PhD project in ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership

About this project

We are looking for talented postgraduate researchers to join us for a world-class start to their careers by undertaking a social science research degree at Hull, as part of the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP).

We want you to help us address some of society’s most pressing global challenges by devising your own Social Sciences research project. It needs to fit within one of the White Rose DTP’s seven Interdisciplinary Themed Pathways.

Each student will receive a tuition fee waiver and an annual stipend based on the ESRC’s current studentship rates. The current annual stipend is £19,237 (for academic year 24/25). Updated rates will be published in early 2025 for the 25/26 academic year. This will be paid for the duration of the funded research period. Full tuition fees will be paid for the duration of the funded research period. Further details can be found on the White Rose DTP website.

Once you have a research question in mind and know which Pathway(s) it aligns to, you need to find a suitable supervisor here at Hull, from one of the White Rose disciplines:

· Hull University Business School;

· History in the School of Humanities;

· Human Geography in the School of Environmental Sciences;

· Criminology in the School of Criminology, Sociology and Policing;

· Education in the School of Education;

· Psychology in the School of Psychology and Social Work.

We can help you do this – just contact whiterosedtp@hull.ac.uk.

About the Doctoral Training Partnership

The University of Hull is a member of the prestigious White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP), which is funded and accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of the national research funding body UKRI.

This innovative Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) is a collaboration between the leading social science departments in the Universities of Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Manchester Metropolitan, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam and York. The partnership distributes funded PhD places to train and nurture the next generation of world-class social science researchers with outstanding skills and potential.

About the awards

The White Rose DTP through its partner institutions is offering a number of PhD studentships to equip the next generation of social science researchers with the skills and knowledge necessary to address the most pressing challenges facing the world today:

· White Rose Pathway awards offer applicants the opportunity to develop proposals for impactful social science research that engages with the key themes and challenges identified in our thematic interdisciplinary pathways.

· White Rose Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) awards are aimed at applicants who will use cutting edge quantitative research methods to facilitate impactful research that is aligned with our thematic interdisciplinary pathways. These projects will use either primary or secondary quantitative data to answer research questions about society.

· Similarly, White Rose Advanced Data Analytics (ADA) awards are aimed at applicants who will use cutting edge data analysis techniques (which can be quantitative and/or qualitative), or will deploy large scale or ‘big’ data, to facilitate impactful research that is aligned with our thematic interdisciplinary pathways. These projects are likely to use forms of secondary data that are not commonly used in social science research, and that require particular techniques to understand and interpret those data.

Stuart Hall Foundation Awards for Black British Students

Reflecting White Rose DTP’s commitment to addressing historic structural inequalities in education, White Rose also offers two Stuart Hall Foundation Awards for Black British students. Applicants to this scheme will have research interests that align with Professor Stuart Hall’s research legacy in the areas of securing wider access to education, race, ethnicity, cultural studies and structural inequalities. Further details can be found here.

Scholarship programme routes

There are three scholarship routes. We will help you determine which one is best for you, depending on your qualifications and previous social science research training.

Before you apply, you will need to discuss the scholarship routes with your proposed supervisor and indicate in your application which route you would like to be considered for. However, the final decision will be made by the White Rose DTP panel, so you may end up on a different route to the one you selected in your application.

Route 1: PhD

A PhD programme, incorporating a mandatory 3-month Research in Practice placement.

• Funded research period: 3.5 years (full time), 7 years (part time).
• Unfunded thesis finalisation period: 6 months (full time), 12 months (part time).
• Research in Practice placement module: 3 months (full time), 6 months (part time) – can be taken pro-rata.
• Additional mandatory training: Postgraduate Training Scheme.
• Eligibility: Candidates with sufficient Social Science research – usually through a previous Social Sciences Masters qualification.

Route 2: Integrated PhD/PG Certificate

An integrated PhD/PG Certificate route, which also incorporates a mandatory 3-month Research in Practice placement. You also need to take and pass 60 Masters level credits taken from the Masters in Social Research DTP programme at Hull.

• Funded research period: 3.75 years (full time), 7.5 years (part time).
• Unfunded thesis finalisation period: 3 months (full time), 6 months (part time).
• Research in Practice placement module: 3 months (full time), 6 months (part time) – can be taken pro-rata.
• Additional mandatory training: 60 credits from Masters in Social Research modules passed within 12 months (full time) or 24 months (part time). Certain core PGTS training, with no assessment.
• Eligibility: Candidates with a Masters but without experience or qualifications in Social Science research.

Route 3: Masters followed by PhD

This route is slightly different to the above in that you will study a taught programme first – the Masters in Social Research (DTP). You can get an idea of the types of modules you will study on your Masters programme by looking at the Masters in Social Research webpage, but please note it will differ for White Rose students. You must pass the Masters in Social Research DTP stage to progress to the PhD.

Masters

• Masters period: 1 year (full time), 2 years (part time).
• Eligibility: Candidates without a Masters qualification.

PhD

• Funded PhD period: 3.5 years (full time), 7 years (part time).
• Unfunded PhD thesis finalisation period: 6 months (full time), 12 months (part time).
• Research in Practice placement module: 3 months (full time), 6 months (part time) – can be taken pro-rata.
• Additional mandatory training: Postgraduate Training Scheme.
• Eligibility: You will progress to the PhD element upon passing the MSc Social Research (DTP) programme.