Applications

UCL CLOSURE FOR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

Please note that UCL will be closing down for the Christmas holidays at 5.30pm (London Time) on Friday 23 December 2022 and will not reopen until 9.00am (London Time) on Tuesday 3 December 2023. Staff may also be taking annual leave during the weeks before and after this date. If you have a query about your application during this period, please go ahead and email it to the Centre Manager (details here)and submit your application. They will then contact you on their return to the office on Monday 9th January 2023 and deal with any adjustments that may need to be made.

LSGNT ADMISSIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2023 INTAKE

The LSGNT Admissions portal for our September 2023 intake of students to our 4 year PhD programme is now open and will close at midnight on 31 December 2022 (London Time). Instructions on how to apply to our programme can be found below. Please note that this year, all applicants must also fill in an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring form with their application. If you have applied to our programme but have not filled in this monitoring form, please click here to complete this form.

References

Please note that the deadline for references will be 08 January 2023. For more information please see the references section further down.

Application Fee

You are not required to pay a fee to apply for this course.

Admissions Timeline

The Admissions timeline is as follows:

• 01 November 2022: Admissions portal opens for September 2023 intake
• 31 December 2022: Admissions portal closes
• January 2023: Applications are reviewed by selection committee (made up of academics from UCL, Imperial and King's)
• February 2023: Candidates who have been shortlisted are invited for an interview by members of the selection committee
• February - April 2023: Further interviews are undertaken if required and offers are made to successful candidates
• End April - beginning of May 2023: All applicants receive an email notifying them of the outcome of their application. Please note this date may be put back depending on the outcome of offers made.

Application Guidelines

Please note the following before you start your application:

• Please read carefully the 'Qualifications and Eligibility' section of this website before you apply.
• Please note the UCL English language requirements and the accepted English language qualifications before you apply. Please note we do not offer English language waivers. The English language level for this programme is: Standard. You must pass the English language requirements in order to be accepted onto this programme.

To apply you must do the following:

1. Fill out the online application form through the LSGNT application portal that is listed at the bottom of this page whenever the applications portal is open. Please fill in the application form fully.
2. Upload your official transcripts to date.
3. Upload one PDF LSGNT Applicant Profile document containing information as outlined on the application form.

Institution Preference

You will be asked to select two institutions on the application form (unranked) where you would prefer to undertake your PhD research from years 2 to 4. Please note you will be enrolled at University College London for the first year of this programme. Feel free to provide more information about your preferences in your personal statement as part of your Applicant Profile Document, for example if you are interested in any particular staff members as potential supervisors, or if you have no strong preferences among the three institutions.

LSGNT Applicant Profile

This profile document should be supplied in PDF format only and should contain the following:

1. Your name listed at the top of your document
2. Next, the names of the two referees who will provide a reference for you. (You will also provide this information in the references section of your application form)
3. Your CV
4. A list of topics you have studied in the last two years
5. A brief description of any project work undertaken
6. A personal statement of no more than two sides of A4, providing information about your mathematical development and interests. E.g. outline what you like about a particular topic or theorem and why it has caught your imagination. As mentioned above, please feel free to provide more information about your preferences (potential supervisors/institutional etc.) in your personal statement.

Official Transcripts

Please upload transcripts of your undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. We do not necessarily expect you to have completed your master's degree or 4 year degree equivalent before you apply for this course, however we will require you to upload the grades you've acquired on your course so far for your master's degree or equivalent degree.

References

As part of the application form you will be asked to submit two academic references to support your application. Your referees will be sent an automatic email request for a reference as soon as you submit your application, so please check carefully the email address you are supplying for your referees. We advise that you also contact your referees before you apply to ensure they are available to supply a reference for you. The deadline for letters of reference is 08 January 2023. Due to the volume of applications we will not be able to confirm individually that references have been received. If you are in any doubt, please check with your referees.

Please do not upload any additional documents outside of those listed above or directly requested by the LSGNT Centre Manager. They will not be considered with your application.

