A close up of a gloved hand holding a screwdriver
Lab work
(Image credit: Enrico Salvati, DPhil in Engineering Science / Graduate Photography Competition)

DPhil in Engineering Science

About the course

The DPhil in Engineering Science will offer you the opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge, understanding and expertise in your chosen field of engineering research. To support your research, you will develop broad skills in relevant areas of mathematical and computational modelling, in the design and build of apparatus, in the development of software, and in data analytics and visualisation.

A key aspect of your research experience in the department will be exposure to the broad sweep of today's engineering research. The department’s research groups cluster into the following general areas:

  • biomedical engineering
  • chemical and process engineering
  • civil and offshore engineering
  • electrical and opto-electronic engineering
  • energy
  • information, vision and control engineering
  • solid mechanics and materials engineering
  • thermofluids and turbomachinery.

However, the department is committed to considering engineering as a unified subject, allowing interdisciplinary research to flourish, both across these areas and to other departments in the University.

In the first year, you will develop research skills in two ways. Firstly, you will read the current literature, often in reading groups, and attend research seminars, relevant lectures and training courses. Secondly, you will design and build apparatus, develop software, or both to address your own research topic. Often there is external involvement and you will develop your work in collaboration with researchers from industry and other research organisations.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Department of Engineering Science and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Department of Engineering Science.

You will join your supervisor's research group which normally has post-doctoral researchers and other research students working on broadly similar research themes. Typically you would interact daily with members of the group and have weekly contact with your supervisor. Many groups have weekly meetings where members discuss their research or perhaps present other published work.

Assessment 

You will receive ongoing assessment and feedback from your supervisors. At the end of your first year (second year for a part-time student) you will be required to Transfer your Status from a Probationary Research Student (PRS) to DPhil Student. For the transfer process you need to write a report and give a presentation on your research to date and your plans for progressing. Your work is assessed by two faculty members or researchers in the department who are not your supervisors and involves an oral exam. At the beginning of your third year of study (beginning of fifth year for a part-time student) your progress towards completion is again formally assessed, by a Confirmation of DPhil Status process. A report of your progress and your plan for completion is submitted and is assessed by two faculty or researchers in the department who are not your supervisors and involves an oral exam.

At the end of your research you will be required to submit a substantial thesis which is read and examined by experts in the field, one from the department and one from elsewhere. You will then defend this thesis at a Viva Voce examination with the two examiners. It is anticipated that the thesis will result in the publication of two or three journal papers.

Graduate destinations

Doctoral graduates from Engineering Science are ideally equipped for careers in a wide range of engineering, which is often in their specialisms but in many cases is not.  Most enjoy engineering-related careers including: engineering companies, consulting companies, start-up companies (sometimes based on the students research), research and development companies and academia.  Others enter the broad range of professions where their high degree of ability in mathematical and systems modelling is required, such as finance and patent law. The location of jobs varies from Oxford to New Zealand.

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made in circumstances of a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.

EPSRC iCASE studentships

The Department of Engineering, supported by EPSRC, iCASE and a number of industrial partners, is offering fully-funded studentships in a range of research areas that are listed below. This list has been updated to show only studentships that will close no earlier than Friday 1 March 2024. Unless otherwise stated, these studentships are open to all applicants and all projects are offered on both a full-time and part-time basis.

All Industrial CASE studentships provide the opportunity for the student to undertake at least three months’ worth of placement(s) with their industrial partner. Exact details are to be agreed between the student, supervisor and industrial partner. In line with EPSRC terms and conditions, all costs relating to placements will be covered by the industrial partner. 

No application fee will be charged to apply for any of the projects listed below. 

More information about iCASE studentships can be found on the UKRI website.

The How to apply section of this page provides further information about the application process and links to the application form. Any questions can be directed to the departmental administrator via the contact details provided on this page under Further information and enquiries. Please contact the department directly if you applied for a studentships that closed on Friday 1 December 2023 and require further information.

Project AZ:
Foundation models for industrial control applications – facilitating transfer and adaptation to new contexts

Supervisor(s) and industrial partner

Professor Ingmar Posner and Siemens AG

Restrictions

Applications are encouraged from Home and Overseas students by the 1st March deadline in order to be considered for the ICASE studentships. After this time, it is highly likely that your application will only be considered if you meet the criteria for a Home award as the Overseas studentship places are likely to have been allocated in full. Please refer to our information about fee status for details about how Home or Overseas status is determined. 

