Student-Led Studentships

SENSS will offer these studentships each academic year, over our 6 interdisciplinary themes across 8 universities.

What is a SENSS student-led studentship?

• Students work on a research project they have come up with themselves.

• They will be guided in this work by an expert academic supervisory team.

• The project may involve working with a collaborative partner (for example, a business, charity or think tank) who provides researchers with access to data, equipment or participants for a study, additional funding for their studentship, an additional supervisor, and/or a placement.

What are we looking for?

• Interesting research ideas that will provide new knowledge in their academic field and may also help to address the major challenges facing Britain and the world.

• A good match between applicant researchers and their proposed university and supervisors.

• We are especially keen to receive applications from those who meet certain criteria that form part of SENSS's equality and diversity policy, such as being from a particular ethnic background, having grown up in a less affluent area, having a disability, being a carer, and/or having been in care as a child. If you qualify as a “Home” student and come from one of these backgrounds, you will have the option of indicating this in the equal opportunities form that is part of our online application process. We aim to award a number of studentships to applicants coming from these backgrounds.

• SENSS positively encourages applications from talented students holding undergraduate degrees only. If you are successful, you will receive financial support to do a Masters as well as your PhD.

• We are also keen to receive applications which fall under the headings of Data Skills or Advanced Quantative Methods (AQM). SENSS ring-fences six studentships across these two areas each year and so, if your project is Data Skills or AQM-based, please highlight this in your application.

  • Data Skills studentships refer to the use of large datasets, linked administrative datasets (ADR UK - Administrative Data Research UK, which is part of the ESRC) and/or big data methods and associated innovative analytical methods.  

  • AQM-steered studentships would feature one or more of the following: the development and use of advanced statistical methods; the use of large-scale datasets; the use and analysis of ‘big data’.

  • For further information on what constitutes a Data Skills or AQM-based application, please click here.

How do I get started?

• If you have a research topic you want to work on, first identify the academic at the SENSS university with whom you wish to work, making sure that your research topic comes within one of the 6 SENSS Themes. If it does, contact that academic - your proposed supervisor - directly to discuss working with them.

• If you are unsure about who to approach, get in touch with the SENSS Operational Lead at that university, as they may be able to support you in finding a supervisor. You must provide the Operational Lead with the SENSS theme that your project fits into, your area of research, and your topic in order for them to help identify a suitable supervisor. You must identify and contact your proposed supervisor before you start an online application with SENSS.

• Our partner universities have staff directories which can also assist with finding a prospective supervisor. When approaching a prospective supervisor, you should read through their online profile and familiarise yourself with some of their publications and compose a brief introductory email highlighting your familiarity with their research and how your project aligns with their interests. Your email should also note your intention to apply for PhD study, your interest in working with them, and should also summarise your proposed research and any previous research experience. We also recommend Google Scholar as another path for potentially identifying a supervisor.

• If, after talking to your proposed supervisor, they are supportive of working with you, submit your application for a place to study at your chosen SENSS university. The deadline for your application is set by your chosen university. Please check with them to find out what the deadline is.

• Once you have applied for a place to study at your home university, you will also need to apply for SENSS funding for your studies. To do this, click on the “Apply” button which will appear later in September on this page. This will take you to HEIapply, the SENSS online application platform, where you will need to draft and submit your application by 12.00pm GMT on Wednesday 22 January 2025.

Are there guidance notes to help me complete my application?

• Some guidance on how to identify and approach your proposed PhD supervisor is available here.

• A detailed guide helping you work through the application process will be available here shortly. You MUST read these notes when you draft your application as they contain important information to guide you, including the criteria against which your application will be judged. Advice on how to start thinking about the placement you will need to undertake during your studies is also included in these notes. Reminder: you do not need to have identified where you will do your placement at the point of applying for a SENSS studentship, and your application will not be marked down if you do not have a placement yet.

• The student-led competition policy is available here. It sets out how the competition will be run, and how applications will be reviewed and awards made.

• A flowchart of the competition process can be found here.

• The supervisor’s guidance notes are available here.

• Detailed advice regarding identifying the best structure (length) of award for a particular applicant is available here.

• A template letter of support for applicants to use for the student-led competition with a collaborative element is available here.