LISS DTP2

Placement requirements for cohorts from 24/25 onwards (DTP2)

LISS DTP2 students are expected to complete a 3-month (13 week) placement during their PhD. All studentships commencing after October 2024 include three months’ funding intended to support this placement period. Any students who do not complete a 3-month placement within the first three years of their PhD will have their studentships shortened by three months accordingly.

Research in Practice is a core component for all ESRC-funded students, with placements forming a key aspect of it. Placements enable students to develop a sharper sense of the wider relevance of their research as well as professional and transferrable workplace skills in line with the LISS DTP Development Needs Analysis that students complete annually.  Placements may also build expertise in knowledge co-generation, where research questions, analytical frameworks and knowledge exchange processes are co-designed with academic and practitioner input.

Placements

There are various ways that placements can be developed, including:

  • Externally advertised placements: LISS DTP will advertise placement opportunities. These can be with major UK government departments, UKRI schemes, and we will also develop placements with external organisations.
  • Devise your own placement: Develop your own placement through contacts that you or your supervisory team have, or with an organisation that is working in an area that is of interest.
  • Research Assistant Internships:  LISS DTP advertises research projects at one of the three LISS institutions each year. This gives students the opportunity to work on academic research project.

Placement requirements

  • Placements should focus on a discreet project, challenge or research question. It should have a clear programme of activity which will develop the students’ transferrable skills and ability to apply their research skills in different contexts.
  • The focus of the placement can be related to your PhD research if appropriate. However, you should not continue working on your PhD during the placement; the placement is a separate experience and should be treated as such.
  • The placement should be informed by the training and skills gaps identified in the Development Needs Analysis. Students should discuss placement plans with their supervisor.
  • For CASE students, placements can be with the CASE partner, with another non-academic organisation, or one of our Research Assistant Internships.
  • Placements are expected to take place within the UK. While we would not preclude a student undertaking a placement overseas, there should be a clear rationale as to why the skills and development offered by the overseas host cannot be provided for in the UK.

Duration of placements:

  • Placements are expected to be three months (13 weeks)
  • Placements can be full time or part time and can be taken as a block or spread over a number of months on a part-time basis, e.g. one or two days a week.
  • Placements can be physical, virtual or hybrid.
  • You can also split the placement between two organisations, e.g. one placement of 7 weeks and one placement of 6 weeks.
  • If your placement is shorter than 13 weeks (or you do not undertake one at all) your funding end date and thesis submission deadline will be adjusted accordingly.

Placement timing:

  • Placements should not be held within the first few months of the PhD and should not take place during a masters period.
  • Any students who do not complete a 3-month placement within the first three years of their PhD will have their studentships shortened by three months accordingly.

Masters students:

  • Placements taking place in the Masters portion of the studentship do not count towards the ESRC core component placement. This means that a placement will still be required in the PhD phase, and if not completed the studentship will be reduced by three months.
  • Some of the Masters degrees that 1+3 students undertake have an in-built internship or similar collaboration with an external partner.  1+3 students and their supervisors may also develop such collaborations on an ad hoc basis, for example, in the summer period between Masters and doctoral degrees. Please note that as above, any such placements will not count towards the ESRC core component placement.
  • If you are interested in undertaking an internship during your Masters degree programme that is not already in-built into your programme, please consult with your supervisor and the LISS DTP Deputy Director, Training & Cohort Development.

Funding:

  • All studentships commencing after October 2024 include three months’ funding intended to support this placement period. Any students who do not complete a three month placement within the first three years of their PhD will have their studentships shortened by three months accordingly.
  • You will be expected to make use of your stipend payments to cover normal travel and accommodation costs.
  • Students can also apply for additional funding support (up to £1000) to assist with other costs incurred during the placements. Details should be entered into the application form.

Externally Funded Placements:

  • Please note that an externally funded placement does not count towards the ESRC core component placement and may impact your funding end date and required submission deadline.
  • If you are offered a full-time paid placement, secondment, or consultancy, you will most likely need to suspend your studentship for its duration. A suspension involves stopping your studentship payments for the duration of the placement, and also delays your submission deadline.
  • There is no rigid limit of the duration of time you may suspend for in this case, but the duration must be of sufficiently short duration that you and your supervisory team are confident it will not significantly disrupt your progress.
  • A suspension to undertake paid work must be justified as being relevant to your thesis or research training and career development. Suspension of studies requests cannot be considered on the grounds of financial hardship.
  • Full time ESRC funded students are allowed to undertake a small amount of paid work during their studentship, but this should not amount to more than 6hrs a week.

To Apply: 

All placements must be approved by LISS DTP.  To apply, please complete the Placement Application form which includes a section for statements of support from your supervisor, host and Director of Graduate Studies. Please note:

  • The deadline for placement applications is the first working Monday of January, April, June and October each year. The outcome will be communicated to you within two weeks of the deadline. Applications should be received at least 3 months BEFORE the start date of the placement wherever possible.
  • Applications for the Research Assistant Internships will be reviewed on a rolling basis.  Although the 3 month notice period does not apply, students are encouraged to seek supervisor approval and put arrangements in place several weeks before the commencement of the placement.
  • If you have not received notification of outcomes within two weeks of the application review date, contact liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk.
  • Queen Mary and Imperial students should contact their institutional LISS administrators (see contact details) about approved additional funding or any delays to payments or reimbursements.
  • You will be expected to complete a placement/internship report form (together with your supervisor and host) at the end of your placement. This should outline how the experience has enhanced your understanding of wider significance of your research, your personal and professional skills and/or your understanding of knowledge co-generation. We encourage you to develop other means of dissemination of your experience, e.g. a short film, blog post, to both the LISS DTP and a broader audience.
  • A Host Agreement may be required, and your home institution will be able to advise on this. You should also check if the host organisation has any indemnity or insurance requirements.