Open competition

Home students

To be classed as a home student, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
• Have settled status, or
• Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
• Have indefinite leave to remain or enter

International Students

If you do not meet the above criteria you are classed as an International student, For further details please refer to UKRI-170321-InternationalEligibilityImplementationGuidance.pdf

Following a UKRI announcement in 2020, from October 2021 International students (including EU students) are eligible for ESRC studentships. However, the total number of international studentships a DTP is able to offer has been capped by UKRI at 30% of the total number of studentships awarded each year, and so studentships for international students will be limited in number and competitive.

The ESRC will only fund the Home Fee, which means that the difference between the home and international fee must be found elsewhere, such as:

• the applicant’s department,  
• the applicant’s host institution,  
• or another source such as self-funding.  

LISS DTP institutions will fund the difference between the home and international fee for a limited number of international students and at this stage we cannot guarantee that every international student offered a LISS DTP studentship will receive this funding as part of their studentship.

Academic Eligibility – For LISS DTP students

Due to the limited number of studentships available, successful applicants are likely to have:

• a very good first degree (BA or BSc Honours or equivalent) at 1st class standard or upper 2nd with average of 65% or above,
• for +3.5 awards, an appropriate Masters degree (at distinction or at least high merit level) is expected,
• other qualifications relevant to the proposed area of study, such as professional or work-related expertise, will also be considered.

The following are NOT eligible:

• Students who will have less than 50% of their study time (usually 3.5 years for a full-time PhD) remaining when they start their LISS-funded studentship.  In practice, this means that students in their first year of doctoral study can apply for funding for the second and third years.
• Distance learning programmes.
• Applicants who have already been awarded a PhD or equivalent degree.

You should apply for either a 1+3.5 OR a +3.5 studentship; DO NOT apply for both formats. Please note that the appropriate length of funding is determined at the application review stage.

Deciding whether to apply for a 1+3.5 or +3.5 studentship will depend on three things:

1) Do you already have a Masters degree?  If not, most likely you should apply for a 1+3.5 studentship and simultaneously apply for the Masters programme you wish to undertake at the institution of your choice.  Look at the institutional prospectuses to determine a Masters programme that best fits your research interests and discuss with your proposed supervisor to ensure the course falls within LISS DTP’s research remit and contains the required amount of core social science methods training.  Please refer to the Core Training Requirements page to better understand the kind of well-rounded social science training expected by the ESRC for its funded students.  

2)  Is your existing Masters degree in a significantly different field of study from your proposed doctoral project?  Please consult your proposed academic supervisor if you are unsure of this.  If the change in fields of study is significant, you may also need to apply for a 1+3.5 studentship and follow the process mentioned above, choosing and applying for a relevant Masters programme at the institution of your choice to gain the necessary background knowledge to then undertake your PhD.

3) For a limited number of doctoral programmes affiliated with certain LISS DTP Research Areas, a MRes degree is required for entry onto the doctorate.  If this is the case for your doctoral programme of choice, you should apply for a 1+3.5 studentship to cover the MRes plus PhD degrees.  Please note: your MPhil year is generally considered to be the first year of your doctoral degree (before your upgrade process).  You should not apply for a 1+3.5 degree to cover a MPhil year.

If you have a Masters degree in a relevant discipline to your proposed doctoral research:

If you already have a Masters degree in a relevant research area to your proposed doctoral project and there are no MRes requirements for your doctorate of choice, you should apply for a +3.5 studentship.  On the +3.5 Studentship application form, you will be asked to outline your existing research methods training, gained from past academic study, work or professional experience.  If, after reviewing the Core Training Requirements page, you feel that you cannot demonstrate on your application form a sufficient amount of key social science perspectives and methods at an appropriate level, please discuss your options with your supervisor. 

On the application form you will be asked which LISS DTP Research Area your work is most closely affiliated with.  This does not have to be a perfect fit, but you can use the descriptions on those pages as a guide.

Please simultaneously apply for admission to your chosen programme of study in the institution and department/research centre/institute that best fits your research interests. For PhD studies this should be where your primary supervisor is based. In some cases it may be appropriate to complete your Masters programme in another department, institute or even LISS DTP partner institution than your supervisor is based at.

