King’s College London Joint PhD Scholarships 2026/2027 in UK

King’s College London’s Joint PhD Scholarships work through a structure most PhD funding doesn’t: you’re not applying for a standard doctorate based entirely at King’s, but for a genuinely joint programme split between King’s and one of four international partner universities, with real minimum time requirements at each institution built into your candidature.

Also, Check Out: Top Fully Funded Master’s Scholarships in Europe

If you’re checking this now, this cycle has fully run its course — the funding deadline was 22 February 2026 (King’s own guidance document), interviews for shortlisted candidates took place from June 2026 onward, and the programme itself begins in October 2026, just weeks from this post. This piece explains exactly how the joint structure works, an important scheduling detail that shapes your entire candidature, and what to prepare for the following cycle.

Don’t Miss: Top Fully Funded Scholarships for International Students

Summary of King’s College London Joint PhD Scholarships

About the Joint PhD Scholarships

King’s Doctoral College funds this scheme specifically for joint doctoral programmes co-run between King’s and four partner institutions: the University of Hong Kong, Humboldt University Berlin, the National University of Singapore, and the University of São Paulo. What makes “joint” a meaningful distinction here, rather than just branding, is the structured minimum time requirement at your partner institution — 12 months minimum for the Humboldt, NUS, and USP partnerships, and 50% of your overall candidature time for the Hong Kong partnership specifically.

Also Read: How to Write a Personal Statement for Scholarship | Tips and Free Template

This isn’t a short research visit or exchange semester; it’s a genuinely split doctorate where your supervision, research environment, and institutional experience are shared substantially between two universities across two continents, and your Travel Plan form — a required part of your application — has to reflect a realistic accounting of when and how long you’ll spend at each. The scholarship spans a genuinely wide range of academic fields, from public health and medicine through engineering, law, computer science, the social sciences, natural sciences, arts, humanities, and education, meaning eligibility is defined by your programme’s joint structure rather than a narrow disciplinary focus.

Worth knowing if you’re a Chinese national specifically: King’s runs a separate, distinct scholarship — the King’s-China Scholarship Council (K-CSC) PhD Scholarship — jointly funded with the China Scholarship Council, though that scheme explicitly excludes joint PhD programmes and runs on its own separate deadline (1 January 2026 for this cycle), so don’t conflate the two if you’re weighing your options.

What the Scholarship Actually Covers

• Full tuition fees, at either home or international rate depending on your specific fee status — covering the complete cost of your registration at King’s
• An annual stipend at the UKRI rate, set at £22,780 for the 2025/26 academic year — this rate is reviewed annually, so confirm the current figure for the specific year you’d be starting rather than assuming this exact amount carries forward unchanged
• An annual research support grant of £1,000 to £5,000, with the exact amount depending on your specific research project’s needs while based at King’s
• Eligibility to apply separately for the KCL Global Research Grant, a distinct funding stream specifically supporting travel costs to your partner university — worth applying for given that a joint PhD’s structure requires genuine international mobility as part of your candidature

One financial detail worth understanding clearly: this scholarship funds your time and research support specifically while at King’s. Costs and support arrangements at your partner university may work differently, depending on that institution’s own policies, so it’s worth clarifying with both your King’s and partner supervisors exactly how funding, stipend continuity, and research support translate during the portion of your candidature spent abroad.

Join Lucy’s Scholarship Mentorship Group

Get step-by-step guidance, live group reviews, and exclusive support to find, apply, and win global scholarships.

Join Now, Let's Waka Together →

Eligibility Requirements

• You must be applying for a full-time joint PhD programme specifically between King’s College London and one of the four approved partner universities
• You must be due to commence the programme in the 2026/27 academic year — this scholarship cannot fund a start date before October 2026
• You must apply to King’s College London as your home institution, not through the partner university’s own admissions process
• You must have obtained tentative agreement from potential supervisors at both King’s and the partner university before applying — evidence of this, such as email correspondence, needs to be submitted alongside your application, not arranged afterwards
• You must submit all required application materials by the funding deadline
• You must meet the minimum residency and study period requirements at your partner university — 12 months for Humboldt, NUS, and USP, or 50% of your total candidature time for HKU
• You must correctly enter the award code 2627-JOINT in the funding section of your online application — King’s states explicitly that if this code is missing or misspelt, your funding application will not be picked up at all, regardless of how strong your programme application is

That award code detail deserves real attention: it’s a small administrative step with a disproportionately large consequence if missed. An otherwise complete and strong application that omits or misspells 2627-JOINT simply doesn’t enter the funding competition — there’s no exception process for this specific error.

