The UKRI ESRC is commissioning one doctoral focal award plus to develop a cadre of social scientists from doctoral studentships and across career stages with the skills needed to use data-driven research approaches in innovative ways. It will deliver both doctoral training and targeted training and capacity-building activities.
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will contribute a maximum of £5.85 million.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding.
Who can apply?
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for ESRC funding and have the infrastructure in place to provide postgraduate training.
Project lead and project co-leads
Organisations can only apply as the project lead on one application but can be a co-lead or project partner on any number of applications. The lead organisation will act as the training grant holder.
The project lead organisation and any project co-lead organisations will host the studentships and act as the principle base organisation for students.
You may apply as a single-institution or a multi-institution consortium. Within a single-institution application, the project lead will be the only hosting organisation. For multi-institution applications, you should identify one of the organisations as the project lead.
The project lead does not have to be an organisation with doctoral research degree awarding powers, but an organisation with these powers must be present within your consortium. In addition, where organisations without doctoral research degree awarding powers are hosting studentships, formal agreements must be in place from the start of the award with another relevant organisation with these powers.
Identification of the project lead should not be interpreted as recognition as the dominant partner or where the majority of studentships will be hosted. While only one project lead can be included on the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service, UKRI welcomes applications that reflect flexible and joint leadership models.
Partnerships must show a clear and joint strategy for delivering their vision and fostering the growth and maturation of collaborations over the funding period.
Project partners
Organisations that are not eligible for UKRI funding may act as project partners on your application. Information regarding the nature of these collaborations must be included within your application in the project partners section. Any organisation acting as a project partner may do so on any number of applications as long as they are able to support them if funded.
Organisations which are eligible for UKRI funding but will not provide the principal base (host) for students during the award may also be named as project partners. An organisation cannot act as both a project lead (or co-lead) and a project partner in the same application.
We welcome applications to include a wide range of project partner organisations contributing to research and training within the scope of this funding opportunity. This can include, but is not limited to:
- universities that are not leading or co-leading the proposal
- businesses of all scales
- public sector organisations, such as public sector research establishments and government at all levels, including devolved administrations
- third sector organisations
- voluntary, community and social enterprise
- other key stakeholders across the research and innovation landscape
Your application must demonstrate that there is significant added value from any project partners you choose to form part of your consortia. This may include, but is not limited to:
- other collaborative studentships
- placements for students
- training for students, researchers, or both
- access to facilities, equipment, or both
- financial commitments to partially, or fully, fund additional studentships
- commitment to cover the costs of access to facilities or training that cannot otherwise be provided
- strategic links to an important stakeholder or user
There is no limit to the total number of organisations you may include within your application. However, each member of the consortia must make meaningful contributions to the delivery of the training grant, as outlined in your application.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
- career breaks
- support for people with caring responsibilities
- flexible working
- alternative working patterns
UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Remit
Complete and submit the remit query form, if you are unsure whether your proposed training falls within the remit of ESRC.
What we’re looking for
Demand management
Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘additional information’ section.
Vision
We are funding one doctoral focal award plus to develop a cadre of social scientists across career stages with the creative vision and skills needed to use data-driven research approaches in imaginative and insightful ways, applying their skills to understand the world and address complex societal and economic challenges.
This will be achieved through a combination of doctoral training and targeted training and capacity building (TCB) activities for mid-career and senior researchers. Further information on what a doctoral focal award plus is can be found in the ‘Additional information’ section.
We want social scientists at all career stages to have the skills and capability to maximise the value of large and complex data available for research purposes. Social scientists should be equipped with both the technical skills and the robust conceptual and methodological understanding necessary to design and undertake innovative data-driven research. The skills that are required span qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches.
We take a broad definition of what ‘data-driven research’ encompasses, and more detail can be found under ‘Additional information’. We expect a broad range of disciplinary perspectives, within the social sciences and beyond, to be involved in the award.
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.
Innovation in data-driven research will be the core focus of this doctoral focal award plus.
