ESRC-funded studentship opportunities: Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

The Scottish Graduate School of Social Science's Scottish Doctoral Training Partnership provides studentship awards each year to doctoral students pursuing research in the social sciences.

Key facts

Fee status

All fee statuses

Your country/region

All EU, All international, England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales

Level

Postgraduate (research)

Number of awards

30

Value of awards

£17,668

Deadline

See Scottish Graduate School for Social Science website for deadline details

The University of Stirling is a member institution of the ESRC Scottish Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). The DTP is led by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS), which facilitates funding, training and support for doctoral students in the social sciences. The DTP offers a range of studentship awards each year for students to undertake a PhD research project of their own design. Successful students benefit from a high-value scholarship package, a wealth of supervisory expertise across the social sciences, and numerous training and development opportunities.

Pathways

Awards are allocated to pathways within the DTP, and each pathway represents a particular discipline or subject area within the social sciences. We recommend that you get in touch with the relevant Stirling pathway representative to discuss applying for ESRC funding early. Awards are competitive. You will need to identify a potential supervisor and discuss your proposal and application with them in the first instance. 

The University of Stirling's pathway representatives (see table below) can help you identify a supervisor for your proposed research project.

Pathway Pathway representative
Accounting, Finance, Business and Management (AFBM) Dr Dionysia Dionysiou
Economics and Social History Dr Alison Cathcart
Economics Dr Hector Rufrancos
Education Dr Gregory Mannion
Health, Families, Relationships and Demographic Change Dr Purva Abhyankar
Human Geography, Environment and Urban Planning Dr Tony Robertson
Psychology Dr Dimitrios Kourtis
Social Work and Social Policy Dr Sandra Engstrom
Socio-Legal Studies and Criminology Dr Diana Miranda
Sociology Dr Marina Shapira
Science, Technology and Innovation Studies and Information and Communication Studies  Professor Iain MacRury

For information about the University of Stirling's areas of research visit our research degree pages

For information on all the pathways supported by the scholarship, visit the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science website

Eligibility and availability

The ERSC-DTP competition is open to:

  • UK and international students who have completed (or expect to complete) a Masters qualification in a relevant discipline from a recognised institution (+3 award).
  • UK and international students planning to undertake a Masters qualification followed by a doctorate degree (+3 award).

For more information on eligibility please visit the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science website.

How to apply

Applying to the ESRC-DTP studentship competition

Please see the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science website for details and dates for each of the various schemes available.

Applying to the University of Stirling

Applications to the University of Stirling and to the ESRC-DTP studentship awards are submitted in parallel. You must apply to undertake either a Masters degree or a relevant PhD programme at the University of Stirling and - if nominated - apply through the SGSSS processes described above in tandem.

Only those candidates with an offer to study at Stirling can receive a studentship through the ESRC-DTP.

Contact us

If you have a query about your proposed PhD project, please contact either your relevant pathway representative (see table above) or ias@stir.ac.uk.

If you need support with your online application for a University place, you can contact postgraduate.admissions@stir.ac.uk.