Visiting Research Students

The School of Mathematics welcomes students from other universities who wish to visit and spend time researching with us.

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

  • You are responsible for all costs associated with your visit, including accommodation, subsistence, travel & leisure costs. Unfortunately we do not currently offer any bursaries or other financial support for visiting research students. 
  • You will be expected to engage with the research community in the School of Mathematics within your relevant research group.
  • You may be required to pay a bench fee of £150 per month or part thereof.
  • The University of Bristol will not award any credit or make any awards based on work undertaken by you during the research visit

You must first secure the agreement of a member of academic staff to act as your supervisor for the duration of your visit. See our research pages to find members of staff whose research area matches your interests. You should contact them directly using their given contact details.

Once you have secured the agreement of a potential supervisor, and have agreed dates for your visit with them, you should apply online via the online application portal. Please see the Faculty of Science webpage for more guidance. 

Please ensure you have uploaded the following documents to your application:

  • 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.
  • In the case of students whose first language is not English, evidence of English Language proficiency.
  • An official letter from your current institution confirming the research degree programme that you are registered on along with your dates of study - the letter must include your programme start date and your expected end date.
  • Letter from your proposed School/supervisor outlining the proposed research, and your proposed visit dates (if available). 

Once your application has been processed you will be issued a formal offer of study letter 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.

NOTE

  • Research students should NOT undertake their visit to the School of Mathematics without receiving and accepted an official invitation as issued by the Faculty of Science
  • Confirmation of academic supervision for the duration of the visit will be required before the official invitation can be issued.

You are advised to complete your application forms at least 3 months prior to your anticipated visit dates to allow enough time to

  • secure the relevant supervisory approvals, 
  • process your application,  
  • issue the necessary documentation
  • and make the necessary pre-arrival arrangements such as visas and accomodation.

 

Applicants who are non-EEA citizens will require a visa and an ATAS clearance certificate to undertake their visit. 

  • Standard Visitor Visa may be used for visits less than six months of duration but they cannot be extended in the UK.
  • Visiting students wishing to come for a period of more than six months will need to acquire a Student Visa. The Faculty Office will issue a CAS for this category of student, but the student must be attending for the purposes of study only and should not be undertaking work whilst in the UK. In the case of students requiring Student visa sponsorship this supervisor will hold responsibility for monthly monitoring of academic engagement.

You will require ATAS clearance certificate when you come to register at the University of Bristol. Your offer letter will also include an ATAS statement for you to submit to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Please note  it can take 20 working days to be processed. 

Contacts

If you have any questions about the application process for visiting research students, please contact us at pg-math-info@bristol.ac.uk.

Further visa information and advice is available from our student visa services team.