We expect the following outcomes:
- a cadre of doctoral researchers with the knowledge and skills needed to use innovative approaches in data-driven research to transform our understanding of the world and inform policy and practice
- piloting new approaches to postgraduate training (meaning level seven and eight) and opening it up to a wider audience who may not want to undertake a traditional PhD, therefore diversifying the doctorate and addressing employer needs in sectors outside of academia
- in addition to the provision above, a tailored training programme that uses innovative pedagogical approaches alongside cutting edge methods to effectively upskill social scientists across career stages and relevant to a range of careers
- highly skilled researchers able to undertake research using novel data-driven approaches, including applying methods and data in innovative ways, to deliver new insights
- sharing of good pedagogical and methodological practice
To enable a continuing pipeline of researchers, the learning and good practice developed by the doctoral focal award plus will be actively shared across the social science community and beyond, and resources will continue to be made available beyond the end of the funding period.
The doctoral focal award plus will complement and add value to ESRC’s and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s existing portfolio of training and capacity building initiatives and data infrastructures.
However, this funding is not intended to duplicate or extend existing provision within those infrastructures. If used, proposals should instead seek to support their novel use to address emerging research priorities and optimise their value.
Where relevant, we expect you to set out how you will build upon, support and integrate with existing research and innovation research centres, infrastructures and facilities, to realise the potential of data-driven research in the social sciences.
You are expected to be able to articulate a clear, concise vision for your doctoral focal award plus. It should be situated within the wider social science talent landscape and identify how the aims will advance knowledge as well as deliver impactful benefits.
Approach
The doctoral focal award plus will achieve its aims by delivering a training and capacity building offer through a programme of doctoral training and a suite of training and capacity building activities supporting mid-career and senior researchers.
We encourage novel and imaginative approaches. The design of the doctoral focal award plus will need to be interdisciplinary to fulfil its objectives. The leadership team must comprise expertise from across social science disciplines, drawing on contributions from other research council domains as required. You should not feel constrained by established areas of interdisciplinary working or the use of specific datasets.
The training provided must ensure learners understand the breadth of social science methods, extending beyond the qualitative/quantitative binary, and that the research question should drive the data and methodological approaches used. Applications for a doctoral focal award plus that are focused solely on the use of either qualitative or quantitative approaches will not be assessed as a priority.
The investment should recognise and build upon broader innovative practice across the sector.
You may wish to include a logic model as part of your response.
Doctoral training
The doctoral focal award plus will support an innovative doctoral programme that will:
- produce a new generation of doctoral graduates that have strong capabilities across a conceptually broad range of fields relevant to data-driven research and can apply a diverse range of research methods
- develop novel new learning pathways and models that diversify the doctorate
- create an innovative programme design and pedagogical approach tailored to support the efficient and effective teaching of data-driven research skills
UKRI is committed to developing its support for doctoral training to better meet UK workforce needs. This is an opportunity to explore and pilot more flexible and inclusive approaches which better support the upskilling of the existing workforce and widen the UK talent pipeline.
Approaches should reflect employer needs in a range of sectors and you should consider how you can support the delivery of this requirement for example by leveraging additional income for level seven and level eight training that cannot be provided using ESRC funds. Any planned co-funding models must be clearly explained in your application.
The programme design and pedagogical approach should:
- include a curriculum that unifies skills training and conceptual knowledge; and effectively embeds relevant advanced and specialised training within its core training programme
- embed the teaching of digital skills to ensure researchers are confident in digital data collection from digital sources (including ownership, curation and storage), and analysis
- support research projects focused on the novel use of data-driven approaches
Training provision must be student-centred and flexible. ESRC’s postgraduate training and development guidelines 2022 details our minimum expectations for core conceptual, general and specialist research training and ‘Research in practice’. The guidelines also set out our expectations with respect to:
- collaborative studentships
- development needs analysis
- supervisory practice and supervisory teams
- placements
- equality, diversity and inclusion
Brief overviews of our expectations in these areas can be found in the “Additional information” section.
