Doctoral training partnerships (DTPs) and CDTs explained

A doctoral training partnership (DTP) is a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) grant that a university or group of universities uses to fund PhD studentships across a broad subject area. Each studentship pays your home-rate fees, a tax-free stipend of at least £21,805 a year (full-time, from 1 October 2026) and money for training. A centre for doctoral training (CDT) is the more targeted version: a cohort programme built around one research theme or skills gap.

Since 2024, UKRI has called its new doctoral funding ‘doctoral landscape awards’ (the DTP-style kind) and ‘doctoral focal awards’ (the CDT-style kind). Many programmes still use the old names, so you’ll see both in adverts. Below, we explain how each works, how they differ by research council, what they pay, whether international students can apply and when to apply for October 2027.

What is a doctoral training partnership (DTP)?

A doctoral training partnership is a pot of PhD funding that a university or consortium receives from UKRI and then hands out as studentships. UKRI gives the grant; the universities recruit the students and award the studentships directly. That’s why you can’t apply to UKRI itself: you apply to the partnership or university offering the place.

Competitive partnerships usually span several institutions and often include research institutes or companies as partners. The partnership decides which projects to fund within a broad area, such as environmental science or the social sciences. So one DTP funds many different PhDs, each with its own supervisor and topic.

Each partnership sets its own deadlines, application form and interview process, so read its own pages carefully. Our guide to PhD studentships explains how funded places work more generally.

What is a centre for doctoral training (CDT)?

A centre for doctoral training is a cohort programme built around a specific theme, challenge or skills gap, such as quantum technologies, net zero or health data science. UKRI funds them in areas that ‘require a concentration of studentships in combination with a highly tailored training programme’. They’re often cross-disciplinary, and many work closely with industry partners.

You join as part of a cohort and train alongside the other students on the programme. Two CDTs show how this can look, and both run for four years. The Sensor CDT at Cambridge starts with a master’s year, in which you choose your PhD from supervisors’ projects. At SAMBa, Bath’s CDT in statistical applied mathematics, you choose and shape your own research direction.

CDT vs DTP: what’s the difference?

The short answer: a DTP funds many separate PhDs across a broad area, while a CDT trains a cohort on one theme. In practice the line is blurrier than it first looks, because length and structure vary by research council and by programme.

What you’ll notice	Doctoral training partnership (DTP)	Centre for doctoral training (CDT)
Scope	Broad subject area, many topics	One theme, challenge or skills gap
Your project	Varies: advertised projects, a topic you develop with your supervisors, or your own proposal	Chosen or shaped during the programme in the CDTs we checked
First year	Varies: some start you on a project, some settle it in the first term, some can fund a master’s year first	Cohort training, sometimes a master’s year
Length	3.5 to 4 years for the PhD in the partnerships we checked, with a master’s year possible on top in one	Four years in the CDTs we checked
Cohort	Training shared across the partnership’s students	Cohort-based training through the programme
New UKRI name	Doctoral landscape award	Doctoral focal award

Source: UKRI and the programme pages listed under Sources.

The partnerships we checked show the range. The South West Biosciences DTP and CENTA, the Central England NERC Training Alliance, advertise projects for 2027 entry. Cambridge’s NERC landscape award recruits you to a topic and settles the project with your supervisors in the first term. The North West Social Science DTP asks for your own proposal and can fund a master’s year first.

Which route fits you? If you already know what you want to research and want to write your own research proposal, a DTP that takes proposals is more likely to suit you. If you’d rather start with structured training and settle your project once you’ve met the supervisors, a CDT is worth a close look.

What has changed: doctoral landscape awards and focal awards

UKRI now funds all its doctoral training through two types of award. It announced this new doctoral investment framework in November 2023, to launch from January 2024. The two types are:

Doctoral landscape awards: broad, flexible funding across subject areas. Existing DTPs align with these, and new DTP-style funding goes out as landscape awards.
Doctoral focal awards: targeted funding for strategic themes, challenges or skills gaps. Existing CDTs align with these, and new CDT-style funding goes out as focal awards.

So for you as an applicant, a programme advertised as a ‘doctoral landscape award’ works much like a doctoral training partnership. Some partnerships hold both, running out an older DTP grant while starting a new landscape award.

