We welcome applications from PhD students who would like to work with Royal Holloway academics on areas of mutual interest.
If you’d like to join us as a research student, here’s our step-by-step guide on how to apply:
Step 1 - Are you eligible to apply?
- To become one of our research students, you need an invitation from a Royal Holloway academic.
- This academic must be willing to supervise you and must have agreed the length of your stay with the head of their department.
- If you don’t have an invitation, look at our departmental research pages to identify an appropriate person to approach e.g. an academic working in an area of mutual interest.
- Contact the relevant academic directly and ask them for an invitation.
Step 2 - Apply
- Once one of our academic departments has agreed to accept you as a PhD student, we’ll then send you an invite with a unique link to our application form for Guest Research students (this is NOT the same as our Postgraduate Research application form)
- Complete and Submit this form. If you’ve got any queries, email us using our contact form. We’re here to help.
- As soon as we’ve processed your application, you’ll then be able to access our student support services.
Step 3 - Check your fees
- Visiting Research students coming for 3 months or less will not be charged a fee
- For those intending to study for more than 3 months the full period is chargeable at the following rates:
- The fee for visiting research students in 2024-25 is £440 a month (September 2024 to August 2025).
- The fee for visiting research students in 2025-26 is £480 a month (September 2025 to August 2026).
- If you believe that you should not be personally liable for these fees, please discuss this with the academic department you will be visiting.
Step 4 - Accommodation
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We don’t normally offer campus accommodation to visiting research students, however please contact the Student Services Centre at studentservices@royalholloway.ac.uk to discuss possible options.
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Alternatively, our Students’ Union will be happy to advise you on how to use our House Search portal to find local accommodation. Please contact them directly at HouseSearch@su.rhul.ac.uk.
Contact us
Need help filling in your online application? Not sure about something? Email us using our contact form. We’re here to help.