Description

Recent research has demonstrated that a learnt model of system dynamics enables control policies to be optimised using synthetic data generated by the model itself. Specifically, such a “world” model is trained on observations of a system’s state over time and learns to predict the state evolution of a system when conditioned on different control actions.

The aim of this project is to create versatile, action-conditioned world models of systems and environments, which are able to efficiently and effectively adapt to novel contexts such as changes in the environment or the system itself.

To achieve this aim we will train world models given data from robotics, industrial and/or environmental domains. The world models will be of sufficient quality to enable the learning of control policies via reinforcement learning from data generated by the world model itself. Once a suitable base model has been trained, we will explore representations, architectures and mechanisms for efficient transfer to novel but related domains such as intervened environments or adjacent product categories.

It is expected that a core challenge of this project will lie in the learning of representations suitable to capturing the various state and action spaces as well as observation modalities of different systems in a unified way. To tackle this challenge, a core aspect of this project will be investigating latent representations that embed the dynamics of differing systems to a shared latent space. The generalising representations should enable both transfer learning to new systems as well as efficient offline to online adaptation.

Project BA:
Advanced experimental and simulation methodologies for metallic aero-engine components under extreme loading

Supervisor(s) and industrial partner

Professor Dan Eakins and Rolls-Royce

Restrictions

Applications are encouraged from Home and Overseas students by the 1st March deadline in order to be considered for the ICASE studentships. After this time, it is highly likely that your application will only be considered if you meet the criteria for a Home award as the Overseas studentship places are likely to have been allocated in full. Please refer to our information about fee status for details about how Home or Overseas status is determined. 

Description

Following the release of a fan or compressor blade in an aeroengine, the stress state in both the released blade and the containment casing is complex. The titanium blade undergoes a process of plastic buckling and fracture, whilst the casing is subjected to a combination of tension and shear which tracks across the casing during the event. Analyses are typically used to simulate fan/compressor blade release events. Getting these simulations right is key to predict the casing damage and deformation, to de-risk expensive system tests and drive weight out of Rolls-Royce designs.

This project will utilise a unique Tension-Torsion Hopkinson bar (TTHB) system to explore the mechanical behaviour of titanium alloys subjected to complex (axial + shear) dynamic loading. A combination of improved specimen geometries and intelligent actuation will be employed to explore path dependence on plastic flow, hardening and failure. The new specimen designs will be assessed using Finite Element (FE) analyses and the results compared to experimental data from the TTHB experimental facility to aid development and validation of advanced materials models in development at Oxford and by Rolls-Royce.

Project BB:
Network-aware mission planning for reliable autonomous robotic inspection missions

Supervisor(s) and industrial partner

Professor Nick Hawes and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Restrictions

Applications are encouraged from Home and Overseas students by the 1st March deadline in order to be considered for the ICASE studentships. After this time, it is highly likely that your application will only be considered if you meet the criteria for a Home award as the Overseas studentship places are likely to have been allocated in full. Please refer to our information about fee status for details about how Home or Overseas status is determined. 

Description

The use of autonomous mobile robots in nuclear decommissioning has been steadily increasing in recent years. Robots can undertake inspection, maintenance and repair tasks that would put human operatives at risk, for example, from exposure to radiation or more conventional hazards like working at height.

Most current deployments of autonomous robots require a reliable wireless network connection between an operator and the robot. This connection is needed to allow the operator to: recover the robot should a failure in autonomy occur; extract live data form, or provide additional control inputs for, specific actions; and provide additional tasks to the robot during operation. However, given the physically constrained nature of many nuclear sites, plus the significant quantities of steel-reinforced concrete used for construction and shielding of these sites, wireless network “dead spots” are common, limiting the operation of autonomous robots in practice.

This research project will develop mission planning algorithms to enable autonomous mobile robots to operate reliably in environments where the network coverage varies probabilistically over time and space. The algorithms will be informed by datasets of network coverage on typical nuclear sites, as well as the likely tasks undertaken by autonomous mobile robots at these sites in the near future. Building on our prior work, network availability and its impact on robot performance will be modelled using a Markov decision process, and mission plans will be produced by solving the model with an appropriate algorithm. The resulting policy will be evaluated in simulation, and then validated in real environments on a Boston Dynamics Spot robot.

The studentship includes the opportunity to undertake a work placement with the industrial partner.

