We are always looking for talented DPhil (PhD) students. However due to high demand, each year we can only admit a small number of students from a large applicant pool.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What backgrounds do you expect DPhil students to have?

    DPhil students typically have a top undergraduate or masters degree from a good university. Our students typically have very strong skills in the relevant fields, which depending on the area of study is typically a combination of computer science, mathematics, statistics or information engineering. Many have research experiences before starting their DPhil.

  • How can I apply to do a DPhil with you?

    Please check out this page at the Department of Statistics website. Apply through the official channel as linked to from the Department of Statistics page.

  • What sources of funding are available?

    The Department has funding for UK, European and international students. However funding for international students are significantly more competitive. In addition there is a range of competitive scholarships available from Oxford colleges, as well as from overseas national governments.

  • Should I contact potential supervisors?

    This is not necessary, though you are welcome to email them if you have specific research related questions. As many supervisors receive many more enquiries than they have time for, please do not expect replies to all emails. This does not imply that your application will be received any less favourably.

  • Is a DPhil different from a PhD?

    DPhil is just Oxford’s terminology for PhD, though we tend to refer to DPhil students as those that are admitted directly to work with a specific supervisor or supervisors, while those admitted to centres for doctoral training as CDT students.

  • What is a CDT?

    A CDT is a centre for doctoral training. These are specialised four-year programmes funded by EPSRC, the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The Department of Statistics along with Imperial College London runs a CDT on Modern Statistics and Statistical Machine Learning called StatML, covering all research areas of our group.

  • What is the difference between the DPhil and the StatML programmes?

    We admit students through two streams: the standard Department of Statistics DPhil programme and the StatML CDT. The CDT programme is one year longer, and involves intensive teaching modules bringing students to the forefront of research, and starts off with two 10-week miniprojects where students get to explore two topics in depth. After their miniprojects, the students decide on their research topic and supervisor(s).

  • Do you accept interns?

    We may accept a small number of interns, however we do not have funding for internships. Also, UKBA rules around overseas internships mean we will likely not be able to accept international internships from outside the EU.