Grants and Writing Resources for University of Birmingham
Ten doctoral researchers from Birmingham's five colleges reached the Three Minute Thesis final on 25 March 2026. The winner, from the College of Social Sciences, presented on how learning word parts makes a difference in bilingual children, and was chosen to represent the University in the national Vitae 3MT competition and the international Universitas 21 contest.
Prizes for Doctoral Researchers
The UDS Showcase on 16 June 2026 was the flagship event of a month-long Postgraduate Research Festival. Ninety-four PGRs presented in the Research Poster Competition, and the top three prizes went to work in social research, biomedical research and urban ecology. The Showcase also recognised the 3MT runners-up from health sciences and psychology, along with the 3MT People's Choice winner from the School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology.
Each of the five colleges also named a winner of The Michael K. O'Rourke Best Publication Award, which recognises outstanding achievement in publishing a postgraduate researcher's research. The 2026 winners, announced at the Showcase, came from English, Drama and Creative Studies; Education; Applied Health Sciences; Biosciences; and Chemistry. The Showcase also presented a Digital Scholarship Award, sponsored by AM Digital, and a Special Award in each college.
Funding
The 125th Anniversary Scholars are Black British doctoral researchers funded by the University, and the Doctoral School runs a programme on routes into senior roles in academia and beyond for them. For other support, the Doctoral School's funding page points to the postgraduate funding database and the annual Research Council competitions under Research Support Funds.
Academic Skills
New undergraduates can book one-to-one appointments, drop-ins and workshops at the Academic Skills Centre in the Main Library. Its interactive study skills site, Skills4Uni, helps students understand what studying at university involves.
Where Theses Are Published
Research theses go into the UBIRA eTheses Repository. Authors who need to delay public access submit a signed restricted access form with the deposit.
When a paper, thesis, or dissertation is ready for a final edit, our editors can help. See our University of Birmingham dissertation and thesis editing and University of Birmingham essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.
From Our Writing Guides
Compiled by James Peterson Brown, PhD, Managing Editor of Editors For Students. Links checked October 2026.
Editors For Students is an independent editorial service and is not affiliated with the University of Birmingham, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your Birmingham writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.