1+3.5 and +3.5 studentships awarded as part of LISS DTP’s Open competition are applicant-generated, ie. there is not an existing project catalog created by academics from which to choose a project.  You need to develop a general sense of the research project you want to pursue and then approach an academic at one of our three partner institutions to see if they will act as your supervisor and help you to refine your project idea as necessary.  As you’ll see from our application forms, if you are applying for a 1+3.5 award you are not expected to have as fully-formed a research proposal as someone who is applying for a +3.5 award and already has a Masters degree.

Staff bios on departmental websites are a good place to start to find academics who share your research interests.  You can also approach academics within departments who are designated as ‘PGR or PhD tutors’ or administrative staff responsible for PGRs.  It is relevant to do this even if you’re applying for a 1+3 award and will need to undertake a Masters first because a condition of a 1+3.5 award is that you’ll continue immediately into a PhD programme after your Masters is completed.  It’s therefore strongly advised that you choose a supervisor for your Masters degree/thesis who will continue to act as a PhD supervisor for you.

If you will be undertaking a Masters programme, you can also look at the modules on the Masters programme for which you’re applying: who teaches those modules?  Those academics are likely well-placed to supervise or suggest colleagues with similar interests who might be willing to supervise your project.

You can find some advice and guidance on the process of finding a supervisor for your research degree within the links below:

• https://www.postgrad.com/advice/phd/applying_for_a_phd/
• https://www.findaphd.com/guides/choosing-phd-supervisor
• https://www.prospects.ac.uk/postgraduate-study/phd-study/choosing-your-phd-supervisor

To apply for a LISS DTP studentship, you must also apply to join the Masters or a doctoral programme of your choice at King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London or Imperial College.  

You must submit your university application through their online admissions system and this must be submitted before the LISS DTP studentship application deadline of  24 January 2025. 

It is your responsibility to ensure that your admissions application and all related material including transcripts and your references are available by the 24th January. 

Please check your individual degree programme deadlines, as they may be earlier than the LISS DTP one, and ensure that you meet those as well.

Students who have already applied for admissions and those who have applied in the previous academic year but have deferred entry do not need to re-apply.  Current first year doctoral students are not required to submit a new admissions application.  Your primary supervisor will still need to complete a supervisor reference form on your behalf for your LISS DTP application.

Applicants applying for KCL Masters programme (1+3.5 route) please follow the steps below to request application fee waiver: 

• Start you application in King’s Apply
• Before submitting your application fill in the KCL LISS DTP 1+3.5 application fee waiver form by Wednesday 22 January. Please do not submit the application fee form if you are applying for the +3.5 PhD route.
• You will be contacted by KCL Admissions to confirm whether you are eligible for the LISS DTP application fee waiver. Emails for application fee waivers will come from: admissions-payments@kcl.ac.uk.
• Submit your application (please do this after you have received a response from KCL Admissions). The deadline for applications is Friday 24 January 2025.
• Please note that you must fill in the fee waiver request form latest by Wednesday 22nd January 2025 for the application fee waiver to be actioned, otherwise you will need to pay the application fee yourself.  
• In the Section of your institutional admissions application labelled ‘Funding’, please indicate that you are applying for an ESRC studentship funding.

In the section of your institutional admissions application labelled ‘Funding’, please indicate that you are applying for ESRC studentship funding.

Apply to a King’s College London Masters or PhD programme.

Apply to a Queen Mary University of London Masters or PhD programme.

Apply to an Imperial College London Masters or PhD programme.

