100+ PhD Positions at Aston University, UK 2026

Applications are now open for a wide range of PhD positions at Aston University in the UK. These opportunities cover many fields in Health & Life Sciences, Engineering & Physical Sciences, Business, Law, Social Sciences, and more. Some projects are fully funded (covering tuition fees and providing a stipend), others are partially funded, and many are self-funded with flexible start dates.

Most positions are open to both UK and international students. Deadlines vary by project — some funded studentships have fixed dates in 2026 while self-funded and rolling projects remain open. There is no application fee for PhD applications. Start dates are typically October 2026 or flexible. Always check the specific project page for exact deadlines and funding details before applying. You can check out BS, MS, PhD and postdoc positions here.

Key Details:

Degree Level: PhD
Host Country: United Kingdom
Application Deadline: Varies by project (some in May 2026, others rolling or 8–12 weeks before start)
Start Date: Mostly October 2026, with some flexible options
Open to: all Nationalities
Application Fee: None
Funding Types: Fully funded, partially funded, or self-funded

Interested in More Positions? Follow links below

What This Scholarship Offers:

Real-world projects with possible industry placements
High-quality supervision from expert professors
Access to modern labs and research facilities
Full or partial tuition fee coverage (for funded positions)
Monthly stipend to cover living costs (for funded positions)
Professional training and research skills development
Support for conferences and publications

Also Check: PhD, Postdoc & Academic Faculty Positions at University College London, UK

Eligibility Criteria

Hold a good Bachelor’s degree (First Class or 2:1) in a relevant subject, or equivalent.
A Master’s degree with Merit or higher is often preferred or required for some projects.
Meet English language requirements (proof needed before starting, not always at application).
Show strong interest and suitability for independent research.
For funded positions, additional criteria may apply.
International students must meet visa requirements.

Also Check: HZDR PhD and Postdoc Positions in Germany 2026 (Fully Funded)

Available PhD Positions:

Health & Life Sciences

AI enhanced Integrated Environmental and Condition Performance Monitoring Technology for CO2 utilisation and BECCS Systems (Queen’s University Belfast, Fully-funded, 4 years)
APPLY HERE
3D printing of ocular films for treatment of ocular diseases of the anterior segment (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Antimicrobial resistance and gene regulation in Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Bioerodible inserts as a platform for controlled ocular drug delivery
(Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Cell membrane engineering for biotechnology
(Birmingham, Self-funded/Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Design, construction and testing of recombinant protein production systems for industrial biotechnology applications (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Design, synthesis and screening of inhibitors of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
(Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Development of antioxidant-loaded dermal formulations for diabetic wound healing (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: University of Luxembourg Funded PhD and Postdoc Research Positions 2026
Development of smart drug delivery systems for targeted ocular administration
(Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Experimental and computational investigation of the stabilisation of drug molecules in their amorphous state by mesoporous polymers (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Investigating the Role of Oxysterols in Cholesterol Metabolism and Myelin Maintenance (Birmingham, Self-funded/Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Regulation of brain fluid homeostasis by dynamic aquaporin-4 subcellular relocalisation (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Functional analysis of Gorlin Syndrome links to genome stability maintenance and S-phase checkpoints regulation in response to DNA damage
(Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Investigating nano and microplastic induced neurotoxicity in iPSC derived human models of neuronal networks (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Novel functions of the epigenetic cancer driver KMT2D
(Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Surfaces for the elimination of Clostridiodes difficile spores
(Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
The effect of immunosuppressant mycophenolic acid on gene expression, DNA damage and genomic stability (Birmingham, Self-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Understanding developmental trajectories underlying the effects of early life stress on neurodevelopment and function
(Birmingham, Self-funded/Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: PhD, Postdoc, and Academic Positions at University of Copenhagen, Denmark 2026
Beyond H3K4 Methylation: Mechanistic Insights into How KMT2D Controls Transcription, DNA Repair and Genome Stability (Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Advancing episignature analysis for chromatin disorders
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Defining the origin of multilocus imprinting disturbance (MLID)
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
A standard model of contrast detection: psychophysical probes and an international testbed (Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
The Optimisation of Visual Performance in Athletes Using Custom-Made Lenses
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Effective Management of Dry Eye Disease in Routine Clinical Practice
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, part-time options, up to 6 years) APPLY HERE
Longitudinal Study of Changes to the Ocular Surface and Tear Film
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, part-time options) APPLY HERE
Disrupted brain development and stress response in a zebrafish model of psychiatric disease (Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: PhD Opportunities at Lund University, Sweden (Fully Funded)
Genomic Profiling of Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma (PPGL) to Resolve Missing Driver Mutations (Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Integrative Cancer Genomics: Single-Cell Transcriptomics and Oxford Nanopore Long-Read Sequencing for Biomarker Discovery
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Prevalence, Ocular Biomarkers and Interventions for Myopia Progression in children (Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Developing reliable and objective neural markers of cognitive processing speed deficits in Pediatric-Onset Multiple Sclerosis using novel OPM-MEG technologies
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Defining the Membrane Protein Folding Rulebook
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
Understanding the role of lipoxidation in tumorigenic signalling
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
GTP Depletion and Genome Stability: Mechanistic Insights into Mycophenolic Acid-Induced Transcriptional and DNA Damage Responses
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: MGICIAN MSCA Doctoral Network: 15 Fully Funded PhD Positions in Europe
Exploring Cultural and Social Influences on ADHD Medication Choices in Diverse Communities (Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Shared Decision-Making in ADHD Medication Management: Evaluating Alignment Between Patient Values and Prescribing Practice
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Integrated formulation–process strategies for optimised extrusion and printability outcomes in additive manufacture of oral solid dosage forms
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Nanoscale Additive Manufacturing of Buccal Microneedle Patches…
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Deciphering stress response in healthy aging
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Dry eye disease and eye drops: retention of dry eye management formulations in eye (Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: Geospatial Research Institute (GRI) PhD Scholarship in New Zealand 2026