Additional entry requirements

In addition to the requirements shown in the Entry requirements section of this page, you will also be assessed according to how well you meet the following criteria:

  • a first-class honours degree (or equivalent) in engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, or related fields;
  • excellent English written and spoken communication skills; and
  • programming skills in Python or C++.

In addition, experience in the following is highly desirable:

  • AI methods for search, learning, planning or optimisation in graphs or other discrete models;
  • expressing concepts formally, particularly in the language of discrete mathematics;
  • mobile robotics and the Robot Operating System (ROS); and
  • models of wireless communication systems.

Project BC:
Decarbonising chemical processes with catalytic sonochemical reaction engineering

Supervisor(s) and industrial partner

Professor James Kwan and EDF

Restrictions

Applications are encouraged from Home and Overseas students by the 1st March deadline in order to be considered for the ICASE studentships. After this time, it is highly likely that your application will only be considered if you meet the criteria for a Home award as the Overseas studentship places are likely to have been allocated in full. Please refer to our information about fee status for details about how Home or Overseas status is determined. 

Description

To achieve net zero by 2050, green hydrogen has a significant role to decarbonise industry, transport applications and as long duration energy storage for the electricity system.

Hydrogen production costs are forecast to reduce with increasing scale and decreasing costs for electricity and price optimisation. Producing and storing hydrogen is a significant cost and chemical H2 carriers (e.g., ammonia, water, liquid organics, etc.) are considered a good option for longer distance transportation.

Innovative green chemical processes are needed to liberate the H2 from chemical carriers with lower energy demand and purification costs. Catalytic sonochemistry, i.e., sonocatalysis, is the use of ultrasound and catalysts to conduct chemical reactions at ambient temperatures and pressures, that are otherwise not possible. It is considered an emerging green chemical process. And it may address the challenges facing localised green H2 production if we can answer questions pertaining to the space requirements, cost per kg H2, product purity, cycle rates, and yield.

The Physical Acoustics Lab at the University of Oxford hosts bespoke sonochemical reactors. These reactors have produced H2 in the presence of catalysts from water. Yet, there remain several key research questions before such a technology may reach industrial adoption:

  • What are possible H2 carriers (e.g., water, seawater, wastewater, liquid organics, ammonia, etc.) for sonocatalysis?
  • For a given H2 carrier, what is the optimal catalyst and operating condition for the bespoke sonochemical reactor to maximise H2 yield and/or purity?
  • For a given H2 carrier, what is the energy demand (kWhr) per unit kg of H2 under optimal operating conditions? And thus, what are the OPEX and CAPEX for sonocatalytic H2 production?
  • For a given H2 carrier under optimal operating conditions, how flexible is the sonochemical reactor. That is, what is the performance of the reactor under simulated variable electrical loads, multiple cycling, and start-stop operations?

You will be expected and trained to conduct sonocatalytic H2 production using the bespoke sonochemical reactors in the Physical Acoustics Lab at Oxford and read and review literature on the topic.

This involves training in acoustic characterisation techniques and methods for analysing gaseous products using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS). You may explore catalyst design and synthesis and work alongside other lab members in modifying and improving sonochemical reactor designs. Training for this studentship may be conducted in the lab or through collaborations within Oxford. You will be expected to be an active member of the lab by being part of group meetings, sharing lab responsibilities, mentoring undergraduate students, and training new DPhil students. As data is produced, you will be expected to write and publish research articles within the usual duration of the course. You will also be expected to conduct Responsible Research and Innovation as outlined by the EPSRC.

You will be co-supervised by a member of EDF. You will also conduct a three-month placement at EDF premises. Furthermore, EDF will advise on research direction, consultation on industrial impact of results, and provide engagement with key opinion leaders in the field.

Entry requirements for entry in 2024-25

Proven and potential academic excellence

The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.

Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying. 

Degree-level qualifications

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:

  • a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in engineering or a related discipline relevant for the proposed area of research, such as physics, materials science, computer science, applied mathematics or chemistry.

A previous master's qualification is not required.

For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.5 out of 4.0.

If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.

GRE General Test scores

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience

  • Prior publications may be an advantage when applying for graduate study in engineering science.

English language proficiency

This course requires proficiency in English at the University's higher level. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.

Minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level requirement
TestMinimum overall scoreMinimum score per component
IELTS Academic (Institution code: 0713) 7.57.0

TOEFL iBT, including the 'Home Edition'

(Institution code: 0490)

110Listening: 22
Reading: 24
Speaking: 25
Writing: 24
C1 Advanced*191185
C2 Proficiency191185

*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)
Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)

Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides further information about the English language test requirement.

Declaring extenuating circumstances

If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.

References

You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Supporting documents

You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The How to apply section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Performance at interview

Interviews in person or by other means may form part of the admissions process.

How your application is assessed

Your application will be assessed purely on your proven and potential academic excellence and other entry requirements described under that heading.

References and supporting documents submitted as part of your application, and your performance at interview (if interviews are held) will be considered as part of the assessment process. Whether or not you have secured funding will not be taken into consideration when your application is assessed.

An overview of the shortlisting and selection process is provided below. Our 'After you apply' pages provide more information about how applications are assessed

Shortlisting and selection

Students are considered for shortlisting and selected for admission without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, sexual orientation, as well as other relevant circumstances including parental or caring responsibilities or social background. However, please note the following:

  • socio-economic information may be taken into account in the selection of applicants and award of scholarships for courses that are part of the University’s pilot selection procedure and for scholarships aimed at under-represented groups;
  • country of ordinary residence may be taken into account in the awarding of certain scholarships; and
  • protected characteristics may be taken into account during shortlisting for interview or the award of scholarships where the University has approved a positive action case under the Equality Act 2010.

Initiatives to improve access to graduate study

This course is taking part in a continuing pilot programme to improve the selection procedure for graduate applications, in order to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly.

For this course, socio-economic data (where it has been provided in the application form) will be used to contextualise applications at the different stages of the selection process. Further information about how we use your socio-economic data can be found in our page about initiatives to improve access to graduate study.

Processing your data for shortlisting and selection

Information about processing special category data for the purposes of positive action and using your data to assess your eligibility for funding, can be found in our Postgraduate Applicant Privacy Policy.

Admissions panels and assessors

All recommendations to admit a student involve the judgement of at least two members of the academic staff with relevant experience and expertise, and must also be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies or Admissions Committee (or equivalent within the department).

Admissions panels or committees will always include at least one member of academic staff who has undertaken appropriate training.

Other factors governing whether places can be offered

The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:

  • the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the About section of this page;
  • the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
  • minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.

Offer conditions for successful applications

If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our 'After you apply' pages provide more information about offers and conditions

In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:

Financial Declaration

If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a Financial Declaration in order to meet your financial condition of admission.

Disclosure of criminal convictions

In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any relevant, unspent criminal convictions before you can take up a place at Oxford.

Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

Some postgraduate research students in science, engineering and technology subjects will need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate prior to applying for a Student visa (under the Student Route). For some courses, the requirement to apply for an ATAS certificate may depend on your research area.

Engineering Science

The Department of Engineering Science brings together the study of all branches of engineering at Oxford. It has a community of around 550 graduate students at any given time.

The department has a substantial research portfolio, including much that is directly supported by industry. The major theme underlying this research portfolio is the application of cutting-edge science to generate new technology, using a mixture of theory, computation and experiment.

Study and research opportunities in the department include both conventional disciplines of engineering and newer areas of interest, such as information engineering, low-temperature engineering, nanotechnology and experimental plasma physics.

There are no barriers between different branches of engineering. The department is involved in a great deal of multidisciplinary and collaborative research with groups in other departments, from archaeology to zoology. 

The department has an excellent record of engagement with industry and of translating research results into real-world applications. It has generated numerous successful spin-out companies.

The department offers a range of research degrees, including four-year programmes as part of several specialised Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs).

Resources

Engineering research and teaching at Oxford takes place in a unified Department of Engineering Science with over 100 academic staff who are committed to advanced work in their own specialities while recognising a common engineering foundation. This creates an intellectual space where interdisciplinary work thrives and where expert advice is available to students in areas which though not central to their core research still impinge on it. The department (and the University) host expert speakers from around the world which provides opportunities for students to listen to and interact with leaders in their own fields; but also to learn about other fields of interest as well.

There are strong links too with researchers in other departments in the mathematical and physical sciences and, ever increasingly, with researchers and practitioners in medical science departments and University hospitals.

The eight research clusters in engineering science at Oxford are:

  • biomedical engineering
  • chemical and process engineering
  • civil and offshore engineering
  • electrical and opto-electronic engineering
  • energy
  • information, vision and control engineering
  • solid mechanics and materials engineering
  • thermofluids and turbomachinery.

