School of Social Sciences PhD Studentships 2025 Entry

Type of award

Studentship

Managing department

School of Social Sciences

Value

  • Tuition fees
  • An annual maintenance stipend (£19,237 per annum for 2024/25)
  • A research training support grant

Specified use

+3.5 - covering a full postgraduate research programme

Please note that existing postgraduate research students and applicants for distance learning PhD programmes cannot be considered for this funding.

Tenable period

3.5 years full-time or 7 years part-time.

Continuation of award

Continuation of the award is subject to satisfactory progress.

Number available

A number of awards are available on a competitive basis.

Funding provider

This award is internal.

Level(s) of study

This funding is available to students undertaking the following types of study:

  • Postgraduate research

Allowed study options

This funding is available to students undertaking the following modes of study:

  • Full-time
  • Part-time

Subject restrictions

This funding is available to students undertaking study in:

  • Criminology
  • Law
  • Philosophy
  • Politics
  • Social Anthropology
  • Social Statistics
  • Sociology

Academic requirements

  • Bachelor's (Honours) degree in a cognate subject at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and
  • Master's degree in a relevant subject - with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent)

Nationality restrictions

This funding is available to all nationalities.

Application procedure

You must submit your online application for a place on your chosen Postgraduate Research programme by the relevant programme deadline (detailed below). Your programme application should contain all necessary supporting documents.

Section 9 of the application asks for your funding intentions. In this section, you should detail fully all the competitions in which you would like to be considered. There is no limit to the number of competitions you may enter, but all must be detailed in your online application form to ensure you are included. Please add a funding source, and populate the fields as below:

  • Type of Funding: Uni of 51¸£ÀûÉç Scheme
  • Awarding Body (free text): SoSS School Studentships
  • Status of Funding: Intend to Apply

Please note that there is no separate funding application form for School of Social Sciences Studentships. All decisions are based on the online programme application and supporting documents.

Application form

Additional documentation

Your full online application must include;

  • A 1,500 word  Please state the word count on page 1 of the document.
  • A copy of your Bachelor's and Master's academic transcript and certificate. If your Master's degree is pending, please provide an interim transcript.
  • An up-to-date academic CV summarising your academic record, employment history, publications and highlighting experience demonstrating your research potential.
  • The names of two academic referees, including one from your most recent institution. Your referees will be contacted directly via the Referee Portal following the submission of your application form.
  • A certificate or evidence demonstrating your English language ability and proficiency.

Selection criteria

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

Selection body

School of Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Committee (PGRC)

Closing date

01 Dec 2024

Your complete online application for your preferred PhD programme must be submitted by the dates below:

  • Criminology: 1 December 2024
  • Law: 1 December 2024
  • Politics: 1 December 2024
  • Social Anthropology: 1 December 2024
  • Social Statistics: 1 December 2024
  • Sociology: 1 December 2024
  • Philosophy: applications for September 2025 entry onto PhD Philosophy will be accepted until 30 June 2025. All Philosophy applications will be considered for School of Social Sciences PhD Studentships, however, we reserve the right to close the competition at any stage if all awards have been allocated, so we recommend that you apply as early as possible.

Please note that the given deadlines are strict and late or incomplete applications will not be included in the competition.

Decision date

We expect to communicate the outcome to applicants by June 2025.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide feedback on individual applications, as outcomes are determined by independent panels.

Deferral information

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.

Contact details for enquiries

Useful links