DTC internship support
scheme guidance notes
Limited funds have been made available to all ESRC DTCs in the UK to support Knowledge
Exchange (KE) and to enable DTCs to meet their KE goals. ESRC-funded students are
encouraged to plan activities which will contribute significantly to KE (a demonstrable and
meaningful two-way flow of information/knowledge that is of mutual benefit and provides
added value to the working relationship between both parties), and may apply for financial
support from the DTC for certain of these activities. One such form may involve undertaking
an internship/placement with a non-academic organisation which has a significant
collaborative/knowledge exchange element at its core.
The ESRC has its own separate internship scheme, which provides ESRC-funded students
with pre-arranged opportunities to spend up to six months in a non-academic organisation
within the public, voluntary or private sector, working as part of a team. A number of
organisations, many directly or indirectly related to government, host these ESRC
internships. Benefits for students of internships include networking and the development of
transferable skills and knowledge, including in time management and, report writing. Benefits
for hosts include the generation of real outputs, production of briefing papers and adding to
the organisation’s policy evidence base.
There are some differences between the ESRC’s scheme and our Oxford DTC internship
support scheme, principally that students in our scheme arrange their own internship (with
support from their supervisor and department). The goals are, however, the same. Using the
ESRC model, students should note that the following are important considerations when
applying for financial support for an internship:
Required knowledge exchange/collaborative element
The internship should be negotiated from the start with KE in mind. The host organisation
needs to be informed of the KE goals and should identify the benefits of the activities within
the organisation. The host organisation must provide evidence that the internship/placement
will have a significant KE element, as described above, and will need to confirm in writing
that there will be benefit to both the student and themselves.
In the application, the student should provide a statement indicating what they hope to gain
from the internship, and how the internship/placement is relevant to their research. Students
should be aware that the internship/placement must involve a demonstrable two-way flow of
information/knowledge between the student and the organisation, with substantive user
engagement on both sides (in accordance with the ESRC’s requirements).
General scheme requirements

Applications to the scheme must be made in advance of an internship starting;
retrospective applications for funding from the scheme will not be accepted.

The internship should be for a minimum of one month and no more than three
months, in line with the maximum duration of an ESRC internship under their scheme
prior to 2012-13. Partial support for internships of more than three months cannot be
awarded – for longer internships, students would need to suspend their studentship

The student must have been offered the internship already (at least in principle), prior
to applying for financial assistance. The relevant documentation (e.g. a copy of a
signed offer letter from the organisation concerned, outlining the start dates, terms
and conditions of the internship, rates of pay, etc) would need to be submitted with
the application to the divisional office

Students must be funded by the ESRC DTC DTG and be in the DPhil phase of their
studentship

Students must indicate whether the internship is paid or unpaid, so that the level of
financial support can be adjusted accordingly. If the internship pays more per month
than the ESRC stipend, payment of the studentship will be suspended.

The internship must start at least three months prior to the student’s fund end date.
For students undertaking a Masters degree followed by a DPhil, the internship can be
during the summer vacation between the Masters and DPhil programmes. Please
note that if, during this time, a student decides not to continue to the DPhil
programme, the University will seek to recover any funds paid out to support an
internship, as well as the maintenance stipend (if applicable) in accordance with the
agreement signed by the student upon acceptance of an ESRC award).

Only one DTC supported internship may be undertaken during the lifetime of an
award. However, students can apply for an ESRC-run internship even if an
independently organised DTC-funded internship has been undertaken

The student can be a holder of either a fees-only or full award studentship, although
a fees-only student would be entitled solely to a fees-only extension and travel
expenses

When applying, students must indicate whether they would require any additional
support, and include details of expenditure that are likely to be incurred whilst
undertaking an internship that are over and above what their stipend would normally
cover whilst studying at Oxford. This is so that the value of any additional support can
be accurately calculated. Examples of such expenditure could include travel costs etc

Please note that where support cannot be given from this DTC scheme, the ESRC
allows students to use their RTSG budget to assist with the cost of travel, etc for the
purposes
of
undertaking
internships/placements
within
a
knowledge
exchange/collaborative setting. Students are also encouraged to seek out other
sources funding, such as college or departmental funds

Receipts must be submitted for internal audit purposes for any expenditure outlined
by the student for which additional support is required

The student must indicate their academic progress to date (e.g. any milestones that
have been achieved, such as Transfer/Confirmation of Status)

The student must have the full support of their supervisor/s, who must confirm that by
undertaking the internship, the final submission of thesis will not be delayed by any
longer than the length of the internship

Students should be aware that the term ‘internship’ is a loose definition, i.e. the
activity must demonstrate ‘collaborative activity with a non-academic external
organisation’. Each case will be considered on its own merits individually

Students are required to complete an end of internship report, in which they must
indicate how the internship/placement has assisted them with their research, and
what contributions they made towards KE within the work of the organisation
Additional allowances under the DTC internship scheme
Students are reminded that funds from the DTC DTG for additional allowances are limited.
The ESRC has indicated that students may use their RTSG to provide financial
support for their internships (e.g. for visas/work permits), should they wish to do so (this
is, however, entirely at the discretion of students). Applications requesting additional support
from the DTC DTG will undergo additional scrutiny.
Applications should be sent to:
Lesley Darcy
Social Sciences Division
Hayes House
75 George Street
OXFORD OX1 2BQ
Lesley.darcy@socsci.ox.ac.uk
Tel: 01865 614863
Decisions will be e-mailed to applicants as soon as possible after submission.