kcl phd proposal

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Stem student stories from king's college london, how to apply for a mathematics phd at king’s: a step-by-step guide.

November 18, 2021 Lucy Emanuel Mathematics , Postgraduate 0

Starting Your Application

Your application will be submitted through King’s Apply . The first step is to create an account, though don’t be intimidated by the long list of titles, the standard ones (Ms, Mr, etc.) can be found by scrolling down slightly.

Course Finder

Once you have registered an account, you will be sent to the course finder, where you’ll need to select your programme. Typing in ‘maths’ does not work – only ‘mathematics’. Statistics must be searched for separately. You can find the applied programme by typing in your research group but be careful not to select an MSc or physics course. Several options will appear, but the correct courses are:

Applied Mathematics Research: Disordered Systems/Financial Mathematics/Probability/Theoretical Physics MPhil/PhD;Pure Mathematics Research MPhil/PhD;and Statistics Research MPhil/PhD.

Start Dates and English Language Requirements

After selecting your course, you will be asked to pick a start date. We will usually only consider applications for entry on October 1st. Other entry dates are exceptional and are only granted for deferrals or reasons relating to funding. We will not offer any internal or research council funding at these dates and may ask applicants to change this entry date or reject them outright.

The subsequent question, on English language requirements, is important for entry if you are an overseas applicant, you must prove that you meet the standard needed ( Band D ).

Residency, Nationality, Education, Employment, and References

These can be done in any order. The section on residency and nationality is necessary for visa reasons as well as determining your fee category. Based on your answers, you will be given a fee status assessment. You can ask for this to be reviewed after your application is submitted.You will also need to submit your education (usually just your BSc/MSc institution and classification) and employment history, as well as contact details for two referees.

Research Proposal

This may seem like the most daunting and important part of your application, so it is a good idea to discuss the level of detail expected here with the admissions tutor (and, for Pure Mathematics, a prospective supervisor). If you have already discussed your planned area of research with them, they may not expect you to write more than a few sentences.

We expect applicants to tick boxes 4 and 5 if they hope to be considered for funding from the department, including research council funding. Funding is allocated to applicants on merit, and admissions tutors will decide the source of funding that a student receives – this may not reflect what the applicant selected here. Funding offers will usually be sent out from March. There are also several centrally administered PhD funding schemes at King’s , shared across the university.

Attachment Summary and Submission

Make sure you have included everything that you wanted to at the attachment summary and check everything that you have written. Once you have done so, and are happy with your application, you are ready to submit, and can expect to hear from us shortly.

If you have any questions about any of this process, be sure to submit them to Gage Kumar Rull, PGR Programme Officer at [email protected].

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How to make an application to King’s College London

Please note that your formal application will be checked to determine whether you meet the King’s College London eligibility requirements. Details of these eligibility requirements are available at the following page.

King’s College London Computer Science Research MPhil/PhD information

If you have any questions relating to King’s eligibility requirements, or about the application process, you should contact the institution’s admissions teams directly.

Connect with a King’s Advisor

Detailed instructions on how to apply follow. Please follow these instructions carefully; failure to do so may result in your application not being considered for the Centre.

General instructions about how to apply to King’s College London are available at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/research-courses

Application Instructions

1. You should make your application via the application portal at: https://apply.kcl.ac.uk/

Programme name: “UKRI CDT in Safe and Trusted Artificial Intelligence (MPhil/PhD)”

Under the “Supporting Statement” section of the application, under “Research Proposal”:

• In the “Project Title/Reference” section, please enter “STAI-CDT-2024”. Failing to include this code might result in you not being considered for this funding scheme.
• In the “Brief synopsis of your research proposal” section, please list the code, title, and lead supervisor of the three projects you are applying for, in your order of preference.
• STAI-CDT-2024-KCL-03 : Dealing with imperfect rationality in AI system. Prof Carmine Ventre.
• STAI-CDT-2024-KCL-09 : Implementing Differential Privacy in Neural Networks to Enhance Data Security and Anonymization. Dr Frederik Mallmann-Trenn .
• STAI-CDT-2024-KCL-21 : Robustness of argument mining models . Dr Oana Cocarascu .
• OWN-PROJECT: Title of your self-proposed project. Prof X (KCL, not contacted), Prof Y (KCL, contacted).
• your initial ideas on the particular challenges you would be interested in addressing within the project in the context of Safe and Trusted Artificial Intelligence,
• a brief review of the relevant state of the art, identifying any limitations or open questions, and
• your initial ideas on what research you might carry out towards addressing these challenges, referring to existing research literature where appropriate.
• If you have listed your own project proposal as your first choice, then you should make clear its relevance to the theme of Safe and Trusted Artificial Intelligence.

