UKRI to increase PhD stipends by 10%

Zoom onto the mid-section of a person with coins in one hand and a wallet in another

Source: © Sean Gladwell/Getty Images

Funder responds to student demands for financial support

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is raising its minimum rate for PhD stipends by 10%. The move follows calls from postgraduate researchers for more support amid the UK’s ongoing cost of living crisis.

In July, an open letter addressed to UKRI chief executive Ottoline Leyser and its chair Andrew Mackenzie demanded action to support postgraduate students struggling with rapidly rising costs of living. By 5 September the letter, which was organised by the PGRs Against Low Pay campaign, had been signed by 10,504 postgraduate researchers and another 4000 people signing in solidarity.