Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, with funding opportunities

Begin the journey to obtaining a PhD by exploring ideas for your research in a collaborative and supportive research community.

Below are details of our departments, pathways, pathway leads and the associated Bath PhD courses, and guidance on finding a supervisor. All pathways have part-time or full-time variants:

Departments in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

• Economics
• Education
• Health
• Politics, Languages & International Studies
• Psychology
• Social & Policy Sciences

Disciplinary pathways, pathway lead and Bath PhD

• Area and Development Studies, Dr Mihika Chatterjee (PhD Social and Policy Sciences)
• Economics, Dr Jonathan James (PhD Economics)
• Education, Dr Predrag Lazetic (PhD Education)
• Management and Business Studies, Dr Stefanie Gustafssons (PhD Management)*
• Political Sciences and International Studies, Dr Wali Aslam (PhD Politics, Languages and International Studies)
• Psychology, Dr Janet Bultitude (PhD Psychology)
• Sociology, Dr Ben Radley (PhD Sociology)
• Social Policy, Dr Ricky Kanabar (PhD Social and Policy Sciences)
• Social Work, Dr Jeremy Dixon (PhD Social and Policy Sciences)

*The Management and Business Studies pathway is offered by our School of Management

Interdisciplinary pathways, pathway lead and Bath PhD

• Advanced Quantitative Methods, Dr Samantha Curle (PhD Advanced Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences)
• Global Challenges & Transformations: geopolitics, inequalities and mobilities, Dr Katharina Lenner (PhD Global Challenges & Transformations)
• Health and Wellbeing, Dr Jeffrey Lambert (PhD Health and Wellbeing)
• Sociotechnical Futures & Digital Methods, Dr Iulia Cioroianu (PhD Sociotechnical Futures & Digital Methods)
• Climate Change, Sustainability & Society, Dr Paul Bain (PhD Climate Change, Sustainability & Society)

Finding a supervisor

Pathways require at least two supervisors, they are typically from the University of Bath although we welcome supervisors from other SWDTP Institutions. Some interdisciplinary opportunities span multiple departments. These may be considered just within the University of Bath or within the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Partnership, with joint supervision from the Bath supervisor and a supervisor from another SWDTP university.

You can find a supervisor on the research and staff department pages linked above, or browse Pure for profiles of individual academics as well as the research centre, institutes and units to which they belong. Your proposed research area must be related to the academic’ research interests.

As well as contacting potential supervisors, you may wish to contact the associated pathway lead directly.

Research PhD funding sources

• The South West Doctoral Training Partnership's ESRC studentships (ESRC SWDTP)
• University of Bath studentships (URSA)

ESRC SWDTP funding is available to both Home and International (EU and Overseas) students.

You can apply for this studentship if you are a Home student. Very limited opportunities may be available for academically excellent international students to receive an award. International candidates are advised to engage with their intended Bath supervisor before applying. To apply for URSA or ESRC SWDTP funding, indicate on your application that you wish to be considered by selecting ‘ESRC’ and ‘URSA’ on the drop-down menu in the funding section of the online application form

How to apply

Apply in four easy steps:

1. Contact a potential supervisor to discuss your research idea. They will advise if they would welcome a formal online application from you and confirm if you can name them as a potential lead supervisor. You will also need to identify and confirm a second supervisor.
2. Ensure you meet the entry requirements for a PhD in the relevant department or interdisciplinary stream.
3. Complete the online application form for the relevant department or interdisciplinary stream (the application form link can be found on the PhD course page).
4. Complete the Annex A Student Statement Formand submit this as part of your online application to study by the deadline. This is available on the website. You can either cut and paste your research proposal into the form or adapt it to the specific criteria on the form. There is a strict 1,300-word limit, fully inclusive of everything except references. Proposals over this length will be rejected. Further guidance can be found in the form.

View further guidance on how to apply for ESRC funding or the URSA

The deadline for applications is 12:00 (noon) GMT Friday 12 January 2024. However, we encourage you to submit your application beforehand. If successful, you will be expected to commence your studies in September 2024.

If you have any queries regarding submitting your application please contact our Doctoral College admissions team at doctoraladmissions@bath.ac.uk.