Sources of Funding

Funding is the essential key in order to make postgraduate study possible. Each year thousands of students fund their studies through a variety of different means.

State Funding
Sadly, there are limited funding options available. However, the Department for Education and Skills has information on postgraduate funding for England and Wales at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/students/

Students in Scotland will find more information about the Postgraduate Student Allowances Scheme (PSAS) at http://www.student-support-saas.gov.uk/. For Northern Ireland, there is information from the Department of Employment and Learning, although similar conditions apply there as for England and Wales - http://www.student-support.org.uk.

Scholarships
Scholarships are out there for postgraduate students however to uncover the right one for you could take a lot or research. The following websites are useful:

• http://www.newscientistjobs.com - New Scientist Jobs
• http://www.jobs.ac.uk - The Academic Jobs website, including scholarships
• http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk - Search engine for scholarships
• http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk - The Royal Society
• http://www.royalsoced.org.uk - The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Self/Employer Funding
Each year thousand of student support their studies through savings or family support. However, it is understood that not everyone will have the funds to do this. Employer sponsored postgraduate study is another ideal route. Not only do you get to study for you chosen qualification you also get to enhance your career prospect with the guarantee of work afterwards

Top gain employer funding you will have to produce a proposal that outlines the benefits to the employer. You will then enter a contract, which may tie you to your employer for a number of years. You may also be required to pay for your travel expenses, or books and research costs so try and negotiate the most suitable deal for you.

Career Development Loans
Career Development Loans remain popular with vocational based postgraduate study. Both tuition and/or maintenance loans for £3-£8k are available through Barclays, The Co-operative Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland and repayments start 6 months after completing your studies. http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/cdl/index.htm.

Research Council Funding
For research degree programmes and taught degree programmes which may lead to acadmic research, your first port of call should be the Research Council funding Councils.

Medical Research Council (MRC) - http://www.mrc.ac.uk

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) - http://www.nerc.ac.uk

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) - http://www.esrc.ac.uk

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) - http://www.epsrc.ac.uk

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council - http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) - http://www.pparc.ac.uk

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) - http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/