There are a very limited number of awards available for overseas and home students, these are therefore very highly competitive and it should certainly not be assumed that an offer of any place at the University of Liverpool guarantees an award. The award competition is quite separate from the decision to offer a place to an applicant. For home students it is worth exploring the possibilities of ESRC 1 + 3 funding. Full details of this award are available on the ESRC website (www.esrc.ac.uk) but briefly, the IP MSc is one of the very few UK courses recognised as providing the basis for fully competent research training. As such the ESRC recognise our course as worthy of funding the Masters course and subsequent PhD training. Thus, you could apply for 4 years of training (hence 1 + 3) if you have a developed idea for a PhD proposal. If successful, you would be given financial support for the Master's course and, subsequently, 3 years PhD funding. If you are interested in pursuing a PhD after the MSc you should identify an area of interest and get in touch with a member of staff whom you think might be interested in your chosen area. You MUST get in touch with that member of staff as early as possible (preferably prior to February of the submission year) because the student and the member of staff put the 1 + 3 proposal together. Submissions prepared at the last minute almost never get funding.

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