Imperial College London’s Alex Fortescue PhD Scholarship 2027/28 provides one award covering full Home or Overseas tuition and a UKRI London-rate stipend for 3.5 years. Applicants must submit a PhD application to Electrical and Electronic Engineering by 1 March 2027. Scholarship consideration is through a supervisor nomination after a departmental offer, not a separate direct application.
Official Imperial scholarship listings checked on 17 October 2026. An admission offer does not guarantee funding.
Who is eligible?
The award listing welcomes all nationalities, but only new entrants. The proposed project must fit Human and Artificial Intelligence or related research. Existing students are excluded. Ask your prospective supervisor about nomination during the PhD interview.
Funding: what is confirmed?
Imperial’s scholarship directory confirms the fee coverage and duration above. It does not give a fixed cash stipend figure for this award’s 2027/28 cycle. We therefore do not substitute another scheme’s payment or an older year’s rate.
Planning guidance: Before accepting funding, ask what happens if research continues beyond the funded period, when payments begin and whether any project expenses are covered separately. Do not assume travel, visa costs or support for dependants are included without written confirmation.
How the application route works
- Read the department’s PhD guidance and identify a research group with an appropriate match.
- Discuss a feasible research question and supervision availability with a suitable academic.
- Submit the departmental PhD application before the published cutoff.
- At interview, explicitly ask whether the supervisor can put you forward for this award if you receive an offer.
- Keep admission and scholarship correspondence separate until funding is formally confirmed.
No cutoff hour or time zone is stated in the scholarship listing. Treat the date as an absolute latest point, not a reason to delay supervisor discussions. Any internal nomination timetable should be confirmed with the department.
Admission requirements and documents
Scholarship nationality eligibility does not waive academic admission requirements. The department’s published guidance includes a relevant bachelor’s qualification equivalent to a UK 2:1 plus a master’s equivalent at Merit; check all accepted routes and international equivalencies on its current page.
Preparation checklist, not an award-specific upload list: Have academic records, an up-to-date research CV, a concise explanation of your project interests and referee contact details ready. Check the actual application form for required evidence, translations, English-language conditions and document formats. The scholarship announcement itself does not provide a standalone document checklist.
Ask the department which research-statement format it expects. Avoid copying essay limits or test requirements from another Imperial department or from the President’s PhD scheme: these are different routes.
Selection and applicant fit
The award is described as an academic scholarship, but its public listing does not publish a numerical scoring rubric or a final award-decision date. Supervisor nomination is a necessary procedural step, not evidence that an applicant has won.
Our interpretation: This opportunity is most useful for applicants who can explain both a credible research problem and why a particular EEE group is equipped to supervise it. A generic interest in artificial intelligence is not the same as research alignment.
Prepare a short discussion brief: the problem, the closest existing approach, the limitation you want to address, a plausible method and how you would evaluate progress. If you propose a robotics project, for example, distinguish what you can test in simulation from what needs hardware access. Present this as a starting point for discussion, not a guaranteed doctoral plan.
Use evidence of your own contribution in earlier work. If a result came from a group project, say which part you designed, implemented or analysed. Clear boundaries help a supervisor judge preparation more effectively than a long list of technologies.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the Imperial President’s PhD Scholarship?
No. It is a separate named award with its own subject and nomination conditions.
Can I send a scholarship form without applying for the PhD?
No. Follow the admission-and-nomination route described above.
Is the stipend a salary?
The provider calls it a stipend. Do not infer employment status or additional benefits from the funding headline.
Where can I clarify a nomination deadline?
The official departmental contact is eee.pgadmissions@imperial.ac.uk. Ask early and retain the reply.
Apply Now — Official EEE PhD Guidance
Compare other doctoral funding
- Imperial President’s PhD Scholarships
- Cambridge NanoDTC doctoral funding
- Max Planck Schools funding routes
These opportunities have different research remits and application conditions.
Official sources
ScholarshipHubNow is independent of Imperial. The university makes final eligibility, admission and funding decisions.
