PhD opportunities

Applying for a PhD

For prospective applicants wishing to start a PhD in our group in 2025/26, there are a few possibilities to receive a fully-funded doctoral position.

1. Studentships funded by the School of Mathematics and Physical Sciences through its EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA).

2. One studentship under the supervision of Marco Fazzi funded by his Lectureship startup package of the Faculty of Science.

3. Two studentships under the supervision of Albrecht Klemm funded by his Leverhulme Trust grant.

EPSRC Studentships and Derek Collins Studentship in Applied Mathematics

The EPSRC DLA studentships and the Derek Collins Studentship in Applied Mathematics can fund PhD projects under the supervision of any member of staff in our group, and they include a stipend and support for travel and research training. Furthermore, all studentships cover the amount of home-level tuition fees (applicable to nationals or long-term residents of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland).

Deadline: please apply by January 15, 2026 at 5PM GMT for full consideration. More information can be found on the School website here.

Feel free to have a look at our research interests and members section to choose potential supervisor(s). Informal enquiries from interested candidates can be sent to Andrea Brini.

Faculty of Science Studentship (PI: Marco Fazzi)

The FoS studentship will be under the supervision of Marco Fazzi. Prospective students with both home (nationals or long-term residents of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) and overseas status (everybody else) for tuition fee purposes can normally be considered. Please contact Marco Fazzi for any questions.

Deadline: please apply by January 15, 2026 for full consideration. Applications are already being accepted and will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with a prospective start date of Oct 1, 2026.

Leverhulme Studentships (PI: Albrecht Klemm)

The Leverhulme studentship will be under the supervision of Albrecht Klemm for PhD work on the Leverhulme Trust project Quantum geometry and arithmetics. This position is only available for students having "home status" for tuition fee purposes (long-term residents of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland). Please contact Albrecht Klemm for any questions.

Deadline: please apply by Nov 30, 2025 for full consideration. Applications are already being accepted and will be reviewed until the position is filled.

How to apply

There are different application forms depending on whether you want to apply for an EPSRC DLA/Derek Collins studentship, or a studentship on a grant. These are described below. You will have to submit two different applications if you want to be considered for both an EPSRC DLA studentship and a studentship funded from a different source (FoS or LH).

EPSRC DLA/Derek Collins Studentships

Please strictly refer to the guidance on how to apply on the University's DLA webpage (especially the part on project types and relevant codes). Our projects (which you can find also find on FindAPhD) are considered student-led proposals for the purposes of the DLA studentship, and are identified by code S3.5-MPS-Open. Make sure to include the name of your proposed supervisor and give a brief motivation for what types of projects you would consider and why.

Non-DLA Studentships (PIs for 2026/27: Fazzi, Klemm)

Please use the University online system to submit your application, and see general guidance on how to apply. 

The application form is in two parts. Part one needs to be filled out with your personal details.

Part two contains your choice of course applications as well as supporting documents. For this part, please refer to the following instructions and required documents specific to our group.

• Under "Course selection":

  • Select "Standard PhD", "Full time", "School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences" in the first three fields.

  • Indicate "High-Energy Theoretical Physics" as your research topic of choice. 

  • If you are applying to the FoS studentship, indicate "Marco Fazzi" as your prospective supervisor. If you are applying for one of the Leverhulme studentships, indicate "Albrecht Klemm" as your prospective supervisor. If you are applying for both, please indicate both supervisor names.

  • Tick "yes" by the field "Do you know how you want to fund your studies?", and then from the drop-down menu choose "Scholarship or studentship"

  • Choose "I am thinking about funding my studies this way" from the last drop down menu.

• Under "References": upload two reference letters, or contact details of two referees who can provide you with a reference.

• Under "Supporting statement": refer to the guidance notes on the webpage for what to include.

• Under "Course Supporting Documents": we require you to upload a CV in this section. If available, please also upload your transcripts and your Master thesis work.

PhD Life In The High-Energy Physics Theory Group

There is a growing number of PhD students working on a variety of areas in the High-Energy Physics Theory (HEP-TH), Algebraic Geometry & Mathematical Physics (AGMP), and Cosmology, Relativity And Gravitation (CRAG) groups. In the School there are many other PhD students to talk to working in Algebraic Topology, Number Theory, General Relativity, Quantum Gravity, Cosmology, Quantum Field Theory, String Theory, Category Theory, Algebraic and Differential Geometry.

The Sheffield math & physics School is quite an active one. Each week there is ample opportunity to attend a variety of seminars run by various research groups. The PhD students of the above-mentioned groups themselves organize weekly reading groups and journal clubs on many diverse topics where they work through a set of lecture notes or academic papers.