The councils hand out their awards differently, which affects where you’ll find studentships:

Research council	DTP-style (landscape) funding	CDT-style (focal) funding
AHRC (arts and humanities)	Allocated by formula since 2026 to 50 UK higher education institutions, 15 studentships each (three a year for five years, final cohort October 2031), plus regional hubs. Its DTPs took their final cohort in 2025	Themed awards, final cohorts starting 2028 to 2029
BBSRC (biosciences)	Competitive partnerships, final cohorts mostly starting 2029	Themed awards, final cohorts starting 2028
EPSRC (engineering and physical sciences)	Given to more than 40 universities, at least three studentships per intake, plus industrial awards with company sponsors	Many CDTs, most taking their final cohort in 2028
ESRC (social sciences)	Competitive DTPs, final cohorts starting 2028	Three centres, none listed with a cohort after 2026
MRC (medical research)	Current DTPs took their final cohort in 2026; new landscape awards are due to take their first cohort in October 2027	Co-funds two focal awards led by other councils
NERC (environmental science)	Landscape awards, final cohorts mostly starting 2029 (most older DTPs took their last cohort in 2024)	Themed CDTs and focal awards
STFC (physics and astronomy)	Given by formula to more than 60 universities, about 220 studentships a year	Data-intensive science CDTs (final cohort started 2024)

Source: UKRI doctoral landscape and focal award investment lists.

What this means for you: check who funds a programme, not just the label in the advert. If you’re aiming at medical research, for example, the new MRC landscape awards are due to take their first students in October 2027. They weren’t yet on UKRI’s landscape list when we checked, so look on MRC’s and your university’s pages. For council-specific detail, see our guides to EPSRC PhD funding and BBSRC DTPs.

What does a DTP or CDT studentship pay?

A full UKRI-funded DTP or CDT studentship pays your tuition fees at the home rate and a tax-free stipend, plus a research training budget for things like conferences and courses. UKRI sets the minimum stipend each year; the current rate applies from 1 October 2026, and the 2027/28 rate will be confirmed nearer the time.

Key figures (full-time)	2025 to September 2026	From 1 October 2026
Minimum stipend	£20,780	£21,805
Stipend with London weighting	£22,780	£23,805
Minimum fee level	–	£5,238 (2026/27)

Source: UKRI, support for UKRI-funded students.

A few points change the figure you’ll actually get:

Part-time: you get a pro-rata stipend.
London weighting: EPSRC doesn’t offer one, though programmes can pay higher stipends within their grant budget.
Higher stipends: some programmes pay more than the minimum. The Sensor CDT at Cambridge, for example, pays home students £30,000 a year for October 2027 entry.

As a UKRI-funded student you’re also entitled to:

at least 30 days’ annual leave, including bank holidays;
paid medical leave of up to 28 weeks in a rolling 12-month period (52 weeks at most over the studentship), and family leave;
the right to ask to switch to part-time study.

For how a stipend compares with a salary, see PhD salaries in the UK.

Can international students apply?

Yes. Since 2021, UKRI studentships have been open to international students, but there are two limits. UKRI normally caps international students at 30% of the studentships a programme awards each year, and it pays fees only at the home rate.

If you’re a home student: the studentship should cover your fees in full. The university makes the final decision on your status, but home status broadly covers:

UK nationals who meet the residency rules;
people with settled status;
people with pre-settled status or indefinite leave to remain and three years’ residence immediately before the course;
Irish nationals living in the UK.

If you’re an international student: international fees are usually much higher than the home rate. The university can charge you the difference, waive it or cover it from other money, so ask each doctoral training partnership or CDT before you apply. The North West Social Science DTP, for example, waives it for every international student it funds. UKRI doesn’t pay for visas or the immigration health surcharge.

How and when to apply to a doctoral training partnership or CDT

Depending on the programme, you apply through the university’s application portal (some partnerships add a separate studentship form) or through the partnership’s own application system, so check its ‘how to apply’ page. Some schools also set earlier internal deadlines. A typical route looks like this:

Find programmes in your area. Start with UKRI’s lists of doctoral landscape award investments and doctoral focal award investments, which link to the competitive programmes’ websites. For EPSRC, STFC and AHRC formula awards, check your own university’s funding pages.
Check how it recruits. Some partnerships advertise projects, some ask for your own proposal, and some CDTs recruit you to the programme and let you settle your project later.
Contact supervisors. Where you apply for a project or propose your own, you’ll usually be asked to name a prospective supervisor, so get in touch before you apply.
Apply by the programme’s deadline, with references in on time.
Prepare for an interview. Our list of PhD interview questions is a good place to start.

For entry in autumn 2027, deadlines at four of the programmes we checked, one per research council, run from early December 2026 to late February 2027. The Sensor CDT’s 6 January 2027 date is for international applicants. Interviews and offers follow between February and April.

NERC’s landscape and focal awards also share a universal acceptance date: noon on 17 March 2027. That means you don’t have to accept one offer before you hear about the others. Our guide to NERC PhD funding explains how its studentships work.

Before you apply: two of the programmes we checked opened applications or posted their topics and supervisors in August 2026 or by 1 September. So start looking in late summer, about a year before you’d begin.

Find a funded PhD

Work out which research council covers your subject, then read each programme’s own pages for its deadlines and fee rules. Start talking to supervisors early, because many applications ask you to name one. With the new landscape and focal awards, doctoral training partnership studentships will keep coming for 2027 entry and beyond.

When you’re ready, browse current PhD opportunities to see funded projects you could apply for.

Sources