2027/2028 SENSS Student-Led Studentship Competition

Location: United Kingdom

Program: Postgraduate Program

Eligibility: Domestic and International Students

Duration: Duration of Program

Deadline: January 11, 2027

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The SENSS Student-Led Studentship Competition offers fully-funded, student-led PhD studentships each academic year, across six interdisciplinary themes and eight partner universities. Doctoral researchers work on a research project they have devised themselves, guided by an expert academic supervisory team, and the project may involve a collaborative partner (such as a business, charity, or think tank) who can provide access to data, equipment, or participants, additional funding, an additional supervisor, and/or a placement. SENSS also ring-fences nine studentships each year across Data Skills, Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM), and Interdisciplinarity, and for the first time this year has approved one ring-fenced award for an applicant who is an asylum seeker or refugee.

SENSS (the South and East Network for Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership) is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It brings together eight UK universities: City St George’s (University of London), Cranfield University, the University of East Anglia, the University of Essex, Goldsmiths (University of London), the University of Lincoln, Middlesex University, and the University of Roehampton. SENSS positively encourages applications from talented students holding only an undergraduate degree, or equivalent professional experience and skills, offering financial support to complete a Masters alongside the PhD where needed.

Benefits of the Programme

This programme will provide the following to its recipients:

£21,805 annual tax-free stipend
£2,000 annual London Weighting where applicable
Full tuition fee coverage
Research training support
Additional funding for fieldwork, placements, overseas visits and language training
Approximately 3-month placement included in the studentship

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Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this programme, applicants must meet the following:

Must have identified an academic at one of the 8 SENSS partner universities with whom they wish to work, with a research topic falling within one of the 6 SENSS Themes
Must have applied for, and been accepted onto, a place to study at the chosen SENSS university (deadline set by that university)
Applicants holding only an undergraduate degree, or equivalent professional experience and skills, are positively encouraged to apply
“Home” status applicants from certain backgrounds (as set out in SENSS’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity policy — such as particular ethnic backgrounds, growing up in a less affluent area, having a disability, being a carer, and/or having been in care as a child) are especially encouraged to apply and may complete the equal opportunities form
Asylum seekers or refugees may apply for the one ring-fenced award introduced this year (further details available on the official linked PDF)
Applicants proposing a Data Skills, Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM), or Interdisciplinary project are encouraged to highlight this in their application, as 9 studentships are ring-fenced across these areas each year

Note: Kindly check the official webpage for full and detailed requirements.

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Selection Criteria

SENSS looks for interesting research ideas that offer new knowledge in an academic field and may help address major challenges facing the UK and the world, as well as a good match between the applicant and their proposed university and supervisors. Applications are first assessed by the applicant’s chosen home university; if successful, they are graded by the relevant SENSS Thematic panel and ranked in order of merit alongside other applications to that theme, before the SENSS Management Board meets to make the final awards. Applicants are kept informed at each stage and notified by mid-April whether they have been awarded a studentship.