Women in Geometry and Number Theory

One of the LSGNT's particular aims is to recruit a critical mass of women students and to help counteract the under-representation of women in UK mathematics. We therefore strongly encourage interested undergraduate women mathematicians to apply to the LSGNT and hope to receive a great number of applications from women.

The LSGNT is pleased to announce opportunities provided by collaboration with the MSc in Mathematical Sciences (OMMS) at the University of Oxford, the Masters in Advanced Study Course (Part III) in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Statistics (DPMMS) at the University of Cambridge.

If you are a woman undergraduate considering the one year OMMS and/or Part III master's degree course, and a PhD in Geometry and Number Theory, you are strongly encouraged to apply simultaneously both to Oxford and/or Cambridge and to the LSGNT, and to let Oxford and/or Cambridge (partiii-admissions@maths.cam.ac.uk) know that you wish to be considered for the LSGNT deferred entry scheme. We hope to offer a deferred LSGNT studentship to one to two women applicants who have accepted a place on either OMMS or Part III.

For more information on this deferred studentship and possible bursary opportunities at Newnham College Cambridge, please take a look at the details outlined on our Women in Geometry and Number Theory page.

Qualifications and Eligibility

All applicants

• Applicants will normally have a very good four-year degree or an undergraduate and a master's degree in mathematics or in a related discipline.

• Applications from individuals with non-standard backgrounds (e.g. a period away from academia) are welcomed, but you will have to demonstrate your enthusiasm and potential aptitude for the training we offer.

To be admitted to the LSGNT, you must:

• have completed at least a 4-year degree in mathematics or a closely related subject by September 2023; in Europe this implies a masters degree for most applicants. We also welcome applications from outstanding US bachelor students, for example. Please note we do not expect you to have completed your four-year degree before you apply for our programme, but you must expect to complete this before your entry to our programme in September.

• fulfil the UCL English language requirements. Please note the accepted English language qualifications. You do not need to supply your test certification at this stage of your application, however if you are successful through the selection and interview process, you will need to supply this transcript before taking up your place at the LSGNT in September. If you cannot find your English language qualification on the UCL English language webpage and would like to check whether your certification meets UCL requirements before you apply, then please email UCL postgraduate admissions (postgraduate-admissions@ucl.ac.uk) directly.

International Students

Tier 4 Visas

• Please note that applicants outside of the UK and EU will need to apply for a Tier 4 visa, once they have met our offer conditions, in order to study in the UK.
  Year One: All students spend year one formally registered at UCL and then, depending on their offer conditions, transfer to either King's or Imperial or stay at UCL for years 2-4 of their PhD.
  Years Two - Four: If an applicant's offer conditions include a place at either King's or Imperial for the final three years of their PhD degree they will need to apply for a one year Tier 4 visa sponsored (but not funded) by UCL for the start of the programme, and then apply for a second, three year Tier 4 visa during the summer of 2022 for the remainder of their PhD. This second visa will then need to be officially sponsored (not including visa funding) by the university they are transferring to. For international applicants remaining at UCL for the full four years of the programme, they will need to apply at the start of their course for a four year visa with UCL as their sponsor.

Visa Funding: Please note, international applicants will need to fund their own visa applications. Funding for visas is not part of the studentship funding offered by any of the visa sponsoring institutions. Students transferring to King's or Imperial for years 2-4 of their degree will have to fund a second visa application during sumer as outlined above.

NHS Surcharge:

• Tier 4 applicants will also need to pay a charge to cover their healthcare within the UK. Details regarding this can be found on the UK immigration website.

Funding

Approximately 18 fully funded studentships (UK and Overseas - the latter now including EU students) on offer for September 2023 intake.

This funding includes for the 4 years of the PhD Research Degree:

• Full fees
• Full tax free stipend (including London weighting)
• Access to a £7,000 Research Training Support Grant to cover expenses for research trips/conferences or workshops, plus an additional fund you can apply to
• Student laptop

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Form

Please note that you are now required to fill in the following Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) form, with your application. Please click here to access this form.

Apply to the LSGNT