Under specific conditions, the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies allows for a limited number of visiting Postgraduate Research (PGR) students to visit for up to 12 months.

If you wish to come to the School as a visiting research student, you must be registered as a current research student at another university.

Visiting research students should note that:

• Visting PhD students are required to pay a bench fee of £1000 per term / £3000 per year. Visiting students whose visit duration is not measured in full terms will be charged at £250 per month. The fee will be stated on the offer letter.
• Visting PhD students are responsible for all costs associated with their visit, including accommodation, subsistence, travel & leisure costs. We do not currently offer any bursaries or other financial support for visiting research students. 
• Visiting PGR students will receive supervision by a member of staff equivalent to the supervision arrangements of our regular PhD students.  
• If possible, we recommend that visiting research students bring a laptop computer with them.
• Visting PhD students will be permitted to use the communal Doctoral Student rooms within the School, where computers are available. The University of Bristol has several libraries and a computer centre which will also be available to you during the visit.
• The University of Bristol will not award any credit or make any awards based on work undertaken during the research visit.
• Visting PhD students will expected to engage with the research community in the School within the relevant Research Theme.

Application process

If you wish to apply to come to the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies as a visiting student, you must first secure the agreement of a member of academic staff in the School to act as your supervisor for the duration of your visit before you submit your application. 

Please refer to our Staff Supervisory Interests to find members of staff whose research area matches your interests. You should contact them directly, using the contact details given.

Once you have secured the agreement of a potential supervisor, and have agreed the dates for your visit with them, you can submit an application.

To Apply:

1. Go to Start your application and complete an online application to the relevant visiting PhD programme.
   

   • Sociology (Visiting) (PGR)

   • Politics (Visiting) (PGR)

2. Attach the following documents to your application in the portal:

• SPAIS visiting PhD student supervisor agreement (Office document, 130kB), to be completed by the applicant and the University of Bristol supervisor.
• Academic transcripts from first and subsequent degrees. We require colour scans of original documents and certified translations of documents issued in any language other than English;
• Degree certificate from first and subsequent degrees. We require colour scans of original documents and certified translations of documents issued in any language other than English.
• A document confirming your current registration at your home institution
• A 500 word outline of the proposed research at Bristol
• Two academic references 
• In the case of students whose first language is not English, evidence is needed to demonstrate that the English language requirements for the programme have been met (IELTS score of 7.0 overall, with no sub-test score lower than 6.5) - further guidance is set out in the Profile B guidelines.

Please note that we will require up to 4 weeks to process a complete application (including all required documents). Applicants are advised to complete their application form as early as possible to ensure enough time to process the application, secure the relevant supervisory approvals and make the necessary pre-arrival arrangements.

Once your complete application (including all required documents) has been received it will be reviewed by the Postgraduate Research Director. If approved you will be issued a formal offer of study letter via the online application portal which will confirm your supervisor(s), visiting student duration and fees liable. You will be asked to formally respond to this offer of study letter.

Visa requirements

All visiting students from outside the UK require a visa, regardless of length of study. Some students will need to apply for this visa in advance, some can travel through eGates on arrival. For visits of six months or less, please read the short-term visa guidance. For longer visits, a Student visa is likely to be needed, and you must meet the eligibility requirements for this.

If you are already in the UK on a Student visa (and you are visiting from another UK institution) you need to be studying at a partner institution or agree to the visit as an agreed temporary location. You should contact Student Visa Services for advice. Please also note that most visa types will require ATAS, if the course needs ATAS. Some nationalities are exempt from the ATAS requirement.