Awards - NINE DTP

Choosing your award

Our awards

We offer a variety of funding packages, with the vast majority of students receiving offers of 3.5, 4, or 4.5 years.

The 4-year award is for candidates already holding a Master’s degree (or equivalent experience) but who require additional coursework in research methods to have the breadth and depth of skills expected of a PhD holder. These candidates are funded for an additional six months and enrolled in the PG Cert (Certificate of Research Methods) programme. Typically, this award is given to candidates who have completed a taught master’s degree that has included fewer than 60 credits of research and methods training or where this training has been exceptionally focused.

Candidates on the Language Based Area Studies pathway can receive awards for up to 5.5 years funding, to allow for a year of language study in addition to the award that they would normally receive. Although this option is available only to candidates on the Language Based Area Studies pathway, candidates on other pathways who note on their application that they will require ‘Difficult Language Training’ may have this training approved in the course of their study, with a commensurate extension of their award duration.

All of these award types include support for an integrated three-month placement to be undertaken during one’s period of study. Students who fail to undertake a three-month placement will have their funding award reduced by three months.

All award types are permitted on a part-time basis, and in these instances the durations and stipend levels will be adjusted on a pro-rata basis.

Full guidelines

Download a copy of the NINE DTP Annual Studentship Competition Guidelines

Guidelines

Nomination Form

Although nomination forms are submitted by prospective supervisors, they require significant input from student applicants

Nomination Form

Steered Awards

The ESRC mandates that a minimum number of the awards made by NINE DTP each year meet certain criteria, which are collectively known as ‘steers’

This steer is for interdisciplinary projects that cross the social science - arts or social science - science boundaries. Proposals linked to this steer are submitted through a NINE DTP pathway, but with a supervisor from a disciplinary area associated with one of the other research councils. Strong proposals will be demonstrably interdisciplinary, with evidence of training in social science research methods and appropriate research methodologies used in the non-social science discipline.

If you think that your proposed research and training programme may meet one of these steers, please consult the detailed descriptions of each steer in the NINE DTP Studentship Guidelines document and also consult with your prospective supervisor. There are places on the nomination form to justify how a proposed studentship meets a steer(s) and, in the case of the collaborative steer, for the non-academic partner to detail the collaboration.

Because NINE DTP must meet the minimum numbers for these steers, nominations that qualify for one or more steer may have a better chance of being successful. However, note that in the case of the collaborative steer, because collaboration is assessed as a separate element, a weak case for collaboration may actually hurt a nomination that could have been stronger if it were not proposed as a collaborative studentship. Also, note that the majority of studentships awarded fall outside of any steer, so you should not be reluctant to submit a nomination just because it does not fall within a steer.

Action for Equality Studentships

NINE DTP is offering two studentships to UK-domiciled individuals of Black, Asian, or mixed Black or Asian heritage via our Action for Equality Scheme.

NINE DTP is committed to recruiting candidates with novel ideas and a passion for their research area. Our aim is to create a diverse and inclusive postgraduate community which can come together to tackle big societal issues and produce world-class research that seeks to improve the lives of peoples and societies around the world. Crucially, we are a training partnership and our objective is to train excellent early career social science researchers from all backgrounds.

We value diversity within our partnership and believe that this diversity enriches our PGR community, the experiences of our doctoral candidates, and our research culture. It further enhances the quality of the research produced within our community, and the social scientists we support. NINE DTP is therefore committed to a policy of enhanced action to support those groups who have traditionally been under-represented within our research environment.

NINE DTP recognises that we need to take positive action to foster a more inclusive and diverse postgraduate research community, and therefore launched our ‘Action for Equality’ agenda in 2020. As part of this agenda, we are particularly keen to encourage and support UK-domiciled Black or Asian-heritage individuals (including those with a mixed ethnic background) within the NINE DTP studentship competition. We are therefore pleased to offer a number of initiatives designed to encourage and support applicants from these specific under-represented backgrounds in applying for UKRI funding with NINE DTP. This includes the NINE Action for Equality (AforE) competition.

The AforE competition is run according to the same guidelines and procedures of the NINE Studentship competition, with eligible candidates being submitted to both the NINE DTP studentship competition and the AforE scheme via the same initial process. Candidates are not expected to need to provide any additional and entry to the scheme requires no additional work from either supervisor or applicant. The Supervisor only need indicate eligibility of the candidate for the scheme on the front page of the NINE DTP nomination form.

Additional Support

In addition to the AforE Studentship Scheme, NINE DTP are keen to encourage and support applicants from Black British and British Asian backgrounds seeking UKRI funds via NINE DTP in other ways. As part of our Action for Equality strategy, candidates who meet the ring-fenced studentship criteria may request a meeting with the DTP Director during the Autumn term. As Chair of both the NINE DTP and AforE Studentship Committees, the Director can meet with candidates individually (or in small groups if demand is high) to provide additional advice and guidance on creating and presenting a competitive application in our PhD funding competition. Candidates need not take up the opportunity if they do not wish to, but should they wish to seek this additional support they should contact the DTP team in Durham who will look to arrange the meeting ([email protected]).

Further, should candidates wish, we can work to put them in contact with current award holders, or academics, from Black-British and British Asian backgrounds for an informal discussion with the candidate around their application, or their experiences of being a Doctoral Student.

Action for Equality Scheme Guidelines

Read more around our initiative to support candidates of Black British, British Asian, or mixed Black or Asian heritage

AforE Guidelines

Action for Equality Podcast

Candidates may also wish to listen to some of Dr Tina Sikka's podcast series with current scholars and eminent minority-ethnic academics in the Social Science

Listen here