Where funded PhD positions are actually advertised
Fully funded PhD positions rarely appear on the job boards most people search. They are posted in a handful of predictable places — and they close fast.
The difference between a funded position and an admission
In much of Europe a PhD is a paid job with a contract, a salary and social insurance. You apply to a specific project with a specific supervisor, and the funding already exists. That is a different process from applying to a graduate school and then hunting for money, which is the norm in North America. Know which one you are pursuing before you search — the wording, the timeline and the documents differ.
Where they are posted
EURAXESS carries publicly funded European positions. FindAPhD lists UK and European projects, usually naming the supervisor. National portals matter more than global boards: Academic Positions for the Nordics, jobs.ac.uk for the UK, and the university career pages themselves, which often publish days before anything is syndicated. NIH RePORTER shows which American labs hold funding right now, which tells you who can afford to take you.
Deadlines are the real constraint
A funded position is usually open for two to four weeks. Most people lose opportunities not to competition but to timing — they find the post after it closed. Checking a handful of sources once a week is the difference between applying and reading about it afterwards.
Email the supervisor before you apply
For project-based positions, the supervisor usually shortlists. A short, specific email a week before the deadline puts a name to your application. Ask whether the position is still open and mention the part of the project that matches what you have done. This is the single highest-return habit in the whole process.
Applying from Iran
Two practical points. Funding rules occasionally restrict nationality — read the eligibility text rather than assuming. And apply earlier than the deadline suggests: visa appointments and document legalisation take weeks, and supervisors know it, so an early application signals you understand the timeline.
Opportica watches EURAXESS, FindAPhD, NIH RePORTER and the university boards daily, scores each position against your CV, and tells you which deadlines are close.