The ACCE+ DLA is committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or religious belief, pregnancy or maternity, parental or caring responsibilities or career pathway to date. We understand that a student’s potential can be shown in many ways and we strive to recruit students from all backgrounds, and support them on their scientific journey.
We have designed our application systems to identify candidates who are likely to be successful in research regardless of what opportunities may have been available to them prior to their application.
Each year ACCE+ funds at least 13 studentships, although the precise number may vary from year to year. Details of the funding we provide can be found here.
ACCE+ DLA studentships are available to UK and international students. Due to UKRI funding regulations we are only able to offer up to 30% of our studentships to international applicants. Implementation of the 30% cap imposed by UKRI will occur during pre- and post-interview shortlisting where needed. I.e. no more than 30% of ACCE+ interview places will be allocated to international applicants, and no more than 30% of our notional studentships will be offered to international applicants.
Please note that not all ACCE+ departments are accepting international candidate applications for 2026/27 entry. Please see the individual project adverts for details of whether a project is open to international applications.
Our 2026 applicant guide is here! Please read this carefully along with the information elsewhere on this website. You may contact acce.dtp@liverpool.ac.uk if you have queries about the application process.
Frequently Asked Questions for projects: each project advertised for 2026 entry has a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet, where you can find further details. Please browse our FAQs sheets per project here! If there is a question you have about a specific project and you would like to see the question and answer on the relevant FAQ sheet, please email us: acce.dtp@liverpool.ac.uk.
Project information sessions: each project advertised for 2026 entry has a pre-recorded session from the supervisory team, where you can find out more about the project. You can also view the recent candidate webinar for further information. Browse the sessions here!
Choosing a project
Click on the relevant ACCE academic partner below to see our available projects and application details per institution. You may apply for any projects which fit with your research interests. As some projects have many more applicants than others, you can apply for more than one project, up to a maximum of two projects at each ACCE+ institution, to maximise your chances of being interviewed. However, you can only be put forward for interview shortlisting for one project. If you are shortlisted for more than one project we will ask you to choose which one you wish to be interviewed for.
UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH)
National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
Before you apply
Please ensure you are eligible for an ACCE+ studentship before applying. Details on eligibility can be found here.
We strongly recommend you read the selection criteria used to assess applications before writing your application, to ensure your application includes the relevant information we are looking for, and to give you the best chance of your application being selected for interview. Our selection criteria can be found here.
Making an application
Applications for October 2026 entry must be submitted by Wednesday 7th January 2026 (5.00pm UK time). An overview of ACCE+’s recruitment process can be found here.
Interviews will take place between 19th and 27th February 2026.
Applications to ACCE+ are made directly to the institution you are applying for. You need to look at the guidelines for applicants for each University or Department hosting the PhD as they may vary. These can be found through the links to each of our academic partners above, and at the bottom of this page.
Your application should include:
- the correct online application form for your institution (see above for the page for each ACCE+ partner where you can find specific application information). This includes questions that replace the traditional CV and cover letter/personal statement, guided questions that make up your personal statement, details of the project/s you wish to apply to, and your referee contact details
- if required, supporting documents. The relevant online application form will note if you need to submit additional documents (such as your previous degree transcripts and certificates, passport copy and English language certificate, if relevant) via email as well as submitting the online form
- an EDI form (emailed to acce.dtp@liverpool.ac.uk).
Please check this list carefully, as your application may not be processed if any documents are missing.
ACCE+ personal statement proforma questions
The ACCE+ personal statement proforma questions (to be answered within the online application form) are used in place of a standard personal statement or cover letter to standardise this part of the application and minimise the difference between those who are given support and those who are not.
For guidance on what qualities we are looking for in potential students from your application, please see our What We’re Looking For page, where the selection criteria used to assess your application are available.
Referees
The two referees you provide details for must include at least one academic referee. If you are unable to provide an academic reference you can ask your old department to provide a statement confirming your attendance and performance based on your records. If you are applying for a position with your current (or past) supervisors it is not advisable to use them as a referee, as this creates a conflict of interest. References are used only to highlight issues that may prevent you from being successful, and are not considered when assessing your application.
EDI Form
The EDI form is a mandatory application document, but will not be used as part of the assessment process. It will not be passed to supervisors or assessment panels, will be anonymised at the earliest opportunity, and within the ACCE+ DLA will only be accessible to management staff. Data will only be kept until the Training Grant expires. The data collected will be used to ensure that our processes provide equal opportunities to all. For reporting purposes, anonymised data will be shared with NERC. For any questions you do not wish to provide information for, or where you would prefer your data not to be shared with NERC, please select ‘prefer not to say’. If you have any questions about this form, please contact us at acce.dtp@liverpool.ac.uk.
The EDI form must be emailed to acce.dtp@liverpool.ac.uk. Please include your name in the file name before sending. Data from this form will be removed and stored anonymously.