Bournemouth University is delighted to be part of the Southwest Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP), one of the UK’s largest centres of postgraduate research training for social scientists, including in the fields of Health, Wellbeing & Society, Psychology, Climate Change & Sustainability.
About the SWDTP
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Southwest Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP), originally established in 2011, is a collaboration of social scientists from the universities of Bristol, Exeter, Bath, Plymouth, UWE, Bath Spa, Plymouth Marjon and Bournemouth. Each institution is committed to providing excellent training, development and teaching for the postgraduate community across disciplinary and interdisciplinary research fields.
The SWDTP has educated over 5,000 Master’s and 1,600 Doctoral students in the social sciences. The partnership draws on the established research excellence of the partners, including the expertise of more than 750 social science research staff. This represents one of the largest groupings of social scientists in the UK.
The SWDTP has been accredited to offer a hub of world-class social sciences research and support a wide variety of collaborative activities, including events and student placements in public, private and civic society organisations.
Research training pathways
The SWDTP innovative training pathways aim to tackle current national and international research priorities. The following research training pathways are available at Bournemouth University:
ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships
Annually, the SWDTP offers a small number of ESRC-funded postdoctoral fellowships.
Candidates must be aligned with one of the SWDTP partner institutions and with the pathways to which institutions belong. For BU, this means that we would be able to support applicants in one of three pathways:
- Climate Change, Sustainability & Society Pathway Lead: Dr Sarah Elliot ([email protected])
- Health, Wellbeing & Society Pathway Lead: Professor Michael Silk ([email protected])
- Psychology Pathway Lead: Professor John McAlaney ([email protected])
About the fully funded studentships
Applications for entry in September 2026 are now closed. Please check back later in the year for details of entry for September 2027.
Before applying for an ESRC Studentship, students must:
- hold an offer from Bournemouth University
- must discuss their ESRC studentship application with their prospective supervisor(s) before submitting it.
- Data Skills: Any proposal using large and complex qualitative and/or quantitative social science datasets within any pathway (bar AQM) can request to be considered for this steer
- Advanced Quantitative Methods: Any proposal using and developing advanced quantitative social science data can apply to the AQM pathway to be considered for this steer.
Students are encouraged to look at ways of incorporating collaboration with external partners into their research proposal. Collaboration does not always have to be a financial arrangement and could take the form of a placement, voluntary work, data sharing or other payment in kind opportunities.
Students should read the Guide to applying to the SWDTP and be aware that:
- Studentships cover tuition fees and providing a maintenance stipend for living costs and other additional forms of support
- Studentship duration is normally for 3 years 3 months plus 3 months “Research in Practice” (placement). Additional funding may be provided where “top up” research methodology training is required
- Studentships may also fund a Masters + PhD for applicants without a prior Masters or equivalent professional experience
- Part-time studentships will be offered pro rata to their full-time equivalents
- They should mention in their application if they are considering overseas fieldwork, overseas institutional visits or difficult language training.
- Studentship holders must submit their PhD thesis within the funded period.
Eligibility and further information
Students wishing to apply for ESRC studentship funding can apply for either:
- An MSc/MRes followed by a PhD programme
- PhD only
However, students wishing to undertake a PhD must only meet the ESRC criteria in terms of previous Master’s level study and should read the SWDTP Guide to applying to the SWDTP for further information. Applicants may apply to one or more pathways, but please note the ESRC’s eligibility criteria for overseas and EU students.
Applying for a studentship
To apply for SWDTP funding, you must choose the relevant pathway listed above and select the ‘Apply now’ button on that page. Only applications submitted via this SWDTP pathway link will be considered for funding.
You will need to upload the following completed documents.
- SWDTP Studentship Application Form 2026 Entry (Annex A) (docx 224kb) which includes your research proposal, the name(s) of the potential supervisors
- Supervisor Supporting Statement Form for 2026 Entry (Annex B) (docx 183kb) which must be completed by your nominated primary supervisor
- One reference from someone familiar with your academic work (if your referees prefer, they can email the reference direct to [email protected])
- Verified transcript of your highest qualification to date or an interim transcript if you are still studying
- If you are not a national of a majority English-speaking country you will need to submit evidence of your proficiency in English.
Please note our preferred format is PDF, each file named with your surname and the name of the document, eg “Smith – Transcript”, “Smith – Annex A”, “Smith – Collaboration Support”:
Timeline
The application process to apply to Bournemouth University and for SWDTP funding is below:
- 17 November 2025: Deadline for applicants to submit applications to undertake a PhD at BU on a pathway for an ESRC studentship
- 24 November 2025: BU will shortlist applicants and hold research conversations
- 12 December 2025: BU will confirm which applicants will go forward develop an ESRC studentship application
- 9 January 2026: Deadline for applicants to submit applications for an ESRC studentship
- 19 January – 28 January 2026: Institutional pathway shortlisting & research conversations
- 30 January 2026: Institutional Pathways to confirm applicants to go forward
- 6 February 2026: Institutional Administrators to send successful applications to the SW DTP
- Mid-March 2026: Funding decisions will be announced.
More information
Further information can be found on the SWDTP’s webpages.
Any general enquiries relating to the SWDTP at Bournemouth University should be directed to [email protected]