# FindAPhD

> FindAPhD is a doctoral study search engine helping prospective students find and compare PhD programmes, funded projects and studentships from universities worldwide. This is the expanded index of the site's content, referenced from [llms.txt](https://www.findaphd.com/llms.txt).

FindAPhD lists thousands of PhD opportunities across all subjects, countries and funding types. Listings can be browsed by subject, institution, funding availability and PhD type, and are supported by academic supervisor profiles and guides on funding, applying and the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF).

Unlike documentation sites, FindAPhD's project, supervisor and search content is generated from a live database rather than static pages, so this file is an exhaustive *link index* rather than a full concatenation of page text (the informal convention some documentation sites use for `llms-full.txt`). Use the linked sitemaps to enumerate individual project/supervisor/institution pages at scale.

## Search

- [Search PhD Programmes](https://www.findaphd.com/phds/): Main PhD/studentship search.
- [PhDs by Subject](https://www.findaphd.com/search/browsebysubject.aspx): Browse PhD opportunities by academic subject.
- [PhDs by Institution](https://www.findaphd.com/phds/browsebyinst.aspx): Browse PhD opportunities by university.
- [Latest PhDs](https://www.findaphd.com/phds/latest/): Most recently listed PhD opportunities.
- [PhD Open Days](https://www.findaphd.com/opendays/): Upcoming university open days for prospective PhD students.
- [Study Fairs & Events](https://www.findaphd.com/events/calendar.aspx): Calendar of PhD study fairs, exhibitions and webinars.
- [Postgrad Awards](https://www.findaphd.com/events/awards/): Annual postgraduate study awards, including nominations, shortlist, judges and past winners.
- [PhD Scholarships Competition](https://www.findaphd.com/scholarships/): Scholarship/funding competition for prospective PhD students, with FAQs and terms and conditions.

## Academic Supervisors

- [Search Academic Supervisors](https://www.findaphd.com/supervisors/): Search for academic supervisors by institution and research area, linked from individual PhD project pages.

## Guides — Getting Started

- [Types of PhD](https://www.findaphd.com/advice/phd-types/): Overview of different PhD formats and study types.
- [Finding a PhD](https://www.findaphd.com/advice/): Advice hub covering finding, choosing and applying for a PhD.
- [PhDs in Focus](https://www.findaphd.com/advice/): Subject-specific PhD advice content (bespoke pages resolved via the advice hub).

## Guides — Funding

- [Funding Your PhD](https://www.findaphd.com/funding/): Overview of scholarships, studentships and funding options for doctoral study, including UK Research Council funding (AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC, STFC).
- [PhD Scholarships Guide](https://www.findaphd.com/funding/postgraduate-phd-scholarships/scholarships.aspx): How to find and apply for PhD scholarships.

## Guides — Studying Abroad

- [Studying Abroad](https://www.findaphd.com/study-abroad/): Hub for country/region guidance on doctoral study outside the student's home country, with extensive by-country and by-region content.

## Guides — Research & Institutions

- [Research Excellence Framework (REF) Results](https://www.findaphd.com/REF/): Tool for browsing and comparing UK REF 2021 results by institution and Unit of Assessment.
- [REF 2014 Guide](https://www.findaphd.com/advice/finding/ref2014-guide.aspx): Legacy explainer for the previous (2014) REF assessment cycle.

## Advice & Community

- [The FindAPhD Blog](https://www.findaphd.com/advice/blog/): Advice articles on finding, applying for and doing a PhD.
- [Postgraduate Advice Forum](https://www.findaphd.com/advice/phd-discussion-forum.aspx): Community discussion forum for PhD applicants and students.
- [Guide Authors](https://www.findaphd.com/authors/): Bios of the writers behind FindAPhD advice and guide content.

## About

- [About FindAPhD](https://www.findaphd.com/about/about-findaphd.aspx): Background on the site and its publisher, FindAUniversity Ltd.
- [Accessibility Statement](https://www.findaphd.com/about/accessibility-statement.aspx): The site's accessibility commitments and known limitations.
- [Contact Us](https://www.findaphd.com/about/contact-findaphd.aspx): Contact details for enquiries.
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.findaphd.com/privacy.aspx): How the site handles personal data.

## Sitemaps

- [Projects/programmes sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-projects-0.xml.gz): Individual PhD project and programme listing pages.
- [Custom adverts sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-custads-0.xml.gz): Sponsored/custom-advert PhD listing pages.
- [Search page sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-search-0.xml.gz): Subject/institution browse and search result pages.
- [Static page sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-static-0.xml.gz): Static informational pages (about, accessibility, contact, etc.) plus forum thread listings.
- [Keyword sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-keyword-0.xml.gz): Keyword-based search landing pages.
- [Events sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-events-0.xml.gz): PhD study fair and event pages (also duplicated under `/providers/`).
- [Hurl sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-hurl-0.xml.gz): Human-readable URL redirect pages.
- [Authors sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-authors-0.xml.gz): Guide/advice author bio pages.
- [Supervisors sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-supervisors-0.xml.gz): Academic supervisor profile pages.
- [REF 2021 sitemap](https://www.findaphd.com/sitemap.ashx?sitemap-ref2021-0.xml.gz): Per-institution REF 2021 results pages.

Note: `robots.txt` also lists `sitemap-opendays-0.xml.gz`, but the code path that generates it (`AddUrlsForOpenDays`) is commented out — treat it as stale/dead until confirmed live. Conversely, the generator produces `sitemap-profiles-0.xml.gz`, `sitemap-pl-profiles-0.xml.gz` (institution/department profile pages) and `sitemap-blogs-0.xml.gz` (blog articles), none of which are currently listed in `robots.txt` — the same profiles/pl-profiles gap found on FindAMasters.

## Network scope

FindAPhD is part of the FindAUniversity Ltd network. Its header "Our Sites" menu and footer link to FindAMasters, FindAnMBA, FindAPostdoc, FindAProfessionalDoctorate, PostgraduateForum and FindCourses.co.uk — these are separate sites with their own content and (where published) their own llms.txt; they are out of scope here even though they are cross-linked from this site's header/footer.

## Excluded from this index

The following areas are excluded as they are login-gated, transactional, B2B/partner-facing, or lead-gated marketing pages not intended for prospective-student research:
- `/myaccount/`, `/register/`, `/unsubscribe/`, `/signups/` — account and utility pages.
- `/API/`, `/controls/`, `/landing/` — internal/integration infrastructure.
- `/providers/` — institution advertiser marketing and rate-card pages, including the advertiser login portal.
- `/connect/` — the FindAPhD Connect embeddable-listings widget, a B2B integration product for partner websites, not a content page.
- `/creators/`, `/funding-guide/`, `/PhDFundingGuide/` — email-gated lead-magnet/partnership landing pages rather than open guide content.
- `ProviderLogin*.aspx`, `ProviderRegistration*.aspx`, `ProviderLogout.aspx`, `ProviderSignupConfirmation.aspx` — advertiser OAuth/registration flows.
- Filtered/parametrized search URLs.

See [robots.txt](https://www.findaphd.com/robots.txt) for the full crawl policy.