ESRC White Rose Social Sciences DTP (WR DTP) Scholarships
The Economic and Social Research Council White Rose Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership is a collaboration across the social sciences at the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield, York, Bradford, Sheffield Hallam, Hull and Manchester Metropolitan.
Application guidance and character limits
- WR DTP guidance for applicants (PDF
, 312kb)
- WR DTP scholarship questions (PDF
, 14kb)
- WRDTP Call for Pathway and AQM Nominations (PDF
, 312kb)
Project description: Max 10,000 characters, including spaces. You're welcome to include references if appropriate; references will count towards the character limit.
Application of training to research design: Max 1,500 characters, including spaces.
Scholarship benefits
The WR DTP was accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 2016, and is offering a range of social sciences PhD Scholarships starting in October 2023.
It will give you access to:
- a wealth of supervisory expertise across the social sciences
- a wide range of training opportunities particularly focused on maximising the social and economic benefits of your research
- a network of students and researchers studying in your discipline across Yorkshire
- a network of interdisciplinary contacts and the opportunity to develop expertise working across disciplines.
Open to International (including EU) and UK (home) students.
The ESRC's eligibility criteria are set out in the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide (ukri.org). You should read the ESRC guidance carefully before applying.
All students are eligible to receive a full award, to include a stipend and fees at the home level.
Application
You must have applied online for a place on an appropriate academic programme first, before applying for the scholarship.
Please note that if you intend to apply for a 1+3 studentship (see below, Types of scholarship) then you must apply for both the MA in Social Research (for 2023/4 entry) and the relevant PhD programme (for 2024/5 entry).
You don't need to complete the form all at once - you can save your progress, and a link will be emailed to you so you can continue at a later time. Once you have submitted your application, a copy will be emailed to you for your records.
Application deadline: Wednesday 25 January 2023, 5pm GMT
Types of scholarship
- Awards on offer are:
- 1+3 programme: an integrated Masters programme precedes the three-year PhD which will deliver the core social sciences research methods training requirements (eg MA Social Research)
- +3 programme: funding for a three-year PhD (assumes that a student has already met the majority of the core social sciences research methods training requirements and that the PhD focus is largely on more advanced training)
- You can choose to be considered for a pathway award or an advanced quantitative methods award (AQM)
- The WR DTP is, in conjunction with the Stuart Hall Foundation, ring-fencing two of the Pathway awards for Black British students.
- Collaborative awards will be available if a successful proposal on behalf of the University is made to the ESRC WR DTP.
For both 1+3 and +3 awards, you must hold at least a UK Second Class Honours: Division One degree or equivalent. If you hold a lower undergraduate degree, you must also hold a Masters degree to be eligible to apply.
Applications will be considered by individual departments, following a departmental selection process, and applicants will be informed as to whether they are being nominated. The White Rose Academic Quality Committee will review the final nominations and decide on the final list of awards.
Your application will require details of some of the following:
- Residential status
- Scholarship type
- Your proposed project
- Qualifications and awards
- Employment and experience
- Career aspirations and publications (if applicable)
- Events
- English language.
The academic department you have applied to will carry out an internal selection process and, if your scholarship application is successful, the department will formally nominate you to the ESRC WRDTP.
If your nomination is then successful at the WRDTP assessment stage, you will be sent a letter formally confirming the offer of the scholarship. The letter will set out the value and duration of the award and asks you to accept the terms of the scholarship.
Subject to ESRC eligibility criteria, the scholarships cover tuition fees and a grant (stipend) to help towards living expenses. In 2022/23, the basic stipend for an ESRC studentship was £17,668. All awards are available for study part time.
All ESRC scholarships are subject to the terms and conditions set out in the ESRC funding guidelines (esrc.ukri.org).
Continued receipt of all scholarships is conditional upon satisfactory academic progress. We may request academic progress updates from your supervisor(s).
Data protection
Any data we require will be held and used in accordance with UKRI terms and conditions of training grants (ukri.ac.uk).
Contact details
PGR Administration
+44 (0)1904 325962
pgr-administration@york.ac.uk
Student Hub, Market Square, University of York, York, YO10 5DD
Academic requirements
For both 1+3 and +3 awards
For both 1+3 and +3 awards, you must hold at least a UK Upper Second Class Honours (2:1) degree or equivalent. If you hold a lower undergraduate degree, you must also hold a Masters degree to be eligible to apply.
+3 awards
If you’re applying for a +3 award, you must:
- demonstrate that you have already completed the full social sciences research methods training requirements at Masters level; evidencing that you can undertake an independent research project in a particular discipline or interdisciplinary field
- have at least 60 credits at M level of core social sciences research methods training acquired in the last five years. This must include a broad range of methods, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, and the use of appropriate software/tools for your application, and comprehension of principles of research design and strategy, and an appreciation of alternative approaches to research.
1+3 awards
- If you are applying for a 1+3 award, then you will be required to complete the MA Social Research
- You will need to apply online to this Masters degree.
English language requirements
- If your first language is not English, you must meet our English language requirements 2023/24.
Further eligibility information can be found in the WR DTP FAQs section (wrdtp.ac.uk).
- Applications for these scholarships will be on a competitive basis with other York applicants.
- You may apply for a scholarship at more than one institution within the White Rose DTP (wrdtc.ac.uk).
- You can only apply for one scholarship per scheme, eg you may apply for a pathway award as well as a collaborative award at York, but you cannot apply for two pathway awards.
- Should more than one institution offer to nominate you for a scholarship, you may only choose one application to be put forward for consideration for an award.
The following schools/departments are eligible to participate in nominations for a pathway award:
- Economics
- Education
- Environment and Geography
- Health Sciences
- History
- Language and Linguistic Science
- Politics
- Psychology
- School for Business and Society
- Sociology
- York Law School
The above departments can then nominate in any of the following Thematic Interdisciplinary Training pathways:
- Cities, environment and liveability (CEL)
- Security, conflict and justice (SCJ)
- Education, childhood and youth (ECY)
- Data, communication and new technologies (DCT)
- Wellbeing, health and communities (WHC)
- Sustainable growth, management and economic productivity (SMP)
- Civil society, development and democracy (CDD)
You should discuss which theme is the best fit for your research proposal with your academic department.
Find further information and guidance on our current ESRC White Rose Social Sciences DTP studentship holders FAQs page. You will need to login with your student account details to access this page.
Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) Awards (four awards)
Four fully funded AQM awards are available via open competition across all departments and schools and will be of specific interest to those schools/departments that have a strong track record of AQM or are looking to expand into this area. The DTP will give priority to those who will be working with large data sets (an ESRC priority). Both 1+3 students and +3 students are eligible for nomination.