Amelia and John Kentfield PhD Scholarships 2025/26

Eligibility criteria

Thanks to a generous gift from Mrs Amelia Kentfield, a new scholarship programme was introduced in 2023 in the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London. In the first tranche of recruitment, three talented candidates were funded to pursue a 3.5-year PhD programme.

We are now pleased to offer additional two scholarship places for intake in academic year 2025/26. Applications are welcome from candidates with Home and Overseas fee status. However, due to limited funding, some Engineering Departments may only support candidates with Home fee status. Please check with relevant Department prior to your application.

Background:

Mrs Amelia Kentfield kindly left a gift in her will to support PhD scholarships in the Faculty of Engineering. Her late husband, John Alan Kentfield was a British professor and engineer and completed his PhD in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Imperial in the early 1960s and later moved to Canada where he was a Professor at the University of Calgary. He was an inventor responsible for several patents, and a consultant to corporations in Canada and the United States. He contributed more than one hundred fifty articles to scientific journals.

The gift is intended to honour her husband's time at the College and support candidates who will pursue a PhD project in research areas which align with her husband's research interests. The scholarships specifically aim to support projects which align with the following areas: sustainability, advances in AI and its applications, and Space related research areas.

The scholarships are particularly aimed at encouraging candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.

Application deadline:

The application deadline for 2025/26 intake will be 9 January 2025. The decision will be made in early March 2025.

Note that this scholarship is not an annual recurring scheme and this will be the final round of recruitment.

What does the scholarship cover?

The scholarship provides the following support during the 3.5 years of study:

- Full funding for tuition fees (at Home or Overseas rate as applicable for 2025/26); for guidance on fee status before you apply, please refer to Imperial College's Fee Status page.

- A stipend of about £25,000 per annum (2025/26 rate tbc) to assist with living costs.

- A consumables fund of £2,000 p.a. for the first 3 years of study.

Eligibility:

Candidate's proposed project must align with sustainability, advances in AI and its applications, and Space related research areas.

To be eligible, candidates must be:

- Female; and/or

- Of an underrepresented minority ethnicity; and/or

- Have a disability as defined at section 6 UK Equality Act 2010.

The scholarship is available to students on full-time and part-time courses.

Academic criteria

- Candidates should hold or achieve a Master's degree, in addition to a Bachelor's degree at UK Upper Second Class Honours Level or more.

- Candidates with degrees from overseas institutions should refer to the College Graduate entry requirements pages or check with the relevant Admissions team if their scores/grades are equivalent to the scholarship entry criteria.

- Candidates for whom English is not their first language must already have met English Language criteria at the time of application or have made arrangements to sit an English Language test.

- The scholarships are only open to new PhD applications. Current registered Imperial PhD students are not eligible to be considered for this scholarship.

Review and selection process:

Applications will be reviewed by a two-stage process:

- Candidates meeting, or predicted to meet, the eligibility criteria will be reviewed by the department to which they have applied. Departments will interview candidates and select one candidate to present to the Faculty Selection Panel for consideration.

- The final decision will be made by the Faculty Selection Panel. The members of the Panel include the Vice Dean Research and Department's Director of Postgraduate Studies.

- Candidates are assessed by the Department and Faculties Selection Panel against the following criteria:

1) Academic excellence - as demonstrated by past academic results and by transcripts, relative class position, awards and distinctions.

2) Research Potential - as demonstrated by the candidate's research experience to date, their interest in discovery, the research plan and its potential contribution as described in their research proposal and the departmental statement, which also reflects on performance at interview.

Successful candidates will receive written confirmation of their scholarship in early-mid March 2025. Any offer of a scholarship will be conditional on the candidate receiving the predicted qualifications.

Contacts:

For general queries, please contact Yangna Li: Yangna.Li@imperial.ac.uk, Research Strategy and Development Team, Faculty of Engineering.

For Department specific queries, please contact relevant Department's PGR admin team.

Course specific information

The scholarships are only open to new PhD applications. Current registered Imperial PhD students are not eligible to be considered for this scholarship.

Application process

Application procedure:

1) Candidates should approach individual Engineering departments and supervisors with details of their proposed project. It is essential that candidates make contact with departments/supervisors before submitting a PhD application.

2) Complete the application form through the College online admissions system PhD programme and your department will put you forward for the scholarship based on academic merit and research potential.

3) An interview will be required for any shortlisted candidates before a formal offer can be made. The interview may be held virtually or in-person.

4) Scholarship-specific instructions for the admissions process are below; you must also meet any additional application requirements stated by your department of choice.

Scholarship-specific admissions instructions:

a) For intake in academic year 2025/26, the earliest start date for funded places will be 1 August 2025, the latest start date will be 1 November 2025.

b) When prompted for a personal statement you must include a 2-page document. In the statement, please specify in the subject line that you intend to apply for the FoE Amelia and John Kentfield Scholarships 2025/26 intake. The statement should include:

- your motivations for applying to Imperial College and the scholarship,

- your research proposal

- and any other supporting information not included elsewhere on the application form that you feel will enhance your application and you should outline.

- you are encouraged to write in first person.

c) When prompted for the names of two academic referees, these should not include your proposed PhD supervisor. You are encouraged to share this guidance with your two referees, noting, in particular, the recommendation to use they/them language (rather than gender pronouns).

Additional information

Those candidates who have already completed the PhD online admissions form and would like to be considered for these scholarships, please contact your choosing Department with an updated personal statement.

Contact

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at Yangna.Li@imperial.ac.uk.