Applications must set out how you will meet the expectations set out in our postgraduate training and development guidelines, including how you will:
- meet our expectations for core conceptual, general and specialist research training
- run the studentship allocation process
- put in place the processes to meet our expectations for development needs assessments, including how you will engage with supervisors to ensure that they are aware of the different training opportunities
- embed research in practice as a core component of the doctoral experience for all ESRC-funded students
- ensure all students have access to high quality, innovative and experientially based professional development opportunities throughout the doctoral experience which should develop transferable skills and provide opportunities to apply knowledge in different contexts
- demonstrate a clear strategy for communicating with supervisors and ensuring that they are fully engaged with the aims and objectives of the doctoral focal award plus
- encourage members of staff, including early career researchers, to join the supervisory teams
- deliver comprehensive inductions for new supervisors and support development for supervisory teams in line with an inclusive culture of excellent research supervision
- identify and meet supervisors’ training and professional development needs
- monitor the performance of supervisors
A strong cohort identity must be developed across all students funded via the doctoral focal award plus. Students are expected to be able to benefit from the opportunities coming from being part of a rich and diverse research training environment in data-driven research. You should evidence the quality of the research environment you will provide for students. This should include:
- Research Excellence Framework (REF) metrics (output, environment and impact)
- supervisory capacity
- completion rates
- major grant funding or centres of excellence
- other indicators they believe demonstrate the quality of the research environment.
All UKRI funded training grants must offer the option of studying on both a part-time and full-time basis. You should detail how you will support students and staff who require a flexible working pattern.
Supporting mid-career and senior researchers
Our scoping work (see ‘Additional information’ for more detail) identified a strong need to support the upskilling of the social science community at all career stages. The doctoral focal award plus will deliver targeted training and capacity building activities for the wider social science community.
Collectively, the proposed programme of activities will:
- buy out researcher time to develop and apply new skills
- enable skill development in different disciplinary and sector settings
- support trainers and supervisors working with students utilising data-driven research approaches
- develop sustainable peer networks
Activity should draw upon and open up the core and advanced training developed for the doctoral programme to a wider audience. Applications can also include mechanisms that address barriers to upskilling such as allowing researchers to buy out their current roles to support their continued skill development. For example, through running a devolved funding opportunity.
Partnerships and collaboration
We are committed to knowledge exchange and collaboration between researchers and the private, public and civil society sectors. Collaborative working benefits both the researchers and the individuals/organisations involved.
Through collaboration, partners learn about each other’s expertise, share knowledge and gain an appreciation of different professional cultures. Collaborative activity can therefore lead to a better understanding of the ways that academic research can add value and offer insights to key issues of concern for policy and practice.
You will be expected to work collaboratively with non-academic partners. Your application should set out how your partnerships and collaborations will add value to the doctoral focal award plus, including:
- how you will leverage additional studentships
- how your approach will enhance the training offer, for example, by offering additional specialist expertise or opportunities
- how your approach will enhance the experiences of learners and the impact arising from activities delivered through the doctoral focal award plus
- why you are confident that your approach will deliver the outcomes expected such as the co-funding required and placements
- plans for scoping a flexible programme of activities across various sectors
- how different audiences and stakeholders will be targeted and justify any prioritisation strategies
- proposed co-funding or cost-recovery models
Sustainability
The doctoral focal award plus is expected to work with the ESRC Research Capability Hub to ensure training and capacity building materials and activities developed by the investment, such as online resources; networks; and communities of practice, are sustainable beyond the end of the funding period.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our student and research community and ensuring that we provide an inclusive and supportive environment for all.
You must set out your strategy for equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to support participation of learners from all backgrounds, as well as details of the support systems in place to protect and promote physical and mental health and wellbeing.
The strategy must consider EDI broadly, recognising the full range of protected characteristics and socio-economic backgrounds. It should include the embedding of EDI principles at all levels and in all aspects of research and training practice in the doctoral focal award plus, including the selection and management of doctoral candidates and other cohorts.
All institutions within the partnership must have procedures in place that allow them to capture EDI data on all applicants, for each stage of the recruitment process, from the outset of the doctoral focal award plus. We want to collect socio-economic data based on the measures set out by the Social Mobility Commission and this will be built into the annual reporting template the doctoral focal investment will need to submit.
You must describe your strategy and actions in a dedicated EDI plan as part of your response to the EDI assessment question.
Sharing good practice
This investment will play an important strategic role in developing our understanding of both how to effectively open up doctoral training to wider audiences; and how changes to pedagogical practice can improve the teaching and learning of data-driven approaches in the social sciences across all career stages.
You are encouraged to consider how the doctoral focal award plus can benefit the wider UK social science community. The successful team will be expected to have in place mechanisms to share this learning. Additionally, the investment should seek to showcase broader innovative practice from across the sector.
