Proposals for ESRC DTC Collaborative Studentships 2015 Entry
Notes for Guidance
Introduction
The Warwick Social Science Doctoral Training Centre has been awarded an annual allocation of 27
ESRC studentships, with a condition that 20% or five awards per annum “will involve some form of
collaboration with other public, private or third sector organisations. This may involve both
collaborative studentships and other opportunities such as internships and placements.” In order to
meet this ESRC requirement, we set aside six of our allocated studentships for 2015 entry specifically
for collaborative awards, to be allocated competitively on the basis of proposals put forward by
departments/training pathways.
These Notes for Guidance are intended to provide advice to departments on developing and making
applications for collaborative DTC studentships. They should be read in conjunction with the ESRC’s
own document on Good practice in setting up studentship opportunities, a copy of which is attached.
Types of collaboration and collaborating organisations
The ESRC is not prescriptive as to the types of activities or organisations that might be eligible for
consideration for collaborative studentships. Collaborating organisation should normally be based in
the United Kingdom but non-UK organisations are not excluded so long as the necessary supervision
and support for the student can be provided. Collaborations with academically-based research or
other projects, whether at Warwick or elsewhere, would normally be excluded.
It is suggested that collaboration would normally take one of the following forms:


Where the relevant department and the external organisation define a research project
of mutual interest to which the student may be assigned. Such a project may encompass
the whole or a part of the student’s full PhD research. The external organisation’s
commitment should extend beyond providing access to its records, data or staff for the
purposes of the student’s research, as might normally be expected, and could include
cooperation in designing the research, providing financial or other support to the student
(including a contribution to student fees and/or maintenance to defer costs otherwise to
be borne by the DTC grant), assistance in the dissemination of the research results or
other knowledge transfer activities.
Internships or work placements for the student with the organisation, the primary
purpose of which is to provide work experience but which might also contribute to the
student’s research or training. It is suggested that such internships/placements should
normally extend for a minimum period of three months, and should involve some
commitment from the external organisation to support the student, financially or
otherwise, during the period of the internship/placement.
These examples of forms of collaboration should not exclude departments putting forward other
suggestions.
Expectations of collaborating organisations
The ESRC Good Practice note suggests that the student should normally spend a minimum of three
months (not necessarily continuous) per year based with the collaborating organisation during any
periods in which the collaboration is in effect. However, where a collaboration is expected to
encompass only part of the student’s doctoral research, some flexibility in this respect may be
allowed. The collaborating organisation should commit to hosting and providing the student with
necessary facilities during such periods, including an induction to the organisation, and to appointing
a joint supervisor and/or mentor.
A key question is whether the collaborating organisation will make a financial contribution to the
project or placement. The ESRC Good Practice note cites the previous requirement, under CASE
awards, for the collaborating organisation to make a minimum financial contribution of £4000 per
annum. While this minimum requirement no longer applies, the ESRC strongly encourages DTCs to
obtain a financial contribution to collaborative awards or, where the nature of the organisation
makes this difficult to achieve, contributions in kind.
Where a proposed collaboration is based on an internship or work placement, it should involve some
commitment from the external organisation to support the student, financially or otherwise, during
the period when s/he will be based with the organisation. In particular, if the internship/placement
is intended to involve the student taking time out from their academic studies, it should not be
assumed that the cost of student maintenance during this period can be borne by the DTC grant. As
guidance, it may be noted that the ESRC expects organisations hosting interns under its own scheme
to contribute £3000 toward the cost of extending the studentship for three months.
The financial value of any external contribution to the collaboration is one factor to be taken into
account in evaluating applications. In particular, where the collaborative studentship might be
awarded to a nominee of the collaborating organisation (see below), the DTC Management
Committee has suggested that the minimum contribution should be the equivalent of the student’s
University fees.
Student eligibility
It is expected that DTC collaborative studentships will normally be subject to open competition for
students. In particular, where appropriate it should be open to students previously awarded a DTC
studentship in 2013 to apply to switch to the collaborative award for the remaining period of their
study. In such cases, the department will be able to replace the original studentship with a new, full
award. Of course, all collaborative studentship award holders will have to meet the minimum
requirements set down by the ESRC and the Warwick DTC in terms of academic qualifications,
residency, etc. Note that the length of ESRC funding for a student holding a collaborative award will
depend on the student’s prior training and qualifications. For example, a student who has
completed a Masters covering most or all of the core ESRC postgraduate training requirements
would likely receive a 3-year award, while a student who without such a background would more
likely receive a 4 year award (in particular to allow the DTC core training modules to be taken in the
student’s first year). Proposers of awards are advised to keep that issue in mind when designing the
collaboration, and when advertising for students. Advice on these issues can be obtained from the
DTC Director or Administrator.
The ESRC has advised us that:
Our expectation is that all studentships are allocated on the basis of a fair and transparent
recruitment process. If the outcome of this process is that an employee at the partner
organisation is identified as the strongest candidate then that’s fine but we do not expect
collaborative studentships to be set up on the basis that an existing employee will
automatically take on the studentship.
It is accepted that there may be circumstances where it will prove appropriate to award a
collaborative studentship to someone put forward by the collaborating organisation. However,
particularly where the student is currently an employee of the collaborating organisation, extra care
should be taken to ensure that the person concerned meets the minimum academic and other
requirements, will not face insurmountable conflicts of interest, and will be able to exercise the
necessary independence of mind to conduct the research to the expected academic standards. In
such circumstances, the collaborating organisation should commit to the student devoting the
minimum time and attendance required under the studentship and should preferably be seconded
full-time to it for the duration of their studies. It should also be made clear to the collaborating
organisation that the student must meet the academic standards required for the award of the
degree and that this cannot be guaranteed as an outcome of the collaboration.
Criteria for evaluating proposed collaborative studentships
Departments should take full account of these guidance notes and the ESRC Good Practice guide in
completing their applications. The application form has been designed to cover most of the essential
points.
The DTC Management Committee agreed that applications should be evaluated according to the
following criteria:
Type of collaboration
Research
Academic/intellectual merit of proposal research
Extent of student’s engagement with the
collaborating organisation and contribution
collaboration will make to student’s research,
development as researcher, and/or career and other
development
Potential impact of collaboration on development of
policy/practice within collaborating organisation or
more widely
Contribution of collaboration to ESRC Strategic
Priorities* and/or the University’s Global Research
Priorities**
Potential in sustaining or leading to wider
collaboration between University/department and
collaborating organisation
Financial and other contribution of the collaborating
organisation
x
Internship/
placement
Other
*
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
*These currently are Economic Performance and Sustainable Growth; Influencing Behaviour and
Informing Interventions; and A Vibrant and Fair Society
** These are Behavioural Science; Connecting Cultures; Energy; Food; Global Governance;
Innovative Manufacturing; International Development; Materials; Science and Technology for
Health; Sustainable Cities
As indicated, it is not anticipated that all the above criteria will be applicable to all applications,
depending whether they involve collaborative research, an internship or work placement, or some
other form of collaboration. The DTC Management Committee will exercise a judgement in the
weighting to be assigned to each criterion depending on the type of collaboration proposed.
Wherever appropriate, the Management Committee places greater weight on the
academic/intellectual merit of the proposal than on any one other criterion.