ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Centre Studentships 

Accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in January 2011, the White Rose Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) will facilitate collaboration across the social sciences at the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York through the award of 48 postgraduate studentships per year.

ESRC funding opportunities for postgraduate study in Human Geography from September/October 2012

All studentships are available as either 1+3 awards (1 year Masters + 3 years PhD study) or +3 awards (3 years PhD study). All studentships (with the exception of Network Studentships) can be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis. Studentships provide UK/EU fees and an annual tax-free stipend of approximately £13,590 per year (2011/12 rate).  AQM studentships come with an enhanced additional stipend of £3,000 pa. 

Quota Studentships

1+3 Quota Studentships

These awards begin with a one year Masters programme from September 2012 in either the  MA in Social and Cultural Geography, MA in Activism and Social Change or the MSc in GIS .  The Masters is then followed by 3 years PhD study from 1 October 2013 with appropriate supervision from within our human geography research clusters. You are asked to outline your ideas for your PhD project at the application stage but, as your research interest will develop further during your Masters training, you are only required to outline the overall goals and timeline of the project giving an indication of your probable research area. It is a good idea to contact academic staff who do research in your area of interest to advise you on this prior to application.  

 + 3 Quota Studentships

These awards are for 3 years PhD study from 1 October 2012 and are for applicants who already have appropriate research training (usually a relevant Masters degree). A developed research proposal is required for +3 awards and guidance is given on the ESRC application form (see below).

Advanced Quantitative Methods Studentships (1+3 or +3)

These awards are available for applicants intending on using Advanced Quantitative Methods in their project (in particular using large-scale datasets). If applying on a 1+3 basis, applicants should apply to do the MSc in GIS in the first year of study.  The School will select the strongest application(s) to put forward to the DTC (comprising the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York) which will award 4 studentships to the best applicants.   A list of potential topics can be found here or you can apply with your own research proposal. Information on how to apply can be found below.

ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Centre Network Studentships

Closing date: Monday 5 March 2012

The following White Rose DTC Network studentship will be based in the School of Geography, University of Leeds

Further information on all ESRC White Rose DTC studentships based at Leeds is available here
Further information on all White Rose DTC Network studentships is availalbe here

Eligibility

Quota and Network awards are available to UK students and EU students who have been resident in the UK for 3 years prior to the start date of the award. These awards are not open to applicants who are liable to pay academic fees at the international fee rate. For AQM studentships starting October 2012, the School is able consider applications from UK, EU and international students who do not meet the usual ESRC residential criteria.

For information of residential eligibility, please see page 9 of the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guided for accredited Doctoral Training Centres http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/looking-for-funding/postgraduate-funding-guide.aspx 

Applicants should hold a minimum of a high 2(i) honours degree (or equivalent) in Geography or a related discipline for 1+3 awards. +3 awards are for applicants who have already completed the appropriate research training programme (i.e normally a relevant Masters course).   If you wish to check your eligibility, please contact Jacqui Manton for further advice (j.manton@leeds.ac.uk).

How to apply
Closing date

Closing date for Quota and AQM awards:17 February 2012 .
Closing date for Network Studentship extended: Monday 5 March 2012

 Applicants will be notified of decisions by the end of March 2012.