Before Applying
Yes, all students who have no restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the studentship (except for internships) are eligible for full UKRI studentships covering fees and maintenance.
Yes, we strongly encourage applicants who have an open mind about
An application fee waiver is available for students who meet certain criteria, eg UK applicants from low income households, applicants with asylum seeker or refugee status or overseas applicants from eligible countries
Please see the University Graduate Admissions website for more details.
If you have further questions, please email us.
Due to the strongly physical sciences focus of the programme, we require that applicants have completed a good amount of physics and/or chemistry as part of their previous degrees. Please email us your CV and transcript if you are unsure of your suitability.
Funding/Scholarship
In some cases, the University will waive the application fees. Please see the Cambridge University Graduate Study website for more information.
Please see the Cambridge University Graduate Study for this year’s maintenance.
Please see the Cambridge University Graduate Study for this year’s costs and fees.
During Application
No, because our course is a 1+3 course, there is no research proposal required.
We are able to accept applications until July but we have two rounds of interviews where most of our offers are made.
The deadline is 11:59 pm.
We advise that at least one of your referees should be connected to your most recent degree course. If you have completed any nano related research projects at your University or elsewhere, you can nominate your project supervisor as your referee as well. Please make sure your
referees upload their reference letters by the required deadline.
Please provide sufficient notice for them to upload their references. If you need to update your referee details or send them a reminder, you can do so via the Applicant Portal. You can submit your application before your referees have provided your references, but your application will not be assessed until these have been received.
This is not required until an offer has been made.
Please write “to be confirmed” in the title, summary and supervisor area as you will choose your supervisor at the end of your first year.
Please provide details of research projects you have undertaken or are currently undertaking
You are able to express a College preference here, though it is not necessary (you can submit an ‘open application’). Your chosen Colleges may or may not be able to offer you a place, but all students with offers from the University will receive a college place, so it is not something to worry about.
Please include any information that hasn’t been covered elsewhere.
We will pay particular attention to your answers in the Research Experience and Course Specific Questions (Reasons for applying, Personal statement and Research publications), as well as your academic record and references in evaluating your application. Most students admitted have a first or equivalent – see here for international qualifications.
Cambridge scholarships – Do you wish to be considered for funding, including merit based scholarships? Please state yes – by doing so you will be considered for University funding; this includes funding from Cambridge Trust, their partners and the colleges. All applicants will be automatically considered for NanoDTC funding if they are eligible.
Gates Cambridge Scholarship- All non-UK citizens are also strongly encouraged to complete the Gates Scholarship application. Full details are available from: http://www.gatescambridge.org. The Gates (non-US) application deadline 3 December 2020, so please ensure you submit your application before then. US residents applying for the Gates Scholarship must apply by 9th Oct 2020.
Once you have submitted your application, please save a pdf copy of it (pages 1-4 only) and email it to
team@nanodtc.cam.ac.uk along with your transcript. Please also mention the best contact details (phone
number / email) for you between 18 Dec and 8 Jan as we may have to contact you then if you are shortlisted
for interview (if you applied by 3rd Dec). Applicants that studied at non-UK universities are encouraged to
include a CV with this email.
Most of our offers are given after the interview rounds. Keeping this in mind, you can still apply before the deadline or you could wait apply the following year.
After Applying
Applicants who apply by the internal review deadline dates in Dec – Jan can expect to receive a decision between late Jan-Feb.
Some applicants may be put on a waitlist for further consideration after the internal review rounds, should an appropriate project become available. Suitable applicants will be contacted to seek their agreement to be held on the waitlist on the understanding that a decision may only be available by the start of the Easter term.
Unfortunately due the way that the course is set up, we are unable to allow you to start later in the year.
4 years (1 year for the MRes and 3 years PhD).
The MRes is a compulsory portion of our programme.