ESRC SEDarc studentships

SEDarc (ESRC) PhD scholarships for research in the Social Sciences (2025)

What you get

As a SEDarc postgraduate researcher you will:

• Conduct an independent challenge-led research project (see themes below) achievable in 2.75 years
• Follow 200 hours per year of subject specific training and wider professional development to enhance your career prospects
• Undertake a funded 3-month placement which can be completed flexibly (part-time or in several blocks)
• Receive a scholarship for 3.5 years for a PhD (3.25 years without the expected three-month placement) – and 4.5 years for a Masters+PhD programme
• Submit a new style of PhD thesis which includes reflection on your training journey, your placement and knowledge exchange activities

Scholarships cover PhD tuition fees (or MSc/MRes fees if required in year one), a stipend at UK Research Council rates (currently £19,237 pa) plus some research and training costs (e.g. conferences, participant costs, overseas fieldwork, language training, placement costs).

Type of award

Postgraduate research

PhD project

SEDarc researchers must propose a research project around one of our 5 interdisciplinary themes addressing major social sciences challenges:

• Living Sustainably
• Healthy Thriving Communities
• Inclusive Economic Growth
• Secure, Effective and Trusted Institutions
• Transformative Technologies for Society

This year SEDarc is particularly keen to fund projects involving Advanced Data Skills and Advanced Qualitative Methods and there is more information on these priorities in the Applicant Guidance

Candidates should apply for a Social Sciences PhD programme at Sussex:

• Accounting and Finance
• Anthropology
• Business and Management
• Childhood and Youth Studies
• Contemporary European Studies
• Criminology
• Development Studies
• Economics
• Education
• Gender Studies (Social Sciences)
• Geography
• Human Rights
• International Development
• International Relations
• Law
• Linguistics
• Marketing
• Migration Studies
• Politics
• Psychology
• Science and Technology Policy Studies
• Social Work and Social Care
• Sociology
• Technology and Innovation Management
• Wellbeing

Eligibility

Academic eligibility: If you are applying for the MSc/MRes + PhD you must have at least an upper-second class (2.1) undergraduate honours degree.

If you are applying for the PhD programme you should have:

• at least an upper second-class (2.1) undergraduate honours degree
• a  Social Sciences Masters degree 

Residential Eligibility:  ESRC studentships are open to UK and Overseas/International students and Sussex ESRC scholarships cover UK level fees and International level PhD fees. Due to visa regulations Overseas students may only apply for FT study.

Up to 30% of each cohort of students may be Overseas students.   

Part-time students are welcome to apply and in such cases scholarships are paid pro-rata - generally part-time for 6 years.

Masters :  SEDarc welcomes applications for candidates with or without a Masters qualification. 

Only 3 Sussex MSc/MRes courses can be funded as part of the SEDarc programme.  If you do not have an MSc, then make sure you apply for the combined programme (Masters + PhD listed) starting with one of the following Sussex  Masters programmes:

Psychology

• Psychological Methods MRes

Economics

• Development Economics MSc

Any Social Sciences Disciplines

• Social Research Methods MSc

Number of scholarships available

The SEDARC consortium will award up to 39 awards each year across the whole consortium (not just Sussex).

SEDarc is actively committed to the values of diversity and inclusivity. In view of the barriers facing graduates from Black, Asian and minority ethnicity backgrounds accessing research council funding up to 3 awards per year are ring-fenced for UK students of Black and Asian ethnicity as these groups are currently under-represented at Doctoral level in the UK.

In line with ESRC priorities:

• 3 awards will involve Advanced Quantitative Methods
• 3 awards will involved Advanced Data Skills
• 2 awards will involve research across Research Councils 
• 4 awards will involve collaboration with an external partner

Deadline

How to apply

If you wish to apply for an ESRC SEDarc studentship you must apply for a place on a PhD course at the University of Sussex by 4pm on Friday 13th December 2024.

If you already have an offer in place for a September 2025 start, then please complete the application form (download attachment at the bottom of this page noting this does not work using the Chrome browser) and upload to your Sussex application via pg apply but also email pgr-scholarships@sussex.ac.uk to inform us that you have applied.

You should indicate in the Sources of Funding section of the application that you are applying to SEDarc for a fully funded scholarship and upload the following attachments to the online portal:

• The SEDarc application form (available to download at the bottom of this page).  The main part of this is your detailed research proposal where you must describe your proposal in a way that could be read by a general academic audience in a maximum of 2,000 words. Your proposal should follow this structure: i) research background and fit to the selected challenge-led theme; ii) research questions and aims; iii) research plan (including methods); iv) proposed impact; v) proposed timeline. Supervisors of shortlisted candidates will be invited to complete the supervisor statement so this section can be left blank.

• Current degree transcript(s) with full details of performance on all completed courses. 
• Two academic references.
• An up-to-date CV.

 A guidance document for applicants is also available to download at the bottom of this page.

The deadline for SEDarc applications to the University of Sussex is 4pm on 13th December 2024. 

 Applications will assessed against the following criteria:

1. Fit to SEDarc themes (20%)
2. Project quality and feasibility (40%)
3. The candidate's suitability for doctoral research and training (40%)

If you are interested in applying for a SEDarc scholarship, you can find out more at the Applicant Webinar on Tuesday, October 1st  2024 14:00 - 15:00 BST

Sponsors

Contact us

Sussex Researcher  School: pgr-scholarships@sussex.ac.uk

Timetable

Deadline for completing Sussex PG application - 13th December 2024

18 Shortlisted Sussex applicants will be invited to submit an application to SEDarc by 3rd February 2025

Successful applicants will be informed by the end of March 2025.