If you are funded by a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) training grant, you receive various standard benefits. This page gives an overview of these, though your first port of call should always be your funding scheme.
The team that administers your UKRI funding could have a different name depending on when/how UKRI issued the underlying training grant to the University. For example, Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTP), Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT) and Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLA). For simplicity, this page uses “funding scheme” or just “scheme”.
UKRI funding schemes at the University of Cambridge include:
- AHRC OOC DTP
- BBSRC Cambridge Biosciences DTP
- EPSRC DTP and CDTs
- ESRC CAM DTP
- MRC DTP and its associate partners
- NERC C-CLEAR DTP
- STFC departmental grants at Astronomy, DAMTP and Physics
- STFC CDT-DIS
Different funding schemes divide staff responsibilities in different ways and might have different staff titles. This page uses "funding administrator".
Your funding scheme should provide you with contact email addresses at the start of your studentship. They should be able to answer questions about your funding. Please check your award letter and the scheme’s website for these contacts.
UKRI publish the terms and conditions of training grant funding on their website, plus a guidance document explaining them. Your scheme may also be subject to additional terms. The terms and guidance are designed more for funding schemes to follow, than for you as a student, but they do govern how the scheme will interact with you.
From time to time, UKRI update their terms and conditions. This affects new and existing studentships, so the terms and conditions of your funding may change partway through your studentship. The next major update will take effect on 1st October 2025.
You should not need to contact UKRI or your individual research council directly. Administration is carried out via your funding administrator and other scheme or department contacts.
Your scheme can confirm your current stipend level and funding end date. You may need this when arranging rental accommodation. Please contact your funding administrator.
Your scheme cannot confirm your overall student status for a council tax exemption. Please see the Student Registry page on Confirmation of Study instead.
A Research Passport is the mechanism for non-NHS staff to obtain an Honorary Research Contract or Letter of Access when they wish to carry out research in the NHS. University guidance on the application process is available.
Please read the Student Registry Changes to Your Student Status pages for information about medical and non-medical intermission. If you would like to intermit, please apply via your CamSIS self-service page.
If you would like to intermit, please discuss this with your funding administrator as soon as possible. Your funding administrator is best placed to advise on the financial consequences of intermission. Do not solely rely on information from supervisors and College tutors. They may not be familiar with your funding scheme's specific terms or have out of date information.
There are several reasons (e.g. paid sick leave and family leave) why you can continue to receive funding, but this needs to be arranged with your funding administrator as otherwise, by default, intermission means your award is suspended.
You are not eligible for a maintenance stipend whilst your award is suspended: you will not be paid. If your intermission starts partway through a period for which you have already been paid, you will have to return the part of your stipend covering the time after your intermission started.
Until 30th September 2025
You are entitled to up to eight weeks of holiday per year, at times agreed with your supervisor.
From 1st October 2025
You are entitled to a minimum of 30 days to a maximum of eight weeks per year (including public holidays). Please discuss timing of leave with your supervisor.
Until 30th September 2025
UKRI students are eligible for thirteen weeks of paid sick leave within any twelve-month period. You are eligible for paid sick leave from the first funded day of your PhD until the end of your funded period. You are not eligible for paid sick leave in any unfunded writing-up period.
You must also apply to the Student Registry for a medical intermission on CamSIS, and contact your Funding Administrator notifying them of your medical absence, submit medical evidence (generally in the form of a Doctor’s Note), and request sick pay. Please also see Student Registry guidance on returning from medical intermission.
Claims should be made as soon as possible - either during or very shortly after the period of absence. More retrospective claims for paid sick leave may be considered in exceptional circumstances, but you must still claim before the end of your funded period. If you apply for paid sick leave after the end of your funded period, it will unfortunately be denied, even if the theoretical new funding end date would be in the future. UKRI Terms do not allow this.
The allowance is calculated on a rolling basis, looking at amount of paid sick leave already taken in the year immediately prior to the date on which the new period of potential paid sick leave begins. The allowance is not calculated per academic year or per calendar year.
Note that occasionally (for example a large number of short periods of medical absence all related to each other due to the same chronic illness) the Student Registry may decide it is more appropriate to give an extension to your registration at the University, rather than medical intermission. This should not affect the payment of your paid sick leave, or any other entitlements under UKRI Terms.
You may take additional paid sick leave (up to 28 weeks total leave per year) in cases of COVID.
You may not take more than 12 months paid sick leave over the course of your studentship
From 1st October 2025
Information to be provided closer to the date.
Note that in the terms and conditions currently in force, UKRI use “parental leave” to refer both to the group of leave types (including maternity, adoption, paternity and parental leave), and also to unpaid generic parental leave. From 1st October, UKRI will use “family leave” to resolve this ambiguity.
Until 30th September 2025
Students funded from UKRI training grants have no statutory entitlement to maternity, paternity or adoption leave. However, UKRI provides funding for similar leave.
Maternity and Adoption Leave
UKRI funded students are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave if the expected week of childbirth (or actual date of birth) falls inside their funded period. The first 26 weeks are paid at full stipend rate, pro-rated as necessary for part-time students. The following 13 weeks are paid at a level commensurate with statutory maternity pay. The final 13 weeks are not paid. The end date of the studentship will be extended to reflect any period of leave.
"A level commensurate with statutory maternity pay" in UKRI Terms means the pay described in the second bullet point of the gov.uk maternity pay and leave page.
Maternity leave can start no earlier than 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth, unless the birth itself is earlier than that. There is no qualifying period for maternity or adoption leave, so you can claim as soon as you start your studentship. However, UKRI require the University to reclaim the money if you do not return to study afterwards.