Delivery, management and governance
The doctoral focal award plus must be led by a strong interdisciplinary team with:
- the relevant scientific, professional and administrative expertise and resource to deliver the proposed programme of activity
- good awareness of relevant innovations taking place across the social sciences, both in the UK and internationally, and at the interface with other research council domains, for example, the digital humanities; computational and biosocial research
- the ability to manage and encourage partnerships with non-HEI organisations across government, industry and civil society
- demonstrable experience of managing and delivering high-quality doctoral training and supporting diverse cohorts of students
- the capacity to design and implement inclusive and accessible training approaches that widen participation and support equality, diversity and inclusion
- experience of developing sustainable training resources and approaches that can have impact beyond the lifetime of the award
- strong leadership and governance arrangements to effectively manage complex, multi-partner programmes
- the ability to embed skills development aligned with current and future workforce needs across academic and non-academic sectors
- experience of monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement to ensure the programme delivers high-quality outcomes
Based on our experience of supporting doctoral training investments, at a minimum, research organisations need to provide the following resourcing to support the delivery of doctoral training:
- a senior level director post (more than 20% full-time equivalent (FTE) for single institution doctoral focal award plus, more than 30% FTE for consortia institution doctoral focal award plus)
- a deputy director
- an identified training lead
- an experienced senior level manager and an administrator (with administrators or points of contact based at each partner institution for consortia proposals)
- management board commitment and support for finance and knowledge exchange
- other support that will depend on the individual institutional configuration.
You should consider what additional resources will be required to support the broader aims of the investment beyond doctoral training.
The project lead should be an ambitious and aspirational research leader with appropriate experience of leading research grants. Where the role represents a significant career advancement, applications should demonstrate a commitment by the research organisation to supporting the individual and enabling them to develop the necessary leadership capabilities they need to fulfil the role.
You will need to explain the suitability of the director and the senior management team. We expect that the director will remain in place for the duration of the doctoral focal award plus. If they step down, we will be required to approve their replacement.
Applications should address how the proposed leadership and management arrangements will provide adequate operational capabilities and resources to meet the demands of the planned activities.
Proposed governance arrangements must be clearly articulated. The doctoral focal award plus must have a mechanism through which it can get independent strategic advice on its development and delivery such as an independent advisory board.
Monitoring and reporting
The monitoring of progress towards the goals and evidence of impact is also important.
You will be expected to describe in your application:
- what success looks like for doctoral candidates, mid and senior career researchers and wider audiences or stakeholders
- what evidence you will capture to measure progress and show impact towards your goals, and the process of capturing the data
You will be required to attend and participate in bi-annual investment management meetings with ESRC and bi-annual Doctoral Training Network investment director’s meetings.
You will also be required to submit an annual report on doctoral and other training provision to us. This includes the reporting of EDI information for applications received and studentships awarded.
Duration
Funding for a cohort of eight studentships will be provided per year for three years with students expected to start in October 2027, therefore the award must start by 1 October 2027.
Funding allocated to support mid-career and senior researchers must be fully utilised within the first four years of the award (by September 2031)
Funding available
ESRC will contribute a maximum of £5.85 million.
You will be expected to support a minimum of 10 studentships per year for three consecutive cohorts (the first being 2027 to 2028 and the final cohort commencing in 2030 to 2031).
We will provide funding for eight of those awards. Additional funding equivalent to at least two students per cohort must be secured from other sources. You will need to indicate your commitment to meeting this requirement and provide evidence of the sources for additional funding.
For the purpose of applying, you are advised to allocate around £3.1 million of the funding for the studentship costs. The remainder of funding, around £2.75 million, should be allocated to supporting activities targeted at other career stages.
A minimum of £10,000 (100% FEC) must be ringfenced within the grant to work with the ESRC Research Capability Hub to ensure online resources are sustainable beyond the end of the funding period.
Costs associated with academic staff will be funded in the usual way with ESRC contributing 80% of these costs and the remaining balance being guaranteed by the research organisation.
All salary costs, expenses, equipment and other costs must be clearly and adequately justified. Costings must be correct and provided as instructed on the UKRI Funding Service.
If successful, applicants and the host research organisation will be expected to respond promptly to requests for information to support subsidy control checks
Additional funding leveraged by the investment, either through its participating research organisations, other funders or external co-funding partners, should be noted in the application but not included in the budget requested.