These research clusters are well-supported by experienced teams of technical, computing, and administrative support staff. The department has well-equipped research areas and workshops, which together with offices, lecture theatres, library, common room, stores, reprographics and other facilities, occupies some 16,000 square metres.

The department has around 550 research students and about 200 postdoctoral researchers and research fellows. Direct funding of research grants and contracts, from a variety of sources, amounts to an annual turnover of approximately £25m in addition to general turnover of about £26m.

Funding

The University expects to be able to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across the collegiate University in 2024-25. You will be automatically considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships, if you fulfil the eligibility criteria and submit your graduate application by the relevant December or January deadline. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential. 

For further details about searching for funding as a graduate student visit our dedicated Funding pages, which contain information about how to apply for Oxford scholarships requiring an additional application, details of external funding, loan schemes and other funding sources.

Please ensure that you visit individual college websites for details of any college-specific funding opportunities using the links provided on our college pages or below:

Please note that not all the colleges listed above may accept students on this course. For details of those which do, please refer to the College preference section of this page.

Further information about funding opportunities for this course can be found on the department's website.

Funding for EPSRC iCASE studentships

ICASE students receive funding for a full EPSRC studentship for four years (full time equivalent). If you submit an eligible application for a studentship and you are successful, you will receive a stipend of at least £18,622 to cover living costs and expenses. Your course fees will be paid on your behalf for the duration of your fee liability. More information about iCASE studentships can be found on the UKRI website.

Please refer to the individual projects descriptions for details of any limitations or conditions that apply to each project, such as restricting studentship awards to applicants who have Home fee status.

Costs

Annual fees for entry in 2024-25

Full-time study

Fee status

Annual Course fees

Home£9,500
Overseas£31,480

Further details about fee status eligibility can be found on the fee status webpage.

Part-time study

Fee status

Annual Course fees

Home£4,750
Overseas£15,740

Further details about fee status eligibility can be found on the fee status webpage.

Information about course fees

Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges.

Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.

Continuation charges

Following the period of fee liability, you may also be required to pay a University continuation charge and a college continuation charge. The University and college continuation charges are shown on the Continuation charges page.

Where can I find further information about fees?

The Fees and Funding section of this website provides further information about course fees, including information about fee status and eligibility and your length of fee liability.

Additional information

Full-time study

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees (or, after fee liability ends, continuation charges) and living costs. However, please note that, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

Part-time study

Please note that you are required to attend in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year, and you may incur additional travel and accommodation expenses for this. Also, depending on your choice of research topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur further additional expenses, such as travel and research expenses. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for grants from your department and/or college, or from an industrial sponsor, to help you cover some of these expenses.

Living costs

In addition to your course fees, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.

For the 2024-25 academic year, the range of likely living costs for full-time study is between c. £1,345 and £1,955 for each month spent in Oxford. Full information, including a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs, is available on our living costs page. The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. When planning your finances for any future years of study in Oxford beyond 2024-25, it is suggested that you allow for potential increases in living expenses of around 5% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. UK inflationary increases will be kept under review and this page updated.

If you are studying part-time your living costs may vary depending on your personal circumstances but you must still ensure that you will have sufficient funding to meet these costs for the duration of your course.

College preference

Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs). 

If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief introduction to the college system at Oxford and our advice about expressing a college preference. For some courses, the department may have provided some additional advice below to help you decide.

Before you apply

Our guide to getting started provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive.

If it's important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under a December or January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance. Check the deadlines on this page and the information about deadlines in our Application Guide.

Application fee waivers
Application fee automatically waived for 'Standard'-type EPSRC iCASE studentship applications

All applications except EPSRC iCASE studentships

An application fee of £75 is payable per course application. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:

  • applicants from low-income countries;
  • refugees and displaced persons; 
  • UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and 
  • applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.

You are encouraged to check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver before you apply.

EPSRC iCASE studentship applications

The application fee of £75, which is usually payable per course application, will be waived for EPSRC iCASE studentship applications to this course. You should apply for the studentship using the relevant button below. When selecting the application type, please choose 'Standard'. When you submit your application you will not be shown the screen that collects payment details and you will not need to enter a waiver code.

Readmission for current Oxford graduate taught students

If you're currently studying for an Oxford graduate taught course and apply to this course with no break in your studies, you may be eligible to apply to this course as a readmission applicant. The application fee will be waived for an eligible application of this type. Check whether you're eligible to apply for readmission.

