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CENTA offers studentships through two main pathways. 

Project-based studentships

CENTA Science Opportunity Scholarships (CSOS)

CENTA’s project based studentships are based across the six Universities and three Research Centres in the CENTA consortium.  Applicants apply directly to a listed project on the CENTA website. This involves applying to the host institution for that project, for example through their application portal, and attaching the CENTA Studentship Application Form. Details of how to apply to each project can be found in the ‘Further Details’ section of each individual project advert.

The CENTA Science Opportunity Scholarships (CSOS) scheme offers fully-funded PhD studentships in the Earth and Environmental Sciences and is open to applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds who are considered as ‘Home’ students for the purposes of university fees (please note that international students are not eligible to apply to this opportunity). This scheme is not attached to any of our advertised projects; instead, applicants who proceed to the next stage will have the opportunity to design their own PhD project alongside a supervisor from the CENTA network who works in their area of interest. However if applying to CSOS you may also apply separately to our listed projects.

CENTA will not be offering an option for the submission of student co-designed or co-developed projects in the recruitment round for autumn 2027 entry. This will be reviewed for future recruitment rounds.

Further information on our project-based Studentships and our CENTA Science Opportunity Scholarships can be found in the sections below.

Applications for our project-based studentships for 2026 entry are now open closed.  Our application window will reopen in autumn 2026 for 2027 entry.

Webinar

On Tuesday 11th November 2025 we held a webinar for prospective applicants to our project-based studentships.   The slides from the webinar can be viewed in the following PDF document: CENTA Applicant Webinar 2025.  

General information

You may only apply to one project at any one university but you may apply to more than one CENTA project if they are hosted at different universities. To search for an view available projects please click the link below.

Further information on our project-based studentships and support for studentships is also available on our CENTA Studentship Information page.   

During the period that applications to CENTA are open you will be able to view details on all available CENTA projects on this website. Once you have decided on which project to apply for you will need to apply directly to the university that is hosting the project through their application system. Details of how to apply to each project can be found in the ‘Further Details’ section of each individual project advert.  You will also need to ensure you submit the following documents:  

• A CENTA studentship application form 2026  (Word document – 717kb) 
• A CV with the names of at least two referees (preferably those who can comment on your academic abilities) 
• The application form of the university you are applying to.  This may be an online form or a form to complete and send to an email address. 
• Do not forget to complete the EDI survey via the link on the CENTA application form and to add in your receipt number to the application form. 

If applying for a project hosted at one of our Research Centre partners, you should apply via the partner university and inform the point of contact at the Research Centre. 

Applicants should be aware that the CENTA Studentship Application Form is used for the assessment of the application and therefore applicants should focus their efforts on the completion of this form rather than on any personal statement required on the host institution application portal. Please complete this form in full and do not skip any sections.  You must ensure that this form and your CV are attached to your application, as applications without the CENTA Studentship Application Form will be automatically rejected.   Forms must be completed without coaching / assistance from the project supervisor.  We recognise that some applicants will find it helpful to use AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) when drafting their answers. However, we do not want you to use AI to create generic responses to be copied into your application: such answers are likely to receive low scores. We want your answers to tell us about your own experiences and reflections in your own words. 

CENTA Studentship Application Forms are submitted to the host institution via their application portal.  They are then shared with CENTA admin in order to facilitate processing of candidates through the selection and offer process and processing of EDI data for reporting purposes.  

Deadline 

Please note: the application deadline for 2026 entry has now passed.

Eligibility

Our project-based studentships are open to all applicants who meet the academic requirements (at least a 2:1 at UK BSc level or at least a pass at UK MSc level or equivalent).  

International Applicants 

UKRI allows international students to be eligible for studentships but only for a maximum of 30% of the cohort (please see.: https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/UKRI-030221-Guidance-International-Eligibility-Implementation-training-grant-holders-V2.pdf). CENTA can only fund tuition fees at Home fee level.  Unless you are eligible for a Home award you will need to consider the potential gap between the home and international fee rate and contact the named supervisor of the project you apply for to discuss any support the hosting University may  offer you  (e.g., self-funded difference, or – if available – an international fee waiver).    

Please also note that CENTA cannot reimburse the costs of choosing to relocate to the UK if you are an International Student. These include visa fees (for you or your family), Immigration Health Surcharge fees, relocation fees, flights, accommodation, taxes and other expenses accrued as part of coming to live and study in the UK. Please ensure you have considered what the likely costs might be and how you will meet them if you are choosing to relocate to the UK. 

For more information about likely costs, visa and other regulations affecting international students, please contact the international student office of your intended host university 

Interviews  

Applications to CENTA project-based studentship are considered by a local university-based recruitment team.  If successful at the shortlist stage, you will be invited to an interview. CENTA interviews normally take place during early February each year.  At present CENTA interviews are conducted online.

