Welcome to the WRDTP Awards information session for supervisors

• We will begin the session with a presentation from the WRDTP Director, during which we will mute all participant cameras and microphones. We will also disable the chat function until the end of the presentation.
• There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation. You will be able to ask questions using the raise your hand function (you will need to enable your microphone for this, and you can choose to share your webcam if you wish) or the chat function.

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Pathway, AQM and ADA Awards 2026-2027

White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership

Professor Ryan Powell, WRDTP Director

Charlotte Massarella, WRDTP Manager

Beth Crowston, WRDTP Placements Manager

Charlotte Littlewood, WRDTP Scholarships and Funding Officer

The WRDTP

• One of 15 DTPs recommissioned by the ESRC for 5 years from 2024.
• An established partnership of the universities of Leeds, Sheffield, York, Bradford, Hull, Manchester Metropolitan, Sheffield Hallam. 63 accredited departments.
• This year we will offer up to:
• 35 Pathway awards, including 2 x Stuart Hall Foundation Awards and 2 x Interdisciplinary Research Awards.
• 2 Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) Awards
• 2 Advanced Data Analytics (ADA) Awards
• 8 Collaborative Awards

Important details for the 2026/27 competition

Headline ESRC stipulations

• The standard length of a PhD studentship is 3.5 years.
• This includes a 3-month ‘Research in Practice’ (RinP) placement, intended to give students the opportunity to develop their research skills outside of their PhD project and setting.
• Funding for masters degrees will not normally be available for students who already have a social sciences masters degree.
• The ESRC requires DTPs to ‘make entry requirements more inclusive with greater focus on assessing potential’.
• ESRC expectation of submission within the funded period for DTP2

Programme routes

• Applicants without a social science masters degree will normally be funded for a 1 year MA Social Research followed by a 3.5 year PhD.
• Applicants with a social science masters degree but without 60 credits of M-level research training will normally be funded for a 3.75 year integrated PGCert/PhD.
• Applicants with 60 or more credits of social science M-level research training will normally be funded for a 3.5 year PhD.
• Further information about programme routes can be found in our guidance.
• Supervisors should work with applicants to identify the most appropriate programme. This must be indicated on the nomination form, which will ask for a brief justification.

Research in Practice (RinP) Placement

• All our awards include a 3-month ‘Research in Practice’ placement. RinP is intended to allow students to apply their research skills in a different setting. RinP should not be used to undertake project-related research i.e. it should be separate and distinct from the PhD project.
• RinP is compulsory for all funded students and is fully integrated into our programmes as a non-credit-bearing module. This will reduce some of the administrative/visa burdens faced by international PGRs.
• Applicants do not need to have identified a placement to apply for a studentship.
• Information about placement needs will be captured via a Development Needs Analysis (DNA) once a student has registered.
• RinP is flexible in terms of timing and format, including part-time.

Interdisciplinary pathways

• Our interdisciplinary training pathways are open to all of our accredited departments. Applicants are required to align with a main pathway, but we recognise that research proposals may span more than one pathway.
• Our pathways:
• Civil Society, Development, and Democracy (CDD)
• Digital Technologies, Communication and Artificial Intelligence (DCA)
• Education, Childhood and Youth (ECY)
• Security, Conflict and Justice (SCJ)
• Space, Place, Environment and Liveability (SPEL)
• Sustainable Growth, Business, Work and Economic Productivity (SBE)
• Wellbeing, Health and Communities (WHC)
• Pathway descriptors are available on the WRDTP website.

What’s on offer

Pathway Awards

• Up to 35 Pathway Awards available, incorporating 2 x Interdisciplinary Research Awards and 2 x WRDTP/Stuart Hall Foundation Awards for Black British students.
• Studentships can be awarded on a part-time or full-time basis. We welcome applications from Home and International students.
• Pathway Awards are student-led. The student develops their own own research proposal, with support from potential supervisors.
• Studentships include home tuition fees, plus the standard UKRI stipend to support living costs. Students will also have access to other pots of money to support their research and development.
• Pathway Awards are match-funded by the home institution. Please check that the funds are in place before submitting an application.