Application fee waivers for eligible associated courses

If you apply to this course and up to two eligible associated courses from our predefined list during the same cycle, you can request an application fee waiver so that you only need to pay one application fee.

The list of eligible associated courses may be updated as new courses are opened. Please check the list regularly, especially if you are applying to a course that has recently opened to accept applications.

Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?

You are encouraged to communicate with the department in order to refine your application, especially where studentships are involved.

Please ensure that you have researched the specialisms of the department and those of your potential supervisor(s) before making contact. Once you have done this, you can either contact the academic staff member directly or route your enquiry via the Admissions Administrator using the contact details provided on this page.

Completing your application

You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents

If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.

Proposed field and title of research project

Under the 'Field and title of research project' please enter your proposed field or area of research if this is known. If the department has advertised a specific research project that you would like to be considered for, please enter the project title here instead.

You should not use this field to type out a full research proposal. You will be able to upload your research supporting materials separately if they are required (as described below).

Proposed supervisor

Under 'Proposed supervisor name' enter the name of the academic(s) who you would like to supervise your research. 

You can enter up to four names and you should list them in order of preference or indicate equal preference.

Referees:
Three overall, of which at least one must be academic

Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.

Professional references are welcomed, but these must be obtained from your line manager (or equivalent). At least one academic reference must be provided.

Your references will support your intellectual ability, academic achievement and potential, motivation, creativity, and ability to work singly and in a group.

Official transcript(s)

Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.

More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.

CV/résumé

A CV/résumé is compulsory for this course. Most applicants choose to submit a document of one to two pages highlighting their academic achievements and any relevant professional experience.

Research proposal:
A minimum of 1,000 words, up to a maximum of 1,500 words

You should submit an outline of your proposed research, written in English. The overall word count should not include any bibliography.

If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.

This will be assessed for:

  • your past commitment to sustained and intense study and your reasons for wishing to undertake research
  • evidence of interest in, experience of, and understanding of the proposed area of study
  • the originality of the proposed research
  • the feasibility of successfully completing the project in the time available
  • your ability to present a reasoned and coherent case in English.

Inevitably your ideas will change as you develop your project. You should nevertheless make the best effort you can to describe the extent and ambition of your proposed research using sources and methods from the current literature. Your proposal should focus on your research ambitions in engineering, rather than on personal achievements, interests and aspirations.

Start or continue a non-studentship application

You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please refer to the requirements above and consult our Application Guide for advice. You'll find the answers to most common queries in our FAQs.

Application Guide  Apply - Full time Apply - Part time

Start or continue an EPSRC iCASE studentship application

You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please refer to the requirements above and consult our Application Guide for advice. You'll find the answers to most common queries in our FAQs.

Project AZ: 
Foundation models for industrial control applications – facilitating transfer and adaptation to new contexts

Mode of study: Full time and part time

Further information: The Studentships section of this course page provides further details about this project, including funding restrictions. Please read this carefully before applying.

Application deadline: Friday 1 March 2024. Applications may remain open after this deadline if places are still available - one week's notice of closure will be provided on this page.

Apply - Full time Apply - Part time

Project BA:
Advanced experimental and simulation methodologies for metallic aero-engine components under extreme loading

Mode of study: Full time and part time

Further information: The Studentships section of this course page provides further details about this project, including funding restrictions. Please read this carefully before applying.

Application deadline: Friday 1 March 2024. Applications may remain open after this deadline if places are still available - one week's notice of closure will be provided on this page.

Apply - Full time Apply - Part time

Project BB:
Network-aware mission planning for reliable autonomous robotic inspection missions

Mode of study: Full time and part time

Further information: The Studentships section of this course page provides further details about this project, including funding restrictions. Please read this carefully before applying.

Application deadline: Friday 1 March 2024. Applications may remain open after this deadline if places are still available - one week's notice of closure will be provided on this page.

Apply - Full time Apply - Part time

Project BC:
Decarbonising chemical processes with catalytic sonochemical reaction engineering

Mode of study: Full time and part time

Further information: The Studentships section of this course page provides further details about this project, including funding restrictions. Please read this carefully before applying.

Application deadline: Friday 1 March 2024. Applications may remain open after this deadline if places are still available - one week's notice of closure will be provided on this page.

Apply - Full time Apply - Part time

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