ESRC North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP) PhD Studentships 2025 Entry

Subject to residential eligibility status, the award covers:

• Tuition fees
• Maintenance stipend (the annual maintenance stipend for 2024-25 is £19,237)
• A research training support grant
• Opportunities to apply for additional funding towards overseas fieldwork, difficult language training, overseas institutional visits, and internships
• An additional disability allowance can be provided where appropriate

Students opting to study part-time will receive a pro-rata maintenance stipend. 

• +3/+4 - covering a full PhD programme
• +2 - covering 2 years of study for current postgraduate researchers
• 1+3 - covering Master's and Doctoral study

Please see Additional Information for 1+3 and +2 application processes.

Studentships available for both part-time and full-time programmes.

A number of awards are available on a competitive basis.

You must meet the minimum academic requirements for your preferred programme, in addition to those specified by the ESRC NWSSDTP.

Please refer to the application guidance on the NWSSDTP website.

Stage 1:

You must submit a complete programme application for your chosen PhD programme by the funding deadline for your school (below). This is to ensure you hold an offer by the time of the NWSSDTP committee.

Section 9 of the application asks for your funding intentions. Add a funding source and populate this as below:

Type of Funding: Research Council

Awarding Body: ESRC NWSSDTP

Status of Funding: Intend to Apply

Stage 2:

The completed ESRC NWSSDTP Application Form and Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form must be submitted to hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk no later than 5pm GMT, 3 February 2025. Please note all deadlines are strict and applications received after 5pm will not be included in the competition.

The academic transcripts and references submitted with your programme application will be attached to your ESRC NWSSDTP application form and provided to the panels for review.

As such, to be considered in the ESRC NWSSDTP competition, please request both of your referees to provide their references by 3 February 2024. If your referee cannot meet this timeframe, please attach a reference from an alternate referee with your funding application. If we have not received two references by 3 February, we may not be able to consider your ESRC NWSSDTP application.

ESRC NWSSDTP specifies that research proposals must be no longer than 1500 words. If you revise your research proposal following submission of your programme application, please attach the latest draft of your proposal along with the ESRC NWSSDTP application form in your email to hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk.

• Academic merit
• Quality and feasibility of research proposal
• Consideration of ethical responsibility  

Please see the NWSSDTP website.

Applications are reviewed through a series of panels at School level, by ESRC NWSSDTP Pathway representatives and leads, and by ESRC NWSSDTP Institutional leads.

All ESRC NWSSDTP Applications must be received by the Humanities Doctoral Academy before  5pm, 3 February 2025 . In advance of this, you must submit your completed programme application by the dates specified below to ensure you hold an offer at the time of funding selection (not applicable to +2):

Alliance Manchester Business School: 1 December 2024
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures: 13 January 2025
School of Education, Environment and Development: 20 January 2025
School of Social Sciences: 1 December 2024

Please note that all deadlines are strict and applications received after 5pm or incomplete applications will not be included in the competition.

We expect to communicate the outcome to 2025 applicants no later than 20 March 2025. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide feedback on individual applications, as outcomes are determined by several panels across a number of institutions.

Offers of funding are not deferrable. If you cannot start your programme by the date mentioned in your studentship offer letter, the award will be withdrawn. You are permitted to re-apply in future.

1+3 Applications:

To apply, you should submit a PhD programme application (not taught Master's), and indicate in section 9 of the form that it is your intention to apply for 1+3 funding. This will be assessed as per the Postgraduate Research admissions process; must contain a 1500 word research proposal; and be supported by a supervisory team. If you secure 1+3 funding, you will receive an offer for both Master's and PhD programme.

+2 Applications:

To apply, please submit your latest 1500 word research proposal with the completed ESRC NWSSDTP application form and Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form to the Humanities Doctoral Academy via hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk no later than 5pm GMT, 3 February 2025.

We may also reach out to you to request your academic transcripts and references, if we do not already have them.