Stuart Hall Foundation Awards

• The WRDTP is delighted to be able to work with the Stuart Hall Foundation (SHF) to support two studentships for Black British applicants. The WRDTP is keen to start addressing historic structural inequalities in education through its partnership with SHF, and welcome applications from Black British applicants.
• WRDTP/SHF Awards are open to Black British students (Black or Black British African, Black or Black British Caribbean, Black or Black British other or Mixed Black or Black British). Applicants will self-identify and sign a disclaimer to the effect that the information they provide is correct.
• SHF scholars benefit from the broad networks and support of the Stuart Hall Foundation.

AQM and ADA Awards

• Up to 2 Advanced Quantitative Methods and 2 Advanced Data Analytics awards.
• Studentships can be awarded on a part-time or full-time basis. We welcome applications from Home and International students.
• AQM and ADA awards are student-led. The student develops their own own research proposal, with support from potential supervisors.
• Studentships include home tuition fees, plus the standard UKRI stipend to support living costs. They also include an enhanced RTSG to enable students to undertake training in advanced quantitative and data methods. Students will also have access to other pots of money to support their research and development.
• AQM and ADA Awards are fully funded by the WRDTP. No match-funding is required.

What we’re after

Motivated students with excellent ideas

• We seek to champion cutting-edge research in the social sciences that addresses some of the world’s most pressing problems.
• We are looking for motivated students with excellent ideas and a clear sense of how their proposed programme of social science research will make a difference, and shape how we understand our world and the problems that are faced.
• As a partnership we are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion; interdisciplinarity; academic rigour and excellence; and collaboration.
• Each year, we welcome students from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, and with a diverse range of lived experiences and perspectives, from countries worldwide.
• Your role as a supervisor is to support the student, enabling them to craft a high quality proposal that meets our assessment criteria.

Interdisciplinary research with societal benefits

• We are organised around seven thematic interdisciplinary pathways, which bring together researchers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds working in areas of common interest. All of our funded students are aligned to at least one of our pathways, each of which offer a range of training and development opportunities.

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• We are also committed to funding research that has the potential to benefit society and the economy, and which is relevant to non-academic audiences locally and more widely. All applications should have a clear sense of the potential benefits and likely non-academic audiences, as well as a plan for how these benefits will be realised.

1. Project excellence (double-weighted)

• An excellent application will demonstrate all of the following, i.e. all of the areas are ‘excellent’:
• Excellent explanation of the significance of the project and the contribution it will make to academic and empirical knowledge.
• Excellent research design, which draws on an appropriate range of methods and data sources, and which is feasible within the funded period.
• Excellent consideration of the likely ethical issues and awareness of own positionality, as appropriate to the nature of the research.
• Excellent consideration of the likely contingency plans required in the event that the research cannot proceed as planned, and to and to ensure submission within the funded period.
• For AQM and ADA applicants only: Excellent use of appropriate advanced quantitative methods (AQM awards) or advanced data analytics (ADA awards) to address the research problem.

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1. Project excellence (double-weighted)

• This section is broken down into a series of short fields for applicants to address the assessment criteria.

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• When thinking through their research ideas, it is important that applicants are realistic about the scope and scale of their project to ensure that their research can be completed (i.e. the thesis submitted) within the funding period. We want to ensure that our students undertake high-quality, yet manageable, research projects so that they are not overburdened.

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2. Fit with WRDTP core priorities

• An excellent application will demonstrate all of the following, i.e. all of the areas are ‘excellent’:
• Excellent explanation of how the project fits with the WRDTP’s thematic interdisciplinary pathways.
• Excellent account of the likely societal benefits of the project, and the steps that will be taken to realise these benefits.

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• Please note that there is no expectation that an applicant will have arrangements or pre-existing relationships in place to facilitate impact. The core purpose of this section is for applicants to demonstrate their understanding of the research’s potential benefits and their ideas for realising them.

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3. Motivation and potential

• An excellent application will demonstrate all of the following, i.e. all of the areas are ‘excellent’
• Excellent explanation of the applicant’s motivation to undertake the specific programme of research outlined in the application.
• Excellent explanation and evidence of the applicant’s potential to undertake doctoral level research.

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3. Motivation and potential

• Applicants should explain what motivates them to undertake their proposed research project. They are to be as specific as possible, rather than providing broad statements about general motivations.

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• Applicants have a diverse range of experiences and skills, and evidence of potential can take many forms. This may include academic achievements, but can also include a much wider range of professional, voluntary or personal achievements. We also recognises the vital importance of transferable skills, such as resilience, adaptability, project management and the ability to deliver to deadlines.

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How to nominate an applicant

Supervision teams

• Each nomination must include a minimum of two supervisors with appropriate academic expertise. Where neither the primary or second supervisor have supervised a PhD student to completion as a primary supervisor, we require the team to include a third supervisor from the host institution with appropriate experience and relevant expertise.
• The primary and second supervisor will normally be based in a department or school that is formally accredited to, and eligible to submit studentships to, the WRDTP. The student will normally be in the same school or department as the primary supervisor.
• Cross-departmental supervision is welcomed, as is co-supervision across WRDTP partner institutions. Please note that the award is held by the student, and only the host institution benefits from the tuition fee income associated with the award.

The nomination process

• Pathway, AQM and ADA Awards are student-led. Your role as a supervisor is to support the student, enabling them to craft a high quality proposal that meets our assessment criteria.
• Applicants do not apply directly to the WRDTP, but are instead nominated by their university.
• All applicants are required to complete a Studentship Application Form, and provide detailed information about their proposed programme of research.
• The final deadline for students to apply to their university for a place on the PhD programme is 17:00 on 21 January 2026.
• We strongly recommend that applicants check with their Link Admin to confirm their university’s scholarships application process, and any local deadlines.

The nomination process

• Universities must have a final institutional assessment process to assess all candidates that are proposed for nomination to the WRDTP.
• Supervisors and nominating universities are responsible for completing the Studentship Nomination Form. This is a crucial part of the application process and should be completed fully in order not to disadvantage the applicant. We recommend that you read our Guidance for Supervisors and Nominating Universities which provides further information about how to complete this form. This should be read alongside our Guidance for Applicants and our Assessment Criteria.
• Nomination packs include – studentship application form, nomination form, institutional letter confirming the offer of a place on the PhD, transcripts.
• Please be aware that all deadlines are fixed, and that extensions will not be granted. Late nominations will not be accepted.

Assessment by the WRDTP

• All applications are assessed against the WRDTP’s Studentship Assessment Criteria by two independent assessors drawn from our seven WRDTP universities. To avoid conflicts of interest, nominations will not be assessed by someone from the same university that has made the nomination.

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• Strict word count policy with no leeway - where any sections exceed the word limit then applications will be excluded.

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• The WRDTP AQC moderation assessment panel meets on 1 April 2026 and decisions will be communicated to Link Admin colleagues by w/c 13 April 2026.

International applicants

• International students are eligible to apply. However, there is a limit on the number of awards we can make (30% of total number of awards per cohort)
• Up to 12 awards will be made to international students across our Pathway, AQM and ADA studentship competitions.
• To manage demand, each university has a limit on the number of international students that can be nominated.
• For all awards WRDTP will pay tuition fees at the home rate only. Universities are required to ‘top up’ the difference between Home and International fees for the duration of the Award. Students will not be asked to make up the shortfall.
• Schools/departments should speak to their institution’s WRDTP AQC members and/or Link Admin to confirm the process for nominating international candidates for a WRDTP studentship.

Any questions?

• Raise your hand to ask a question. We will take questions in order. Please unmute your microphone and video when we get to your turn.

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• You can also use the chat function.

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