Applications for our CENTA Science Opportunity Scholarships (CSOS) are now open.  The timeline for CSOS applications has changed significantly from previous years, please read the information below carefully.

Webinar

We will be holding a webinar for prospective CSOS applicants on Friday 18th September 2026 from 2-3pm. Please register your attendance at https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/bham/csos-applicant-webinar-2026.  The link to join will be sent out after registration.

General information

In order to address a historical imbalance, it is our ambition to offer up to 3 fully-funded scholarships to applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds who are Home-award-eligible and who meet the academic requirements. 

Please note international students are not eligible to apply via this route and should apply via the project-based route outlined above. 

Whilst we aim to fund up to three studentships per cohort through the CSOS route we are only able to host a maximum of one CSOS studentship at any one of our ‘host institutions’ (university or Research Centre partners).  On the CSOS application form you will be required to indicate at which CENTA ‘host institutions’ (universities or research centres) you would be interested in being based.  You may indicate more than one institution or research centre if you wish. Before selecting any institutions we strongly recommend that you take the time to research the institutions where you might be interested in being based and make sure that there is at least one supervisor there in the NERC-sphere with whom you would be interested in working. Further information on our partner institutions can be found on the following webpage: https://centa.ac.uk/partners/

To apply for a CSOS scholarship you will need to complete and submit an initial application form.  If you meet our eligibility criteria and we are able to take you forward to the project development phase we will then assist you to identify and contact a suitable supervisor at your chosen CENTA host institution(s) who will collaborate with you to start co-developing a PhD project for you which meets your research interests.  Please note, CENTA is funded by NERC – we can only fund projects which are within the NERC funding remit.  For example, we do not fund medical research.  

Once a suitable project has been developed the supervisor will complete a project proforma capturing all the details of the project, which must be submitted to CENTA by early January 2027.  Further details of this will be provided to you if we are able to take you forward to the project development phase. Interviews for CSOS candidates for whom a project has been developed will then take place in late January 2027.

Once a project has been developed and interviews have taken place the final decision to award a CSOS studentship will be taken by CENTA’s Studentship Selection Panel, and the offer of a studentship cannot therefore be considered guaranteed until this point. Successful candidates will be made a conditional offer of a studentship in late February or early March 2027.  Candidates will then need to submit a separate application to their chosen host institution.  All offers of a PhD studentship from CENTA are conditional on receipt of an offer of study from the host institution.

If you are interested in any of the CENTA projects that have been advertised, you may apply directly to that project as well, through the separate project-based studentship pathway (see above).

How to Apply

To apply for a CSOS scholarship you will need to complete the following online application form: CENTA CSOS Application Form 2026

As part of your application you will need to upload to the application form a CV with the names of at least two referees (ideally those who can comment on your academic abilities).  You will also need to complete the complete the CENTA EDI survey and add your receipt number to the application form. 

Deadline

The deadline for applications for a CSOS is 23:59 on Sunday 18th October 2026.

Eligibility

Our CSOS scholarships are open to all applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds who are Home-award-eligible and who meet the academic requirements (at least a 2:1 at UK BSc level or at least a pass at UK MSc level or equivalent).  

To be classed as a home student, applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria and the associated residency requirements. They must:

• Be a UK National, or 
• Have settled status, or 
• Have pre-settled status, or 
• Have indefinite leave to remain or enter, or
• Be an Irish National 

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student and would not be eligible to apply for a CSOS.

(For further information please see Annex B of this document from UKRI: https://www.ukri.org/publications/terms-and-conditions-for-training-funding/ukri-training-grant-guidance/)  

Project Submission

All projects for CSOS studentships must be submitted to CENTA at [email protected] by 23:59 on Wednesday 6th January 2027.  All applicants taken forward to the project submission phase will be provided with further information on project development and submission.

Interviews  

Interviews for CSOS studentships are normally conducted online.  We expect the interviews for 2027 entry to take place in late January 2027, applicants will be informed if there are any changes to this.   

Successful candidates on both pathways will be made a conditional offer in late February or early March. 

The annual universal acceptance deadline for NERC PhD studentship offers in 2027 is expected to be at  12 noon GMT, Wednesday 17th March 2027.  The purpose of the annual universal acceptance deadline is to ensure that PhD applicants who have applied for multiple studentship opportunities, and may therefore receive multiple offers, do not have to make a decision on the studentship they wish to accept before knowing the outcome of all of their applications.  

Applicants who receive a PhD studentship offer from a NERC DTP or CDT for the forthcoming academic year are therefore not required to accept an offer formally before this date unless they wish to do so.  

CENTA offers are conditional on acceptance to study a PhD by the host institution, however you should not wait to receive the corresponding offer from the host institution before conditionally accepting your CENTA offer.

Please contact the CENTA Manager at [email protected]  for more information.