SeNSS Student-led Competition

SeNSS is offering approximately 40 student-led studentships for the 2020/2021 academic year, in 13 social science disciplines across 10 universities with exceptional reputations for doctoral training and research.

What is a SeNSS student-led studentship?

• You will work on a research project you have designed yourself.
• You will study with an expert academic supervisory team who will guide you in your research work.

Why apply?

You will:

• get paid to study! This funding is intended to cover your living costs and university fees, to allow you to focus on your research for between 3-4 years.
• work on a topic you are passionate about, leading to obtaining a PhD.
• join a friendly community of postgraduate researchers.
• have access to fantastic training opportunities and funding not only in your specific field, but also broader academic training
• develop a range of important employability skills, enabling you to work either in industry, charity, government etc, or in academia.
• These studentships are offered by SeNSS, which is funded by the Economics and Social Research Council.

I’m interested! How do I make an application?

• Check your funding and academic eligibility here.
• If you are eligible, identify the SeNSS university at which you want to study, and an academic in your field at that university you would like to work with (your supervisor).
• Contact your supervisor to informally discuss your research idea.
• Start thinking about and drafting the key aspects of your application. Your supervisor will be able to offer you advice about how best to do this.
  • Your proposal: think about how to explain your research idea, and how you will go about investigating it. For more on our current student projects, see the SeNSS website.
  • Your personal statement: think about why you are applying for this studentship, and why you are the best person for it; why you are passionate about this topic; how your existing knowledge and experience connects with it; why you want to study with SeNSS; what your long-term career plans are, and how a SeNSS studentship will help you achieve these.
• Apply for a PhD place directly to your chosen university. The deadline for this vital part of your application is 18 January 2021.
• At the same time, talk to the SeNSS administrative lead at your chosen university to get access to SeNSS’s on-line studentship application portal to make your full application.

For more information, please go to the SeNSS website.

Other opportunities