Required Documents

• A completed online PhD application form, submitted through King’s admissions portal with King’s as your home institution
• Academic transcripts, covering your full relevant academic history
• Academic references
• Confirmation from your King’s supervisor, specifically stating their agreement to supervise you — this needs to come directly from the supervisor, not be inferred from informal correspondence alone
• Evidence of agreement from your partner university supervisor, similarly needing to demonstrate a genuine, specific commitment rather than general interest
• A completed Travel Plan form, outlining your intended periods of candidature at each institution — this needs to realistically reflect the minimum residency requirement for your specific partner university

Given how much of this application depends on securing supervisor agreement at two separate institutions across different time zones and academic calendars, starting these conversations early is arguably the single most important thing you can do to protect your own timeline — supervisor correspondence can’t be rushed in the final weeks before a deadline the way document formatting can.

How the Application Process Works

1. Apply for an eligible joint PhD programme at King’s College London through the online admissions portal, listing King’s as your home institution.
2. Contact potential supervisors at both King’s and your chosen partner university, and obtain their tentative agreement to work with you — keep the correspondence as evidence for your application.
3. Upload evidence of this supervisor agreement alongside your application materials.
4. In the funding section of your application form, enter the award code 2627-JOINT exactly as specified.
5. Submit all required documents — transcripts, references, supervisor confirmations, and your Travel Plan form — by the funding deadline.
6. If shortlisted, attend an interview, scheduled from June onward following the deadline.
7. If you’ve previously applied for admission, or previously applied and deferred entry to this academic year, you don’t need to submit a new admissions application — only the funding-specific steps.

How to Prepare for the Next Application Cycle

With this cycle’s interviews and results process already underway or complete, and the programme itself starting within weeks, the coming months are for building toward the 2027/28 cycle:

• Start supervisor conversations at both institutions as early as possible. Given the two-institution structure, this is the step most likely to take longer than expected, and it needs to be genuinely underway well before any deadline, not initiated in the final weeks.
• Check the current deadline carefully once the next cycle is announced, rather than assuming it repeats this year’s date exactly. King’s Joint PhD deadlines have shifted between recent cycles — 16 March for 2025/26, 22 February for 2026/27 — so don’t plan around an assumed fixed date.
• Draft your Travel Plan form early, thinking through realistically how your specific partner university’s minimum residency requirement (12 months, or 50% of total time for HKU) fits your research timeline.
• Triple-check the award code for whichever cycle you’re applying to once you’re at the submission stage — this single administrative detail has real consequences if entered incorrectly.
• If you’re a Chinese national, also look into the separate King’s-China Scholarship Council (K-CSC) scheme, which runs its own distinct deadline and terms, though it explicitly excludes joint PhD programmes, so confirm which scheme actually fits your intended programme structure.

Deadline

For the 2026/27 cycle, King’s official guidance lists the funding deadline as 22 February 2026, 23:59 UK time (some secondary sources cite 15 February 2026 — go with King’s own published guidance where these differ). Interviews for shortlisted candidates ran from June 2026, and the programme begins in October 2026. Based on recent cycles’ shifting deadlines, expect the 2027/28 window to open with a similarly structured deadline in the February-to-March range, though King’s does not guarantee an identical date each year. Check the official King’s Doctoral College funding page directly for the current cycle’s confirmed date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the King’s Joint PhD Scholarship fully funded?

Yes. It covers full tuition fees, an annual UKRI-rate stipend, and a research support grant, plus separate eligibility to apply for travel funding to your partner university through the KCL Global Research Grant.

Can Nigerian students apply?

Yes. The scholarship is open to all countries, so Nigerian applicants are eligible provided they secure a joint PhD place with tentative supervisor agreement at both King’s and one of the four partner universities.

What happens if I forget to enter the award code on my application?

Your funding application won’t be considered at all, even if the rest of your application is strong. This is treated as a hard requirement by King’s, with no stated exception process.

What happens if I already missed the 2026/27 deadline?

This cycle’s funding deadline has passed, and the programme starts in October 2026. Use the coming months to begin supervisor conversations at both institutions early, ahead of the 2027/28 cycle.

Do I need a completely separate application if I previously applied or deferred to 2026/27?

No. King’s states explicitly that candidates who already applied for admission, or previously applied and deferred entry to this academic year, don’t need to submit a new admissions application — only the funding-specific steps described above.

Disclaimer: All scholarship details, deadlines, and award values in this post were verified from official sources as of July 2026. Information is subject to change without notice, and deadline dates have varied between recent cycles. Always confirm the latest details directly on the official King’s Doctoral College funding page before submitting an application. ScholarWaka is not affiliated with King’s College London.

Official Application Portal