The competition for pathway-specific ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership studentships commencing in October 2025 is open with a deadline of Tuesday 21 January 2025 (12:00 GMT).

If you are interested in applying for an ESRC studentship with the Midlands Graduate School DTP please complete the following steps:

1. Choose a pathway and university

Before applying you will need to decide which of the available training pathways is most suitable for you, and which university you would like to study at. For details of the relevant academic contacts for each pathway and institution please visit our Pathway Contacts pageLink opens in a new window.

Please be aware that you will only be able to submit one funding application to the MGS DTP and you cannot apply for funding on multiple different pathways or for pathway funding at multiple MGS DTP institutions.

Please also check your eligibility to apply for a MGS ESRC Studentship by visiting our Eligibility Requirements pageLink opens in a new window.

2. Apply for admission to your chosen university

Apply to your chosen university to study for a research degree by completing an online application for PhD admission. At the point of completing your application for an ESRC studentship (step 3) you only need to have submitted the PhD admissions application, and are not required to hold an offer at this stage.

Where a training pathway is offered in more than one department in your chosen institution, students should apply to the department most relevant to their specific research interests.

Details on how to apply for doctoral study at each institution (including information on the institution's PhD programmes linked to the relevant DTP training pathway) are listed on the relevant institution pages:

Aston University	University of Birmingham	De Montfort University
University of Leicester	Loughborough University	University of Nottingham
Nottingham Trent University	University of Warwick

3. Complete an application for an ESRC studentship

When you have applied to the university of your choice, you can then complete an application for Midlands Graduate School DTP funding.

Contents of the studentship application

Application form	In your funding application form you will be asked for more details about your research topic and given space to tell us about relevant achievements and experience in support of your studentship application. Please be aware that while you may already have submitted some of this information as part of your PhD admissions application to your chosen university, we will require you to repeat it for the purposes of your funding application. Reviewers of the applications will only have access to the information included in Section Two of the Studentship Application Form, the documents that you upload, and your references. It is therefore important that you include all relevant information. You can access the online application form via the institution pages listed above. There are two sections to the form. The first collects personal details for the purposes of equal opportunities monitoring and assessment of your fee status and will not be seen by those reviewing the applications. The second section will be used to assess your application.
Supporting Statement from Prospective Lead Supervisor	As part of your online application you will need to upload a 'Supporting Statement from Prospective Lead Supervisor' a copy of which is available here as a Word Document. Please ask your prospective lead supervisor to complete this form as part of your studentship application. This will need to be directly uploaded by the applicant as part of the online funding application process. It is your responsibility to ensure that your lead supervisor fully completes this form.
Project Details supporting statement	Please refer to the Guidance Notes for further information regarding these documents.
Transcripts	Transcripts of your previous qualifications are required. Please refer to the Guidance Notes for further information regarding these documents.
References	As part of your ESRC DTP funding application, the Midlands Graduate School will also consider the two references submitted in support of your PhD application at your institution. Your references must be available by the funding application deadline.

As previously outlined you will only be able to submit one funding application to the MGS DTP and you cannot apply for funding on multiple different pathways or for pathway funding at multiple MGS DTP institutions.

You must ensure that you have completed all aspects of the application form, uploaded all relevant documentation by the deadline, and ensured that your references are available. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Deadlines

The competition for studentships commencing in October 2025 is midday on Tuesday 21 January 2025 (12:00 GMT). Applicants should expect to hear the outcome of their application in mid-April 2025.