I’m not sure if this is the correct subreddit to ask this (if not what subreddit would that be?) anyway, as the title says, how hard is it for international (American in my case) students to pursue a PhD in engineering in the UK? I had great grades as an undergrad student and good grades during my masters degree as a mechanical engineer. Finances are not an issue for me, would love any advice.
4 comments
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Pretty straightforward. As with all PhD programmes your best starting point is to find a supervisor and project you are interested in. After that get in touch and the relevant Department postgrad coordinator should be able to guide you and your chosen supervisor through the academic and immigration processes. Most PhD programmes in the UK are four years now, with almost no lectures/classes – it’ll be all research which makes it quite different to a US PhD. If you are a very good candidate then most Universities also have scholarships available for international PhD candidates to cover their fees and also provide some living costs as a bursary, but these are pretty competitive.
Best Mech Eng universities in the UK are Imperial, Glasgow, Cranfield and of course Oxford/Cambridge but frankly any of the Russell Group unis will have a decent reputation. Probably worth asking in the US which British institutions your profs would recommend.
Apply for a studentship. Look at UKRI and the Royal Academy of Engineering websites for starters, though you’d have to find ones funded by the US or most likely non-governmental bodies here.
You say funding is not an issue – really? You can afford 4 years international fees around £25k a year, and £15k a year living costs, plus the uni bench fees for a lab to host you (another £10kpa or more), after which I admit the visa and IHS (health surcharge) of £3k would be peanuts? If that’s true, then just write to any lab you’re interested in and ask if they’ll host you, but I suspect you need a studentship to at least cover fees.
Apply for a studentship. Look at UKRI and the Royal Academy of Engineering websites for starters, though you’d have to find ones funded by the US or most likely non-governmental bodies here.
You say funding is not an issue – really? You can afford 4 years international fees around £25k a year, and £15k a year living costs, plus the uni bench fees for a lab to host you (another £10kpa or more), after which I admit the visa and IHS (health surcharge) of £3k would be peanuts? If that’s true, then just write to any lab you’re interested in and ask if they’ll host you, but I suspect you need a studentship to at least cover fees.