In a recent letter headlined "Students need funds as well as encouragement" a reader criticised the Swindon-based Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for not sponsoring his daughter, who has gone on to do an MSc in Aerospace Engineering.
It's important to stress that prospective students have never been able to apply directly to EPSRC for funding/sponsorship.
Rather, EPSRC provides funding for both Masters and PhD level training direct to universities in a range of subject areas.
It is then the universities that actually recruit students for these MSc courses or PhD places using EPSRC funding to provide student sponsorship.
Over the last five years we have supported 200 courses at more than 50 universities with allocated funding of £100million.
The bulk of this is for fees and maintenance of students wanting to pursue an MSc in either engineering or the physical sciences.
This is a significant investment in the future of many people wishing to pursue careers in these areas.
There is a growing recognition of the increasing need for trained engineers and physical scientists and we continue to work with other agencies to maximise the resources available.
Lucy Brady
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Swindon
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