Under the “Funding” section of the application:

• Select: “5. I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London. (Please read the application instructions for your chosen scholarship carefully to ensure whether you need to submit a separate application form for the funding.)”
• In the “Award Scheme Code or Name” box that appears when you select the option above, please enter “STAI-CDT-2024”. Please take care to enter this code accurately, failure to do so may result in your application not being considered for the Centre.

2. You should also complete a   STAI Centre Application Information Form . Failure to complete this form may result in your application not being considered by the CDT.

Please refer to the application checklist on our ‘Apply Now’ page to ensure that you have correctly completed your application.

Any questions relating to the Centre should be sent to [email protected] . Note that this email address is not monitored outside of working hours, so any questions relating to an application should be sent well in advance of the application deadline.

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PhD Admission Guide

This application guide provides information on the key stages in making an application to study for a PhD at King’s Business School and on the admission and funding deadlines. Please read this information carefully as failure to meet the requirements outlined below may jeopardise your application. 

Application and funding deadlines

• How to apply: A step-by-step guide
• After you Apply

Receiving an offer

* Be sure to speak with a supervisor before submitting your application.

For entry to the King’s Business School PhD Programme for October 2025/26, the following application and funding deadlines apply:

(Please note, any application received after 1st December 2024 will automatically be considered for the second round entry.)

1. Check that you meet our entry requirements

Academic standards.

You should hold, or be completing, a Master's degree with a Merit or higher (or overseas equivalent) and  have achieved a 2:1 Bachelor's degree (or overseas equivalent) in a relevant subject.

International applicants can check the equivalence of their degrees . If you can't find your country or qualification in the list or would like to check the status of your institution with us, please contact the Admissions Office for further advice.

King’s does not require standardised tests such as the GRE or GMAT, but some supervisors may request these scores for information.

English language requirements

If you are a native English speaker or have been awarded a degree within the last five years from one of the countries listed here , you may not be required to take an English language test. English language competency is assessed on a case-by-case basis.

If your first language is not English you must be able to provide recent evidence that your spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the programmes for which you have applied. Check our English language requirements here (Band B) . You can use our pre-sessional English calculator to check if your language scores meet our requirements.

Please note, we cannot review individual eligibility before you apply and are only able to consider complete applications which include all supporting documents.

2. Contact potential supervisor(s)

Support from a supervisor with the right expertise for your project is essential to success in your doctoral studies. For your application to be considered you must identify a lead supervisor who shares an interest in your proposed area of research.

You should contact potential supervisors to discuss your research proposal before applying. If they are interested, they will invite you for an interview. 

You will work closely with your lead supervisor for several years, so it is essential to ensure that you have similar research interests and aims for the project. Before approaching a potential supervisor, read some of their publications on their Research Profiles to see if they undertake work in an area relevant to you. This will help you to decide whether they are the right fit for you and your project. When approaching a potential supervisor, it is important to show an appreciation of their research expertise and interests.

Details of research undertaken within the School can be found by exploring our departments and academic staff pages. All of our faculty members are research active and the majority of them are available to supervise doctoral students.

When you have identified a supervisor you would like to work with, please email them, and include the following information in your message:

• A short message explaining your background, research interests and why you are interested in undertaking a PhD
• An explanation of why you think they are the right supervisor for your project, demonstrating your familiarity with their research work
• A copy of your CV
• An early draft of your research proposal (usually about one page). Have a look at Section 3 for details on what to include in your proposal

If you do not send this information you may not get a response to your email, as without these details it will not be possible for a supervisor to assess whether they will be able to supervise your project.

It is fine to send queries to more than one supervisor, but please do not send blanket email requests to more than four academics at a time. These are unlikely to receive a response.

If you do not receive a response from your preferred supervisor after a week, then feel free to send them a reminder. If you still do not receive a response, you can still submit your application and include the name your preferred supervisor in your application. Your application may be considered.

If a supervisor is interested they will invite you for an interview and all applications are reviewed at School level. Please note that a supervisor’s agreement to supervise you does not guarantee entry to the programme. You must submit an online application with all of the required documents before the School is able to make a full assessment of your suitability.

3. Develop your proposal

A PhD proposal is an outline of your proposed project. It is arguably the most important part of your PhD application. The admissions committee will be assessing your expertise in your chosen research area, your knowledge of the literature, the quality and originality of your ideas, whether your project is a good fit with your proposed supervisor and the research strengths of the School, and the feasibility of your project.

