SENSS-CAM Studentships
ESRC-funded PhD studentships offered jointly by SENSS and CAM Doctoral Training Partnerships
This competition will open later in October for applications.
South and East Network for Social Sciences (SENSS) and CAM-DTP are pleased to announce a call for two ESRC-funded studentships.
The purpose of this joint scheme is to promote collaboration between our two DTPs. The supervisory teams include a supervisor from each DTP and the topics offer students a genuine cross-DTP and cross-disciplinary approach.
Studentships are available within the following topics:
Beyond Reporting: Transforming Police Responses to Gender-Based Violence Against Black and Ethnic Minority Women in England. Dr Phoebe Mbasalaki, University of Essex
Evaluating arts-science collaborations for nature recovery. Dr Sarah Royston, Anglia Ruskin University
About the studentship
An ESRC-funded PhD studentship with SENSS and CAM-DTP provides:
Tuition fees for the duration of the studentship will be covered up to the value of the national UKRI rate for Home students; international students are welcome to apply may will need additional scholarships, from alternative sources, to fund the remainder of their fees. Any immigration costs will not be covered;
An annual tax-free stipend (salary) at the UKRI rate (£21,805 in 2026-27 for full time students), and a contribution towards research and training costs;
A personalised training programme, to develop research, communication, employability and personal skills;
Support to carry out a required three-month placement with an academic or non-academic partner during the course of the studentship.
Successful candidates must submit their PhD within the duration of the studentship award.
The studentship award will be a minimum of 3.5 years up to a maximum of 4.5 years. The length of the award will depend on whether the successful applicant has appropriate skills for the project, as well as general social science research methods training as set out in the ESRC Postgraduate Training Guidelines.
ESRC’s academic and residential eligibility requirements will apply for this scheme.
The SENSS Director, along with the primary supervisors will be holding a webinar early in December which gives a brief presentation of SENSS and CAM-DTPs, an overview of the competition process, advice on what makes a good application and the grading criteria, information on the two advertised topics and time for questions. Further details will be available here later in November.
How to apply
To be considered for a SENSS-CAM studentship, candidates should apply via HEIApply by 9AM GMT on Wednesday 6 January 2027. No extensions to this deadline will be permitted.
For a studentship within a CAM-DTP institution, candidates will also need to have applied for a place to study at the host university by the same deadline.
For a studentship within a SENSS institution, candidates whose application is successful will need to make a separate application for a place to study at the host institution.
Applicants must read the SENSS-CAM Studentship Application Guidance Notes before completing the HEIAppy application form. The Guidance Notes are available here.
A flowchart of the competition process can be found here.
An example of the application form you must complete on our online application system can be found here. Do not complete this example application form. Instead, you MUST complete the online application.
If you are interested in either of these projects, please click the relevant picture above to find out more. It is not essential that you contact the supervisory team directly to find out more before making your application.
SENSS-CAM F.A.Q.s
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If you are successful in applying for a SENSS-based project (e.g. at the University of Essex), then you will not need to pay any fees as the difference between Home and International fees will be handled between SENSS and the university. However, if you apply for a CAM-based project, please note that ARU expects international applicants to find additional funding or a scholarship to bridge the gap between the international home fees before you are interviewed. This only applies to ARU.
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There are two projects for this year’s SENSS-CAM studentship competition – one for SENSS and one for CAM-DTP.
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No, you should not have to contact the supervisor as all the information should be available in the advertisement, however you may wish to contact them if you have any further questions surrounding the proposed project. The supervisor’s contact details will be listed on the project webpages.
About SENSS DTP
The South and East Network for Social Sciences (SENSS) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) is a consortium of eight leading universities across the south and east of the UK promoting inventive and inclusive social science research training and collaboration.
SENSS builds on three pillars: interdisciplinary research that can address the grand challenges humanity is facing; equality, diversity and inclusivity to bring innovation to thinking through differences; and, finally, engagement that leads to impact in the world of practice.
SENSS DTP universities are:
City St George’s, University of London
Cranfield University
University of East Anglia
University of Essex (the co-ordinating institution)
Goldsmiths, University of London
University of Lincoln
Middlesex University
University of Roehampton
About CAM-DTP
The CAM Doctoral Training Partnership [DTP] is a consortium of three universities across the Cambridge city area and nearby region. Our collective environment of excellent research and impact that is an ideal complement for the interdisciplinary training of a diverse set of social scientists. CAM-DTP PhD students will join a hub for regional change addressing key societal challenges and the DTP is keen to attract talented doctoral researchers from a wide range of backgrounds.
CAM-DTP university are:
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU),
University of Bedfordshire (UoB)
University of Cambridge (UoC).