 Each LISS DTP application has four parts to be considered a complete application:

1. An online LISS DTP student application form (either 1+3.5 or +3.5).  Links to application portal is given under Step 6 below.
2. A supervisor statement. The applicant must invite their proposed primary supervisor to collaborate on the online application and the supervisors must complete the supervisor supporting statement section on the online application form. Applicants will not be able to submit their application before the proposed supervisor has at least accepted the collaboration request online in the application portal. Please note that it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the proposed supervisor completes their part of the application by the application deadline of 24th January 2025. Please discuss this requirement with your proposed supervisor before initiating the collaboration in the application portal so they know to expect the request from the application system.
3. A copy of your degree transcripts (or interim transcript) must be uploaded to your application. You should request your transcript from the relevant university well in advance as they can take some time to be supplied.  If you are unable to supply a final transcript you  should include an interim transcript to show your progress to date.   If you are applying for a +3.5 (PhD only) studentship, we would expect to see transcripts for both undergraduate and masters degrees.  Degree certificates are not acceptable; we need to receive transcripts with your module names/credits/grades listed on them.  If your transcripts are in a language other than English please have them translated.
4. A reference from a person other than your supervisor who can testify to your potential to undertake doctoral study should be either uploaded to your application or you can invite your referee to collaborate though the application portal. Applicant’s will not be able to submit their application before the referee has at least accepted the collaboration request online in the application portal. Please note that is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure referee completes their part of the application by the application deadline of 24th January 2025. Please discuss this requirement with your referee before initiating the collaboration in the application portal so they know to expect the request from the application system. You can revoke the reference request in the application portal at any point and invite another referee to collaborate if appropriate.

All four parts must be submitted buy the deadline of 24 January 2025, 17:00 GMT

Additional notes:

The Student Application Form

We strongly recommend that you consult with your proposed primary supervisor, who will provide a supporting statement for you, before starting the online form and prepare all the materials you need to answer the questions in advance of starting to work on the form.  PDFs of the application form are available under ‘Step 6’  so that you can prepare answers in advance, adhering to character limits.

Once you start the online form, please save your answers as you go. You can access the application you are working on and edit answers at any point before submitting it/application deadline through the online application portal.

You must invite your proposed primary supervisor to collaborate though the Participants task on the application. Your supervisor must accept the collaboration invitation before you can submit your application. Please note that your supervisor must complete their supporting statement before the application deadline of 24th January. The collaborating supervisor will only see the Degree Programme page of your application. You must allow your supervisor sufficient time to complete their section before the application deadline.

Supervisor Statement

Supervisors must submit their supporting statement online in the application portal by the deadline of  24 January 2025 17:00 GMT. Applications where we have not received a supervisor statement form will be considered incomplete and we will not be progressed for shortlisting. Supervisors will receive a collaboration request from the applicants system once applicant has invited them as a collaborator. The applicant will not be able to submit their application until the supervisor has at least accepted the collaboration request. 

At Imperial, supervisors for Open studentship candidates are required to submit a “Confirmation of Departmental support” form to the LISS DTP Imperial administrative contact (b.jean-smith@imperial.ac.uk) by 24 January 2025 (17:00 GMT), confirming studentship co-funding arrangements.  Further queries should be directed to b.jean-smith@imperial.ac.uk. 

Link to the online application portal is below. Please apply to either  1+3.5 or +3.5 studentship competition scheme.  You will need to register the first time you use the LISS DTP application portal. 

 Application Portal

To apply, please go to ‘Application Portal’ and select the programme you are applying for in the ‘Start a new application’ section. 

PDF versions of the application forms are available below if you want to view to application questions (including the supervisor supporting statement section) before starting your online application. Depending on your answers some questions may require additional information not not visible in the pdfs, however you can view the questions in full in the live system.

 1+3.5 PDF application form example

 +3.5 PDF application form example

After the 24 January 2025,  LISS DTP  will check that it has the full documentation for your application (four items, as listed in Step 5).

You will be notified by email approximately two weeks after the submission deadline whether we have received all necessary materials for your application to proceed. If your application is missing any document, your application will be considered incomplete and will not be progressed for shortlisting

Eligible applications will then be  circulated to academic reviewers in each Research Area for scoring according to assessment criteria (see step 8 below), and for comment.  The scores and comments of the reviewers are then used by Panels in each of six Research Areas to assess the applications.  The Research Area assessments are then used by a high-level Panel to decide on the final award of studentships.