The proposal should be approximately 1,500 words in length plus references, and should be structured using the following headings:

• Introduction: To set up a clear research problem/question and its wider significance
• Background: To provide a short literature review that analyses the state-of-the-art in the field and explains how the project will add to and/or challenge existing literature
• Objectives: To state the main objectives of the project
• Methods: To explain the methods you plan to use, including sources of, or means of collecting, data
• Implications: To highlight the anticipated academic and applied contributions of the project

You are advised to contact prospective supervisors before finalising your proposal in case they have any advice about how to refine it and so you can ensure your research fits well with the expertise of your supervisor.

It is understood that your project will evolve during the course of your PhD, so the proposal is necessarily speculative. We do not expect you to be able to answer your research question(s) at the application stage. Likewise, some of the methods you may want to use will work, and some of them may not. Nonetheless it is important to try and be as specific as you can about the project’s objectives, methods and anticipated outcomes.

4. Write your Personal Statement

We ask that you also write a short supporting statement (c. 500 words) explaining:

• Your motivation for applying for a PhD
• Why you are well suited to undertaking a PhD (appropriate expertise, personal skills, etc.)
• What you are hoping to do after you complete your PhD
• Why you have selected your preferred supervisor(s)
• Why King’s Business School is the best place for you to undertake your project

5. Apply online

Submit your application via King’s Apply , our online application portal. Select either Management Studies Research MPhil/PhD (Full Time) or Management Studies Research MPhil/PhD (Part Time) depending on your preferred mode of study. Please note that only applicants for Full Time study are eligible for a King’s Business School studentship.

Your application requires the following:

• Research proposal of 1,500 words, to be uploaded on the portal
• The name of your preferred supervisor
• Personal statement of 500 words, to be pasted in the ‘Supporting Statement’ box
• One academic reference which is recent and valid. You can invite your referee to upload their reference directly or you can upload copies of the reference letter to the online application form
• A sample of your previous written work (typically, your Master’s dissertation)
• English language test certificate, unless you meet the criteria for an exemption.Valid degree transcripts for both undergraduate and master’s degrees, which include marksheets showing all modules taken and marks received. If your transcripts are not in English, please provide an official translation
• Details on how you will fund your studies. If you are applying for a King’s College London studentship you must enter the scholarship code details in the online form

6. Apply for funding

Most PhD students require funding to support their studies. To increase your chances of securing funding, we strongly encourage you to apply to all studentship competitions for which you are eligible.

A variety of competitions are open to students accepted to the King’s Business School PhD Programme and a comprehensive database of studentships is available through the Centre for Doctoral Studies . Some of the key competitions include:

King’s Business School Studentships

Open to all full-time applicants to the PhD Programme, regardless of fee status, King’s Business School studentships pay fees in full and an annual stipend. Applicants to the King’s Business School studentships are expected to also apply to any other King’s studentships for which they are eligible. The competition opens in early October each year.

Please let your supervisor know if you are interested in applying to the King's Business School Studentships and ensure you submit your online application via King’s Apply by  1 December 2024 at 17.00 (5pm) .

Please contact The PhD Team at [email protected] if you have any questions.

London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS-DTP) Studentships

These studentships, funded by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council, are available to Home and International students (including EU students). The deadline is TBC, but usually late January 2025.

King’s China Council Scholarships

Open to citizens and permanent residents of the People’s Republic of China, these scholarships provide international fees, an annual living allowance and visa application fees. To apply mention the relevant scholarship code when you submit your online application to King’s Apply, and fill out the CSC application form (available online). The deadline is usually in early January.

After you apply

Use King’s Apply you can track the status of your application, view your offer details and upload supporting documents such as English language test results.

The application process can take four to eight weeks depending on the time of year. Please note that an incomplete application will delay the decision-making process.

If you have any queries about your application, you can contact Admissions directly through your King’s Apply Account using the messaging service (admissions does not communicate through email about applications)

All shortlisted applications are reviewed at School level and if your application is successful, you will either receive an unconditional or conditional offer at the end of March 2025 for Round 1 and end of June for Round 2. A conditional offer will outline certain requirements which you must fulfil before you can be admitted to the programme.

If you decide to accept the offer, you will need make the offer ‘firm’ on your King’s Apply Account. You can still do this if your offer is conditional and when all conditions are met the status of your application will change to unconditional.

You will start to receive specific programme Information from the Research Officer in the summer before the programme starts in October.

Do you have a question?

If you have a query which is not answered on this page, or to find out more about supervisors currently taking on PhD students, please contact [email protected] .