential supervisor, and to include their name in your application. When contacting a potential supervisor, please include a draft proposal and CV as this will provide the starting point for discussion. You can introduce yourself by explaining why their work interests you.

• View our main research interests and staff profiles

Write a research proposal

We will use your research proposal to consider whether the proposed research is feasible and can be supervised by our staff members, so it is important that your theoretical and methodological preparedness for it are clear.

We understand that it can be difficult to formulate research plans well in advance of carrying out the work, but we encourage you to articulate your ideas as clearly as possible. You should draft your proposal several times, and, ideally, seek comments on it from other people (perhaps from your referees or former lecturers) before submitting it.

We recommend that you contact your planned supervisor(s) well in advance of the deadline to identify a suitable topic for your research proposal. You should draft the research proposal independently and then discuss it with your planned supervisor(s), revising it based on their comments and suggestions.

Each PhD thesis contains several theoretical and empirical chapters. Your proposal should focus on the empirical work, laying out plans for at least two empirical studies (further plans can be worked out as you progress). Ideally, each of the studies will be a publishable journal article. Students are strongly encouraged to publish their work in collaboration with their supervisors.

Your proposal must not exceed 1000 words, as the panel may not read the part of your proposal exceeding the limit. This does not include references.

Your proposal should include:

• A title for the project
• A brief background for the planned research question(s)
• A compelling, brief rationale for the studies, including the specific research questions/hypotheses
• A description of the methodology for addressing these questions/hypotheses, which generally includes:
• Sufficiently large sample(s) of participants (allowing for appropriate statistical power) and measurement/experimental procedures
• If using existing data (for example, data from large cohort studies or biobanks, imaging data sets, etc.), describe the data sets
• Your data analytical approach (for example, suitable statistical models)
• If using qualitative data such as interviews, describe your methods and analytical approach
• Note that the methodology should be realistic, within the resources and time-scales available to you and your supervisor(s), and also allowing for necessary time for writing the thesis
• An indication of how your proposed work fits with and contributes to the research programme of your planned supervisor(s). A PhD thesis typically means teamwork, involving the student and one or two supervisors, and often also other members of the research group(s) of the supervisor(s); a student receives training and help from the team, but can also contribute to the team with their research. Applicants who can show a good fit with supervising team have an advantage.

We may ask for a brief (Zoom or MS Teams) interview with you if we have further questions.

If your application is successful, we expect that your research will develop. It is likely that your supervisor(s) or those reviewing the work will suggest changes or developments to your research as your studies progress. Therefore, you will not be held to the ideas that you explain in your proposal during the course of your research.

• How to write a good PG research proposal

Get ready to apply

In order to ensure full consideration of your application we ask that you submit your complete application including all supporting documentation.

We will ask you to add contact details for your referees. We will email them with information on how to upload their reference directly to your online application. Please allow plenty of time as we can only consider your application once we have received your full application, including your references.

• Find out more about the application process

Consider your funding options

There are a number of funding opportunities both within the University and externally. Funding is highly competitive at PhD level.

• More information on funding

Pre-application Checklist

To receive a pre-arrival checklist to help you with your application, please email the PPLS Postgraduate Office at

• pplspgoffice@ed.ac.uk

Please complete this checklist to keep track of your application preparations. Please submit the completed checklist as an additional document to your application.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in Psychology or a related subject.

Your application will also be considered if you have a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in another subject and a postgraduate masters level degree in Psychology.

Your academic achievements will be assessed by a panel of academics along with the research proposal submitted as part of your application.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 65 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online..
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 7 in each component. Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan

  • family support

• personal savings

• income from work

• employer sponsorship

• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Only applications received by the Round 1 deadline will be considered for University of Edinburgh based funding.

You may be able to secure external funding outside of this deadline.

Featured funding

• Scottish Graduate School of Social Science Funding
• [College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Awards] (https://www.ed.ac.uk/ppls/psychology/prospective/postgraduate/psychology-phd-programme/funding-research-students/arts-humanities-soc-sci-research-awards)
• [Edinburgh Doctoral College Scholarships] (https://www.ed.ac.uk/student-funding/postgraduate/international/other-funding/doctoral-college)

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding