ESRC Funded Studentships – Overview
Jump to section
- ESRC Funded Studentship Offers – Overview
- Eligibility
- Preparing to Apply
- Applying for a Studentship
- FAQ’s
ESRC Funded Studentships – Overview
Application for 2026 entry has now closed.
Please note: earlier institutional deadlines may apply.
Please check with the university to which you are applying.
What an ESRC studentship offers:
· Funding (including stipend and fees) to study on one of our 18 pathways
· Ringfenced funding for you to complete a 3-month FTE placement
· Additional allowances and grants to support your research and professional development, including difficult language training and overseas fieldwork allowance (where applicable and via a separate application process)
· Access to tailored training and development activities from across our Partnership
· Further funding opportunities to run collaborative, impact, and cohort-building activities
Our study pathways
The SWDTP offers ESRC PhD studentships across 18 study pathways at our eight partner institutions. None of the institutions offers admission to all of our pathways but instead contributes to those where they have proven research success and expertise.
If you are using a mobile device, please click this button to view the below table:
| Interdisciplinary Pathways | Bath | Bristol | Exeter | Plymouth | UWE | Bath Spa | Bournemouth | Plymouth Marjon |
| Climate Change, Sustainability and Society | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||
| Global Challenges and Transformations: Geopolitics, Inequalities and Mobilities | YES | YES | YES | |||||
| Health, Wellbeing and Society | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||
| Sociotechnical Futures and Digital Methods | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||
| Disciplinary Pathways | Bath | Bristol | Exeter | Plymouth | UWE | Bath Spa | Bournemouth | Plymouth Marjon |
| Area & Development Studies | YES | YES | ||||||
| Advanced Quantitative Methods | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||||
| Economic & Social History | YES | YES | ||||||
| Economics | YES | YES | YES | |||||
| Education | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||
| Human Geography | YES | YES | YES | |||||
| Management & Business Studies | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||
| Political Science and International Studies | YES | YES | YES | |||||
| Psychology | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | |||
| Social Anthropology | YES | YES | ||||||
| Social Policy | YES | YES | YES | YES | ||||
| Social Work | YES | YES | ||||||
| Socio-Legal Studies | YES | YES | ||||||
| Sociology | YES | YES | YES |
How much is an award?
As of Oct 2025, each of our fully funded studentship covers:
· Stipend: £20,780
· Fees: £5,006
· Access to Research Training Support Grant (RTSGs) and other allowances (via seperate application) for your research project and development
We also recommend you research rental and other associated living costs in the city to which you are applying so you can assess their affordability. Reference to online cost of living tools may be of help such as Cost Of Living Comparison
Funding length
The standard funding offer for PhD studentships typically starts from 3 years and 3 months plus 3 months ‘Research in Practice’ placement (see below).
Development Needs Analysis (DNA) is conducted at the point of entry to determine ‘top up’ training conditions, for which additional funding and time are awarded. This can include a Masters year, specific methods units, self-directed learning and so on, and will be listed in the offer letter sent to successful applicants. The analysis is based on a self-assessment of skills completed as part of the application form and ensures that ESRC overall training requirements are met. We may ask for further evidence to support the self-assessment
We welcome applications for part-time study. This is at a minimum of 50 per cent time, unless a reasonable adjustment is made for a disability. Contact us to discuss this further. Part-time studentships will be offered pro rata to their full-time equivalents.
IMPORTANT: The ESRC expects that every PhD thesis will be submitted within or at the end of the funded period. We therefore ask all applicants to think carefully about what is viable in the time available, to make sure that this is agreed and understood with the proposed supervisor, and to make every effort to submit within or at the end of the funding period. Critically, these should not be conceived as four-year projects but as projects to be completed within 3 years and 3 months (or the part-time equivalent).