The University sets the minimum period of study for the PhD degree as three years. Our PhD students are in receipt of funding/scholarship awards with durations from three years up to four years. The IoA does not possess the resources to extend the length of maintenance funding and all students should be engaged on a PhD topic that is achievable within the [known] length of PhD maintenance funding. If, however, you encounter health or other difficulties beyond your control that affect your ability to work effectively full time you should consult the Postgraduate Office (Debbie or Paul) at the earliest opportunity.
Ph.D. students, once they have submitted their thesis remain as students for some time until the examination process has been completed. Aware of the difficulties that the mid-academic-year finish can produce, for many years the Institute has supported a number of students for a period of two or three months following Ph.D. submission. The support takes the form of a monthly stipend at the STFC postgraduate student maintenance rate. The Institute Academic Staff Committee has reaffirmed the desirability of maintaining the support and, on grounds of fairness and transparency, to make support available to all completing students who have spent less than four-years engaged on Ph.D. research.
Supervisors of students wishing to take advantage of the scheme should generate a short (half page) request that includes a summary of what the student will be working on during the period of funding. The request should be sent to the Postgraduate Office [post-graduate.admin@ast.cam.ac.uk]. To qualify for support the student must a) be attending the Institute of Astronomy frequently b) be working on an agreed research project/task (often completion of a journal paper based on material in the Ph.D. thesis) and c) not have completed four or more years of research since the start of their Ph.D.