You must also complete an application to the University to intermit your studies and notify your funding administrator. If possible, please give notice 15 weeks before the expected birth, or within seven days of being matched with a child in the case of adoption leave.
Paternity and Parental Leave
Partners are entitled to up to two weeks paid Ordinary Paternity Leave on full stipend. Partners are also entitled to up to 50 weeks unpaid parental leave, with their studentship extended accordingly.
Ordinary Paternity Leave cannot start before the birth and must end within 56 days of the birth. Unpaid parental leave must be completed within 12 months of birth. This leave may be taken in one to three blocks. In all cases studentship end dates will be updated to reflect the period of leave. If possible, please give notice three weeks before the expected birth.
UKRI do not allow paid shared parental leave.
A summary of the allowances can be found below:
|
Type of Leave |
100% Pay (Pro Rata for PT Students) |
Level commensurate with Statutory Maternity Pay |
Unpaid |
Total Extension to Funding Period |
|
Maternity |
26 Weeks |
13 Weeks |
13 Weeks |
52 Weeks |
|
Adoption |
26 Weeks |
13 Weeks |
13 Weeks |
52 Weeks |
|
Paternity |
2 Weeks |
None |
None |
2 Weeks |
|
Parental |
None |
None |
50 Weeks |
50 Weeks |
From 1st October 2025
Information to be provided closer to the date.
Until 30th September 2025
UKRI funded students are entitled to unpaid (and limited amounts of paid) leave in the case of emergencies or bereavement. You should discuss this with your Funding Administrator.
Please note that in cases of extended compassionate leave involving mental health absences, paid sick leave provisions may be more appropriate.
From 1st October 2025
Information to be provided closer to the date.
You must read the University’s guidance on withdrawal and discuss the matter with your tutor, supervisor and Funding Administrator before starting an application.
Withdrawing will terminate your studentship. Once a UKRI studentship is terminated it is not possible to reinstate the award. If you successfully apply to be reinstated to the University, you will not regain your studentship funding.
If you do decide to withdraw, you must tell your Funding Administrator immediately.
Your Funding Administrator will discuss the implications with you. If you withdraw part-way through a period for which you have already been paid, you will have to return the part of your stipend covering the time after you withdrew.
Our payment systems have a brief delay between ordering a payment and it arriving in your account. If you withdraw right before an instalment is due, its payment may have already been ordered, so you would have to repay the whole amount as soon as it arrives. You must let your Funding Administrator know about your planned withdrawal as soon as possible.
Until 30th September 2025
UKRI generally only allows one change from full- to part-time status (or vice versa) during a studentship. You must discuss any change with your Funding Administrator and supervisor before you apply. To apply, please see the Student Registry Changing Your Mode of Study page.
From 1st October 2025
UKRI allows students to change from full- to part-time status (or vice versa) during their studentship, subject to the University’s approval. However, UKRI does not allow changes to a lower rate of study in the final stages of a studentship, other than in exceptional circumstances.
You must discuss any change with your Funding Administrator and supervisor before you apply. To apply, please see the Student Registry's Changing Your Mode of Study page.
Research, depending on the discipline, can involve periods of long study, out-of-hours working and shift-work. Your funding scheme and supervisor should not require you to work excessive hours to the detriment of your wellbeing. Whilst you may need to keep specific hours to run an experiment, for example, you should generally be able to follow a conventional working week.
Your funding scheme should consider reasonable requests for flexible working arrangements (that do not need changes from full- to part-time) but is not required to grant them. Please discuss these arrangements with your supervisor.
Please tell your Funding Administrator if you plan to submit your thesis before your award's end date – it may impact your stipend payments.
By default, you are not eligible for a maintenance stipend after you have submitted your thesis. If you submit part-way through a period for which you have already been paid, you will have to return the part of your stipend covering the time after you submitted.
However, if you continue doing activities related to your thesis, you may be granted permission to continue to receive (or keep, if it has already been paid to you) your stipend. This permission would be valid until the end of quarter in which you submitted, or your funding's end date, whichever is earlier. You must discuss this with your supervisor and Funding Administrator, as this does not happen automatically. Preparing something for publication or a conference often are valid reasons, but preparation for your viva or thesis' corrections are not.
Remember that you must keep a minimum number of terms before you submit your thesis.
UKRI require you to submit your thesis before their Expected Submission Date. This is something you agreed to when accepting the studentship.
Your funder-expected submission date is not currently displayed in CamSIS. The date shown there is the end date of your registration with the University, and may be the same, sooner or later. If you are ever unsure as to what your funder-expected submission date is, contact your Funding Administrator.
If for any reason you are unable to meet this deadline, please discuss this with your Funding Administrator and supervisor as soon as possible.
There is also guidance on extending your registration at the University of Cambridge. If you are submitting late by your registration date (as opposed to by your funder-expected submission date) you will need to apply for reinstatement.
UKRI-funded disabled students are eligible to apply for UKRI-funded support.
Please contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre (ADRC) to discuss your needs. They can arrange a needs assessment and putting in place adjustments to support you.
Payments will generally not be made directly to you, but instead to your department for the adjustments necessary.
You do not need to wait until you start your studies to start this process. If you believe DSA may be helpful for you, please do contact the ADRC before you arrive in Cambridge.
Please see the University of Cambridge's data protection for students page. UKRI require us to keep some data relating to your studentship for seven years after the closure of the grant funding it, for financial audit purposes. Note the grant (which often funds many other studentships) may close some time after your studentship ends.