Guidance
TechFirst PhD Support
Part of TechFirst, the government’s flagship skills programme opening pathways into the UK’s fast-growing tech sector.
Growth and innovation in technology depend on a strong research ecosystem. TechFirst is designed to make doctoral study a more attractive and financially viable option for talented graduates, while also creating routes back into research for those already working in industry. In doing so, it helps strengthen the talent pipeline and build a more inclusive, high-impact research base across the UK.
TechFirst will support 1000 UK home doctoral students across 2 intakes, offering a stipend top-up of up to £10,000 per year alongside a package of wraparound support. This support is focused on home students to strengthen the UK’s domestic research talent pipeline in priority technology areas. Students will be conducting research in frontier technology areas, including national cyber security, machine learning, quantum technologies and other critical fields. International students are not eligible.
For the 2026 intake, Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) and Doctoral Focal Awards were selected in line with the priorities set out in the UK’s Industrial Strategy. Eligible PhDs were selected based on their relevance to the 6 frontier technologies in the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan, alongside a small number linked to technology within the Financial Services sector.
Applications for the 2027/28 academic year will open from this Autumn.
List of CDTs/Doctoral Focal Awards
The current list of participating CDTs and Doctoral Focal Awards is below.
| CDT title | Universities | Website |
|---|---|---|
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies and Applications in an Uncertain World | University of Cambridge | https://cdt.sensors.cam.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing | Cardiff University (Lead), The University of Manchester, University College London, University of Sheffield |
www.cdt-compound-semiconductor.org |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Information Science and Technologies | University of Bristol (Lead), University of Sussex |
www.qist-cdt.info |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and AI for Net Zero | The University of Manchester (Lead), University of Glasgow, University of Oxford |
www.rainz-cdt.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Open SecuRe NeTworks (CDT-FORT) | University of Surrey (Lead), Queen’s University of Belfast |
www.fort-cdt.ac.uk/about-us |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Lifelong Safety Assurance of AI-enabled Autonomous Systems (SAINTS) | University of York | www.saints-cdt.ai |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Learning Systems | University of Edinburgh | https://informatics.ed.ac.uk |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Decision Making for Complex Systems | The University of Manchester (Lead), University of Cambridge |
www.ai-decisions-cdt.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems | University of Oxford | https://aims.robots.ox.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Secure Everywhere: Resilience in a World of Disappearing System Boundaries | University of Bristol (Lead), University of Bath |
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security, Centres for Doctoral Training, University of Bristol |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technology Engineering | University of Southampton | https://qte.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Computation and Quantum Communications (QC2) | University College London | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/mathematical-physical-sciences/quantum/study/phd-opportunities/quantum-doctoral-programmes |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Informatics | University of Edinburgh (Lead), Heriot-Watt University, University College London, University of Oxford, University of Strathclyde |
www.quantuminformatics-cdt.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Biology: Empowering UK BioTech Innovation | Imperial College London | EPSRC CDT in Chemical Biology, Research groups, Imperial College London |
| EPSRC and MOD Centre for Doctoral Training in Complex Integrated Systems for Defence & Security | University of Southampton | https://cisdns-cdt.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Use-Inspired Photonic Sensing and Metrology | Heriot-Watt University (Lead), National Physical Laboratory (NPL), University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of Huddersfield, University of St Andrews, University of Strathclyde |
https://cdtphotonics.hw.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistics and Operational Research in Partnership with Industry (STOR-i) | Lancaster University | www.lancaster.ac.uk/stor-i |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Digital Media Inclusion | University of Surrey (Lead), Royal Holloway University of London |
UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Digital Media Inclusion, University of Surrey |
| EPSRC and MOD Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensing, Processing, and AI for Defence and Security (SPADS) | University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University |
www.spads.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Mathematics for our Future Climate: Theory, Data and Simulation | Imperial College London (Lead), University of Reading, University of Southampton |
www.mfccdt.ac.uk |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Photonic and Electronic Systems | University College London (Lead), University of Cambridge |
www.pes-cdt.org |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistics and Machine Learning | Imperial College London (Lead), University of Oxford |
https://statml.io |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Citizen-Centred Artificial Intelligence | Northumbria University | Artificial Intelligence Centre for Doctoral Training |
| EPSRC and BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering Biology: EngBio CDT | University of Bristol (Lead), University of Oxford |
https://engbio-cdt.org |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Applied Quantum Technologies | University of Strathclyde (Lead), Heriot-Watt University, University of Glasgow |
www.aqt.ac.uk |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Healthcare | Imperial College London | No website link available |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for the Environment (Intelligent Earth) | University of Oxford | https://intelligent-earth.ox.ac.uk |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Practice-Oriented Artificial Intelligence (PrO-AI) | University of Bristol | UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Practice-Oriented Artificial Intelligence , Centres for Doctoral Training, University of Bristol |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Understandable agri-food Systems Transformed by Artificial INtelligence (SUSTAIN) | University of Lincoln (Lead), University of Aberdeen, University of Strathclyde, Queen’s University Belfast |
www.sustain-cdt.ai |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in 2D Materials of Tomorrow (2DMoT) | The University of Manchester (Lead), University of Cambridge |
https://www.2d-materials-cdt.manchester.ac.uk |
| UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world NLP | University of Edinburgh | www.responsiblenlp.org |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber-physical Risk | University College London | EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber-Physical Risk, Faculty of Engineering |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in UK Semiconductor Industry Future Skills (UK-SIFS) | Swansea University (Lead), University of Leeds |
No website link available |
| EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Algebra, Geometry and Quantum Fields (AGQ) | University of Glasgow (Lead), Heriot-Watt University, University of Edinburgh |
www.agq-cdt.org |
| CODE-M: Control and Design of Bioengineered Microbial Cells and Systems | The University of Manchester (Lead), University of Liverpool | www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk |
| DFA in Engineering Biology for Biomedicine | King’s College London (Lead), University of Leeds, National Physical Laboratory | https://eb4bm.org/ |
| Engineering Biology for Environmental Applications (EngBio4Env) | Cranfield University (Lead), Brunel University, Newcastle University, University of Glasgow | https://ebicentre.co.uk/ |
| Plant BioDesign: Designing Plant Systems for a Green Economy | University of York (Lead), John Innes Centre, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge | www.york.ac.uk |
| Training the next generation of Engineering Biologists to deliver green bio-based production (EngBio4GBP) | Royal Holloway University of London (Lead), Rothamsted Research, University of Reading | www.royalholloway.ac.uk |
Updates to this page
Published 4 December 2025
Last updated 21 July 2026
Show all updates
-
Guidance updated.
-
Additional CDTs/Doctoral Focal Awards added to the list.
-
First published.