Applicants will receive notification of the outcome of their application in late-April 2025. All applicants whose application is processed for shortlisting, will be notified on the outcome of their application. The outcomes are: 

• Successful – studentship awarded 
• Reserve Candidate
• Unsuccessful – application not successful in being considered for funding. 

Successful applicants will be asked to accept/decline it by a given deadline (usually within two weeks of the studentship award offer).  If a successful candidate fails to respond by the deadline or declines the offer, their award will automatically be transferred to a reserve candidate who is next in line for the award. We are unable to tell reserve candidates their position on the reserve list.

Owing to the large number of applications we receive, we regret that we are unable to give feedback on unsuccessful applications.

Your application will be assessed by academic reviewers according to the following criteria.

Student Research Potential

(weighted 60% for 1+3.5; 40% for +3.5)
As evidenced in the personal statement, academic references; academic transcripts, degree results, and other credentials such as prizes, academic awards or publications; and, where appropriate, professional qualifications and/or relevant experience. (Some candidates may have developed relevant and rounded expertise in core research methods in other contexts, and panels may decide that this broadly equivalent background is sufficient.)

Scientific Quality of Proposal

(weighted 40% for 1+3.5, 60% for +3.5)

Relevant questions to consider include:

• Does the proposal have a clear research question(s) and proposed methodologies/strategy to answer the question(s)?
• Is the proposal clear and well-written?
• Is the proposed work plan achievable in a 3.5-year PhD degree/1-year Masters + 3.5 year PhD?
• Does the proposed research fill a gap in existing literature and offer an individual contribution/potential for contribution to knowledge in its field?
• Does the proposal demonstrate the broader impact / social value of the research?
• Is the proposed research interdisciplinary?
• Is the proposed research data driven?
• Does the proposed research fit within the strategic priorities of the department and institution where the applicant will be based, the fit of the project with LISS DTP’s remits, and the fit with the remit of the ESRC?

6. Outstanding:

Student Research Potential
Exceptional demonstration of progress through school and university education (1st in undergraduate degree, distinction in Masters if applicable); top-class relevant degree(s) from departments renowned in the student’s field of study; awards/prizes for academic achievement; publication of student’s research, additional research experience (professional or academic)

Scientific Quality of Proposal
the proposed research is of exceptional merit and will make a very considerable scientific contribution and greatly enhance the research environment of the host department/research group

5. Excellent

Student Research Potential
Excellent demonstration of progress through school and university education (1st in undergrad, distinction in Masters if applicable); top-class relevant degree(s); awards/prizes for academic achievement OR additional research experience (professional or academic)

Scientific Quality of Proposal
proposed research is of significant merit and very likely to make an important scientific contribution and enhance the research environment of the host department/research group

4. Very good

Student Research Potential
Very good demonstration of progress through school and university education (1st or 2:1 with evidence of first class work in undergrad, distinction or merit in Master’s if applicable); relevant degree; possible, additional research experience (professional or academic).

Scientific Quality of Proposal
the proposed research is of merit and likely to make an important scientific contribution and enhance the research environment of the host department/research group

3. Good

Student Research Potential
good performance through school and university education (1st or 2:1, merit in Master’s if applicable); relevant degree from a department relevant to the student’s field of study; possibly some evidence of additional research or relevant work experience.

Scientific Quality of Proposal
the proposed research is of some merit and has potential to make a scientific contribution and enhance the research environment of the host department/research group

2. Marginal

Student Research Potential
good performance through school and university education (1st or 2:1, merit in Master’s if applicable); relevant degree from a department relevant to the student’s field of study; possibly some evidence of additional research or relevant work experience.

Scientific Quality of Proposal
the proposed research is of some merit and has potential to make a scientific contribution and enhance the research environment of the host department/research group

1. Reject

Student Research Potential
partially relevant degree (e.g. joint honours); no other redeeming indicators of academic achievement; experience limited to undergraduate projects; pass grades obtained

Scientific Quality of Proposal
the proposed research is not worthy of scarce funding and will not make a scientific contribution or enhance the research environment of the host department/research group

The LISS DTP is following the below application timeline for 2025 Entry Studentships.