There are two separate routes through which you can apply for a SWW DTP2 doctoral studentship. You may apply via both routes if you wish (i.e. you may submit more than one application).

Please see here for UKRI/AHRC fee and stipend levels for 2021-22

Student-led Awards

We invite high-quality applications from prospective students who wish to propose their own research project. Your preferred supervisors must have agreed to supervise your project and you will have to apply both to the SWW DTP2 and to the institution where your lead supervisor is based. You should work closely with your preferred supervisors when framing your application. Their advice will help optimize your submission.

Click here to start your application. 

Collaborative Doctoral Awards.

Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) are doctoral studentship projects which are developed by consortium academics working in collaboration with an organisation outside of higher education. The supervisory team is pre-determined and consists of two consortium academics and a member of the partner organisation.

CDAs provide students with an opportunity to gain first-hand experience of work outside the university environment and enhance the employment-related skills and training which a student may gain during the course of their award.

Eight CDA awards are available in this year’s competition for entry in September 2021.  Find out more about the CDAs available for 2021 here.

Click here to start your application. 

BAME Applicants

SWW DTP2 is actively seeking to increase the diversity of students to whom awards are offered and we therefore encourage applicants from every and any ethnic background to apply. We hope to make at least 3 awards to students from BAME backgrounds. This is a target intended to encourage applications. It is not a quota: only applications that meet our stringent quality expectations will be offered awards. We operate in line with all relevant legislation governing positive action and do not make positive discrimination.

What does a Doctoral Studentship include?

• Fees paid at the level of a UK home student, currently £4,407 (full-time) or £2,203 (part-time) — international students please see below.
• Stipend (sometimes known as maintenance award) currently of £15,285 (full-time or pro rata) — this applies to all students, home and international including EU.
• A full programme of training specific to SWW DTP2 students and in addition to training provided by the home institution.
• Access to funding for additional skills-acquisition and placements with non-HEIs to enhance your work and enable you to complete the best possible PhD.
• Both student-led and CDA routes include all the above benefits.
• Additionally, £550 per annum is added to the student stipend for CDA students. This is intended to help towards any additional costs incurred by CDA students due to the need to work both at the host University and the non-HEI partner site.

International Students

• UKRI/AHRC have recently determined that this year that international / overseas students are eligible to apply for all their funded studentships to study from 2020/21 onwards.
• The category ‘international / overseas students’ now includes all students from EU countries (previously ‘EU students’ were a separate category).
• The level of fee covered for international / overseas students is the same as that for UK home students, i.e. currently £4,407 (full-time) or £2,203 (part-time).
• SWW DTP2 consortium partners have yet to announce how the difference between the UK home fee and the international / overseas fee for a PhD is to be treated. One option is to waive that difference (i.e. not charge anything over the UK home fee, which is covered by the award). But another is to require the successful applicant to pay that difference or seek another source of funding to help cover it. We hope that SWW DTP2 partner institutions will decide on a uniform policy and will update this page as soon as we have clarity. This is a complex matter. Please bear with us.

Download our SWW DTP2 Application FAQs 2020-21

Download our SWW DTP2 Guidance for Applicants 2020_1

Click here to find out more about our Collaborative Doctoral Awards

Click here to start your online application.