ADR UK Supervisor-led Competition
ADR UK is inviting applications from Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) to host a cohort of PhD studentships using ADR UK linked administrative data.
This funding opportunity is for PhD Supervisors. The successful studentships will be announced in January 2027, and following recruitment, the PhD students will start in October 2027.About the opportunity
Administrative Date Research (ADR) UK is offering funding for up to 30 PhD studentships (3.5, or up to 4.5-year structures depending on pathway) that will offer the chance to address priority policy questions using ADR UK’s growing portfolio of flagship datasets spanning education, justice, employment, health, and more. SENSS will apply for up to five ADR studentships. The studentships, which will start in the 2027/2028 academic year (October 2027), will be fully funded (where the applicants meet the studentship eligibility criteria).
Administrative data covers a wide range of topics; therefore, applications which are interdisciplinary are welcomed, incorporating at least 50% social science. All projects must be based primarily in an ESRC-approved SENSS theme, which are:
Advanced Methods for Social and Economic Research
Digital Social Sciences
Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
Justice, institutions and Social Change
Resolving Uncertainty and Addressing Crises
Sustainability and Climate Emergency
Applicants are encouraged to consider how the ADR UK mission and flagship datasets can steer the research areas that PhDs are based around. The ADR review panel will consider alignment with the ADR UK mission and ADR UK Training and Capacity Building Strategy.
Students and supervisors holding an ADR studentship must adhere to the requirements set down in the SENSS processes and procedures, e.g., completing certain training requirements, attending SENSS training events, and participating in cohort building activities and subject to the same Terms and Conditions as students funded directly by ESRC/UKRI.
Every studentship application must propose the use of at least one existing ADR UK flagship dataset: Full list of flagship datasets
Applicants can additionally choose to draw on other administrative datasets, including up-and-coming flagship datasets which are expected to be available to accredited researchers by the start of the programme. Find out more about up-and-coming datasets.
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Assessment of the PhD studentship proposals will focus on:
Alignment to the ADR UK mission to enable vital research that realises the potential of administrative data to lead to better informed policy decisions and more effective public services across various disciplines.
Alignment to the ADR UK Training & Capacity Building Strategy to support researchers trained to analyse complex linked administrative datasets.
The quality of the research environment and training provision to support the use of administrative data.
Supervisory arrangements, including supervisor expertise and capacity to host studentship focused on quantitative research using linked administrative data.
How studentships will contribute to the growing community of administrative data researchers.
How do I find out more?
SENSS Director, Professor Fragkiskos Filippaios, is holding a webinar for interested supervisors on 27 May 2026 (12:00 to 13:00), registration details are available here.
In addition, an optional ADR-led applicant webinar will take place on 12 May 2026 will provide more information about the opportunity, along with the chance to ask questions: Applicant webinar registration
How to apply
Think about a research project that you would like to undertake and utilises Administrative Data. This must fall within one of the SENSS themes.
Identify the supervisory team, to be led by you as the primary supervisor, which will participate in this project. The team must include a second supervisor who will be actively involved in the research project or who has a particular expertise in this research area.
Go onto SENSS’s application form, to complete your online application through Qualtrics. Online applications will open by 30 April 2026. The application form can be found at: SENSS ADR UK Application form. The closing date for the submission of applications is 12pm Friday 17 July 2026.
Your proposal will be assessed by a specially appointed review panel on behalf of the SENSS Management Board, and the results of this competition, detailing which applications are being submitted for consideration by ADR, will be announced by 21 August 2026.
If your proposal is successful, it will be used to support SENSS’s overall application to the ADR. The SENSS core team will liaise with you should any amendments be required to your application before submission to ADR.
If we are successfully awarded up to five ADR studentships, the studentship phase of the competition will open in January 2027, with an application closing date in late March 2027. Once studentship applications have closed, successful supervisors will be involved in recruitment and selection process to identify the best candidate for this studentship. Further details of this process will be provided when necessary.
Additional information from ADR UK
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Peer support
Through the ADR UK Peer Support Programme, supervisors intending to apply for this opportunity can book a one-to-one session (up to one hour) with a current or former ADR UK researcher who has experience of using a specific flagship dataset. These informal sessions offer advice and feedback to support proposal development.
To request peer‑to‑peer support, please complete this form.
ADR UK website
Read more about the available ADR UK flagship linked administrative datasets from across all four UK nations with information about the data, including the types of questions it could answer and the breadth of related relevant topics. The Learning Hub also provides explainer videos, training information, synthetic data resources, and user networks to connect with existing data users.
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28 April: Opportunity opens for applications
12 May: Applicant webinar
21-28 May: Dataset briefings
12pm 17 July: Application deadline to SENSS
15 September: Applications close
January 2027: Funding decisions communicated to DTPs.
October 2027: Studentships commence (unless agreed otherwise).
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