Partner with a postgraduate researcher through a flexible, funded placement
We match doctoral researchers with organisations for short, focused placements that develop real skills and deliver mutual benefit. NINE DTP placements are designed to bring academic expertise into practical settings, from small charities to national bodies. If you're tackling a policy question, testing an idea, or evaluating your impact, a PhD placement can help you move it forward.
Placements
A Research in Practice placement is a funded opportunity for a social science postgraduate researcher (PGR) to pause their PhD research and spend 3 months working with or within your organisation on a clearly defined project or research question based on the needs of the host organisation.
Placements can be in-person, remote or hybrid, full time or part time, and can be co-designed with a PGR, or proposed by the host.
They are a core component of ESRC doctoral training, designed to support professional development, build networks, and broaden researchers’ understanding of the environments their work connects with.
Placements are designed to be mutually beneficial. They give PGRs the chance to apply their specialist skills in real-world, non-academic settings. In return, host organisations benefit from fresh insight, dedicated capacity, and access to academic expertise.
Hosting a Research in Practice placement is a low-risk, high-value way to access the skills and insight of a doctoral researcher, at no salary cost to your organisation, with benefits that include:
Tangible outcomes
Placements are focused on a specific project, challenge or question that can be designed to provide insight and solutions to specific issues or challenges.
Skilled and research-ready
Our doctoral researchers possess exceptional critical thinking and analytical skills, bringing specialist expertise and advanced training in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research that your organisation may not have regular access to.
Innovation
NINE DTP students are actively engaged in producing innovative research and generating literature and presentations to inform, advise and guide.
Fresh perspective
PhD students bring independent thinking, critical analysis and up-to-date social science knowledge.
Driven to make a difference
Students are motivated by real-world change and are supported to deliver meaningful, socially engaged work.
Organisational developmentBuild relationships with our 7 partner universities in Northern Ireland and the North East and provide your team with opportunities to supervise or inform research colleagues.
Research in Practice placements are short-term, focused projects designed to make a practical difference. Each placement is tailored to your organisation’s priorities, with a clear brief. Here are some examples of what a placement might deliver:
Understanding your community
Analyse feedback, survey data, or public records to help you better understand the needs and behaviours of the people you serve.
Measuring your impact
Design and carry out an evaluation of a service, programme, or campaign, identifying what’s working and where improvements could be made.
Enhancing archival practice and research engagement
Host a researcher to support cataloguing, preservation, and digital access to archival collections, while gaining insights into how your materials are used in academic research. This can inform new approaches to access, interpretation, and public engagement.
Exploring a new idea
Research the feasibility or potential of a new project, policy, service model or product, and present options backed by evidence.
Improving your bids
Support your fundraising or commissioning strategy by reviewing past bids, analysing success factors, or preparing supporting data for upcoming applications.
Strengthening your networks
Map the landscape of your sector or region and identify opportunities for new partnerships, collaborations or routes to influence.
Developing and evaluating projects or programmes
Collaborate with a researcher to co-design, implement or evaluate a programme or project. Gain tailored insights into effectiveness, reach and impact, and strengthen the evidence base to support future development, funding, or policy engagement.
Research support
Literature reviews, stakeholder interviews, surveys, and data analysis to inform decision-making.
Policy development
Drafting briefing notes or consultation responses, contributing to inquiries, or organising policy events.
Data and reporting
Data collection, management and analysis; preparing internal or public-facing reports and presentations.
Projects may align with a student’s existing area of research, or introduce them to a new field entirely. What matters is that the placement provides space to apply and develop social science research skills in a real-world context.
Hosting a NINE DTP placement is designed to be straightforward and flexible. We’ll support you throughout, but here’s what’s typically involved:
A defined project or challenge
You’ll work with the student (or NINE DTP) to outline a focused, meaningful piece of work that aligns with your goals and the student’s skills.
A named point of contact
Someone in your organisation should be available to support the student, help them settle in, and act as a day-to-day contact.
A suitable working environment
This could be in-person, hybrid, or remote. The key is that the student has the tools and context they need to succeed.
Health and safety / safeguarding arrangements
You’ll need to confirm that appropriate policies are in place to support the student’s welfare.
A short feedback form after the placement
This helps us monitor the value and impact of placements and shape future opportunities.
Some hosts offer to contribute to reasonable travel and subsistence costs where possible. If this isn't an option, NINE DTP can support the student with these.
Once a placement proposal is developed:
- We’ll review your proposal and, if necessary, work with you to develop it further;
- Once a proposal has been agreed, the placement will be advertised to a talented pool of high-calibre social science PhD researchers through NINE DTP and via academic networks.