Engineering & Physical Sciences (Mix of funded/self-funded)

Advanced Microwave Technology Development for Low Carbon PVC Recycling
(Nottingham, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
AI-Enhanced 3D Atomic-Scale Imaging of Nano-catalytic Materials…
(University of Warwick, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
Revealing Atomic Structure… Metal-organic Frameworks
(University of Warwick, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
Bioderived electrodes and recyclable electrolytes for next-generation supercapacitors (Birmingham, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
Digital Twin-Driven Circular Product Design… Electric Vehicle Batteries
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Immersive Digital Twin and Augmented Reality Model for Workforce Upskilling…
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Designing Inclusive Participatory Mapping Tools…
(Birmingham, Partially-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Biomass-derived biochar electrodes for low-carbon sodium-ion batteries
(University of Warwick, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
Uncovering Human Cortical Growth Principles for Neuromorphic Computing
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: GSSI PhD and Postdoctoral Positions 2026 in Italy
PhD+: Upcycling Waste PVC into Advanced Membrane Materials…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3.5 years) — Check deadline (some PhD+ around mid-April 2026) APPLY HERE
Data-driven polarimetric shape sensing of composite laminates
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Sustainable road binders derived from a biogenic supply chain
(Nottingham, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
Sustainable colloidal and particulate lubricants
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Designing Plastics for Disappearance: AI-Driven Discovery of Degradable Polymers (Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
LLM-Driven Automated Orchestration for Network Services…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Multi Agent Agentic Systems
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Decentralised Task Allocation in Multi-Agent Systems under Uncertainty
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3.5 years) — Check recent deadline APPLY HERE
A Physics-Informed Machine Learning Approach to Epidemic Digital Twins
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
An intensified, modular absorption carbon capture approach…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

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Real-time neurofeedback system for children with ADHD
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Dual-Comb Spectroscopy for Greenhouse Gas Monitoring…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 4 years) APPLY HERE
Physics-Informed Digital Twin for… Biochar-Enhanced Low-Carbon Concrete
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Navigating Multi Level Governance for Sustainable Bioenergy Deployment…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Experimental Gasification of Industrial Waste Feedstocks…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Nature-Inspired Polymer Self-Assemblies for Sustainable Structural Colour
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Multimodal, privacy-preserving… monitoring of respiratory diseases
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: Fully Funded PhD and Postdoc Positions at ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Integrated CO₂ Co-Electrolysis and Biomass-Derived Hydrogen for Green Ammonia Production
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Quantum Machine Learning for Financial Fraud Detection…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Constraint-Aware 3D Scenario Generation for Agentic Digital Twins…
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3.5 years) APPLY HERE
Edge-Native Environmental Sensing through SDR and TinyML-MEC Framework
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3.5 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: 15 MSCA Fully Funded PhD Positions Across Europe

Business, Law, Social Sciences & Other:

Fully Funded PhD within the School of Law and Social Sciences
(Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years, October 2026 start) APPLY HERE
Protecting our Girls? Power and agency in anti-immigration ‘grooming gang’ narratives (Birmingham, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Re-reading for wellbeing (Birmingham, 3 years) APPLY HERE
Histories of Sexual Health Research at Aston…
(Birmingham, 3 years) APPLY HERE
The impact of English language proficiency on the daily lives of refugees and asylum seekers (Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE
The Luxembourg Connection: Corporate Strategy and the Governance of Contraband Tobacco (Birmingham, Fully-funded, 3 years) APPLY HERE

Also Check: PhD, Postdoc, and Professor Positions at Aalborg University, Denmark (2026)

How to Apply:

Visit the Aston University Find a PhD page and browse projects.
Choose an advertised project or propose your own research.
Check the entry requirements and deadline for your chosen project.
Complete the online application form on the relevant school page.

Official Website

Apply Now

Also Check: Fully Funded PhD Positions at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland