Guest research students

We welcome applications from PhD students who would like to work with Royal Holloway academics on areas of mutual interest.

If you’d like to join us as a research student, here’s our step-by-step guide on how to apply:

Step 1 - Are you eligible to apply?

To become one of our research students, you need an invitation from a Royal Holloway academic.
This academic must be willing to supervise you and must have agreed the length of your stay with the head of their department.
If you don’t have an invitation, look at our departmental research pages to identify an appropriate person to approach e.g. an academic working in an area of mutual interest.
Contact the relevant academic directly and ask them for an invitation.

Step 2 - Apply

Once one of our academic departments has agreed to accept you as a Guest Research student, we’ll then send you an invite with clear guidance on how to complete the application for Guest Research students.
We will ask you to complete the application form. As part of the application form, we will need you to provide details of your supervisor at Royal Holloway. We will also require the following supplemental items for your application be completed and ready for review, which you can upload under the Suppemental Items and Documents tab on the applicant portal:
- Personal Statement – this can be a couple lines that demonstrates your reason for studying at Royal Holloway/details of your research topic.
- Degree certficate and transcript - from your highest achieved qualification
We may also require additional supplemental items for those student's whos duration of study is longer than 6 months and will be applying for a Student Visa:
- Passport - clear scan of your passport photopage
- English Language qualification - for student's who are not a national of once of the countries identified by the UK Home Office as majority English-speaking.
Some student's may be required to receive an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, depending on their research topic/academic department before enrolling into the university for your studies. Due to the nature of the certificate, we would advise applicants requiring an ATAS certificate to prepare their application well in advance of their start date.
As soon as we’ve processed your application and you have received an unconditional firm decision, you’ll then be asked to complete your enrolment to access our student support services and facilities.

If you’ve got any queries, email the Admissions and Applicant Services team using our contact form. We’re here to help.

Step 3 - Check your fees

Visiting Research students coming for 3 months or less will not be charged a fee.
For those intending to study for more than 3 months the full period of study is chargeable at the following rates:
- The fee for visiting research students in 2024-25 is £440 a month (September 2024 to August 2025).
- The fee for visiting research students in 2025-26 is £480 a month (September 2025 to August 2026).
- The fee for visiting research students in 2026-27 is £500 a month (September 2026 to August 2027).
If you believe that you should not be personally liable for these fees, please discuss this with the academic department you will be visiting.

Step 4 - Accommodation

We don’t normally offer campus accommodation to visiting research students, however please contact the Student Services Centre at studentservices@royalholloway.ac.uk to discuss possible options.
Alternatively, our Students’ Union will be happy to advise you on how to use our House Search portal to find local accommodation. Please contact them directly at HouseSearch@su.rhul.ac.uk.