- Expressions of Interest can be managed by NINE DTP so we can perform eligibility checks and do a first sift if required;
- Hosts will review and select a suitable candidate either through application, interviews, or informal conversation. NINE DTP can facilitate this;
- Before the placement begins, the host, postgraduate researcher and their university supervisor will be asked to produce and sign an agreement document outlining expectations of all parties and clarifying details.
- At the end of the placement, we will ask you to complete a short feedback form to help us to develop our scheme in future.
Have a placement opportunity in mind?
Complete our Host Proposal Form and reach out for a discussion. NINE DTP can match you to the right postgraduate researcher, or support students to apply to you.
Host Proposal FormLearn more
Arrange an informal discussion with the NINE DTP Research in Practice team to find out more about what a Postgraduate Researcher can do for your organisation.
EmailCollaborative Studentships
A collaborative studentship (formerly known as a CASE Studentship) provides an opportunity for an organisation to work with a doctoral candidate for the duration of their doctoral programme. The student will create their research project and goals in conjunction with the partner institution, allowing both student and organisation to progress their knowledge and understanding of a topic of mutual interest.
Collaborative studentships are principally constructed in advance of the student receiving funding for their studies. It may be that a prospective student will contact a potential collaborative partner directly to explore the possibility of working together; alternatively, external partners might wish to contact academic departments to discuss the possibility of the department identifying a suitable candidate for a collaborative project.
A collaborative studentship does not necessarily involve co-funding, although a clear commitment of resource from the collaborative partner can strengthen a candidate's nomination for funding, increasing the chances of the studentship progressing through the NINE DTP studentship competition.
There are two principle routes to establishing a collaborative studentship.
Our expectation is that, in most cases, a potential candidate for funding will approach their intended partner institution with a research proposal. This proposal can then be discussed, and developed, by the applicant, the University and the partner. Upon applying for funding from NINE DTP, the student will include details of the proposed collaboration in their application.
Alternatively, if a partner institution has a particular project that they would be willing to part-fund, it may be possible for the partner to directly approach a University to ask if a suitable candidate may be found to work on the project.
In both cases, the collaborative nature of the project does not guarantee NINE DTP funding, which in turn may result in the prospective student being unable to proceed with the project (although other funding mechanisms may be available via alternate non-NINE DTP channels).
The DTP encourages collaborative applications by allowing submissions above the normal quota of research proposals each training pathway can nominate to the final studentship competition. In seeking to support over eight collaborative projects each year, we encourage collaborative proposals; however, decisions on funding will be made based primarily upon the academic merit of the research proposed, the strength of the supervisory fit, and the applicant's academic credentials.
The nature and strength of the collaboration will be considered as part of the DTP funding decision; we would therefore note that applications will be considered stronger where the partner has made a more significant commitment to supporting the proposed research, whether through matched funding, provision of data and / or resources, or clear developmental opportunities.
As a host organisation, you will gain:
- the assistance of an exceptional researcher on a matter of some relevance to your organisational interest
- access to a practitioner of cutting-edge research methodologies, which can be shared and assimilated into your work practices
- knowledge exchange, and access to the product of a three-year period of intensive study
In exchange, the doctoral candidate will be looking to:
- gain an understanding of non-academic processes and practices
- build potential networks of partners, creating future opportunities for developing research impact
- gain access to data, resources and facilities which can assist them in the pursuit of their thesis, allowing them to complete their doctorate
- produce real-world output, demonstrating the impact of their research in enhancing the work of the partner organisation, whilst also producing academic output (papers, academic conference presentations, etc.)
Collaborative partners will be expected to provide some support and assistance to the doctoral candidate as they develop their research project.
We would generally ask the partner to provide access to the necessary data and facilities to work on the project, including access to any IT systems or data sets that may be needed (subject to compliance with data protection practices and legislation). We would also ask that the host organisation provide a degree of supervisory input in cooperation with the University, to allow our students to benefit from the knowledge, experience and practices of your organisation. This interaction can assist both parties with ensuring that the research grows in a mutually acceptable fashion.
NINE DTP would be interested in talking to any external partners about any existing, or potential, collaborative projects. Please feel free to contact us should you have any queries.
We would also recommend looking at the ESRC page on Postgraduate Collaboration, which provides further information on types of collaborative project, along with examples of good practice in establishing a successful partnership. It further provides some useful case-studies which highlight the potential benefits both to the student and the host organisation.