What we will fund
Studentship costs
The funding for the studentship element will be provided on the basis of the ESRC notional cost of a studentship. We cannot be precise about the total value at this point as this will depend on the stipend and fee rates relevant to each academic year, and whether the research organisations within the doctoral focal award plus are eligible for London weighting or not.
Funding will, therefore, be provided on the basis of each studentship being four years in duration inclusive of a three-month placement. However, the actual funding allocated to individual students should reflect any prior training as identified through a development needs analysis.
Funding to undertake a three-month placement has been embedded within the standard PhD model, with all studentships having access to three and a half years of funding and £1,000 allocated to support the additional costs of undertaking a placement (for example, travel and subsistence). Those who do not take part in a placement will receive funding for three and a quarter years.
As noted above, funding equivalent to at least two students per cohort must be secured from other sources, for example, from non-academic partner(s) in business; public or voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors.
Further information on the terms and conditions of this funding, including how training grants are administered, can be found in our postgraduate funding guide.
Notional costs include:
- stipend calculation: UKRI set minimum stipend levels annually. The latest rate (for academic year 2026 to 2027) is £21,805. Calculated per student per year
- fees calculation: UKRI set minimum fees levels annually. The latest rate (for academic year 2026 to 2027) is £5,238. Calculated per student per year
- research training support grant calculation:£940 per student per year.
- overseas fieldwork calculation: £450 per student per year
- student and cohort development calculation: £3,330 per student which includes £1,000 to support the development of placement activities. Please see the postgraduate funding guide for examples of other activities that can be supported by this funding
- London allowance calculation: £2,000 per student per year for those studying at a London institution
The costs provided for studentships are fixed and do not require any further justification.
Further information on the terms and conditions of this funding, including how training grants are administered, can be found in our postgraduate funding guide
We are keen to support researchers to develop the capability to operate in a global context. Therefore, we will continue to provide support for overseas fieldwork for doctoral students and provide extensions to allow time for difficult language training. We will also provide funding for overseas institutional visits of up to three months to undertake specialist research training and to develop collaborative links.
The normal flexibility of UKRI training grants will apply.
What we will not fund
We will not pay salary or admin costs associated with the studentship element of the funding.
Funding for the participation in level seven, apprenticeships programmes or standalone master’s courses cannot be claimed and, where included, must be delivered on a cost-recovery basis.
Non-studentship costs
What we will fund
Non-studentship costs will support the upskilling of mid-career and senior researchers. The breakdown and justification of these costs must be provided in the application.
Costs can be requested to support the delivery, coordination, and management of non-studentship activities to allow the successful doctoral focal award plus to establish structures and processes to develop and deliver opportunities.
Costs associated with academic staff will be funded in the usual way with ESRC contributing 80% of these costs and the remaining balance being guaranteed by the research organisation.
Costs for training resources developed for the wider community may be funded at 100% full economic cost (FEC). Initiatives and activities, including devolved funding schemes, targeted at upskilling an individual should be funded at 80% FEC.
Please note that indirect and estate costs cannot be claimed for staff costs listed under ‘Exceptions’.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.
Data requirements
We recognise the importance of data quality and provenance. Data generated, collected or acquired by ESRC-funded activity must be well-managed by the researchers involved to enable their data to be exploited to the maximum potential for further research. See our research data policy for details and further information on data requirements.
ESRC funding is conditional on adherence to the research data policy. Therefore, any non-doctoral researchers funded through the doctoral focal award plus must also adhere to this policy. You should explain in your application how this will be managed.
Students must be made aware of good data management practice within the social sciences and referred to the ESRC Research Data Policy that is available on our
website. Decisions on whether the results of a student’s work are published are at the discretion of the student and supervisor. ESRC-funded students are strongly encouraged to offer copies of any machine-readable data created or repurposed during the lifetime of the award for deposit in the UK Data Service. ESRC-funded students who are likely to produce data of any kind as a result of their award are recommended to read the UK Data Service data management guides.
Further guidance on the importance of managing and sharing data; content for inclusion in a data management plan; and data deposit is available on the UK Data Service (UKDS) website.
Impact
We expect applicants to consider how the doctoral focal award will have impact by generating new knowledge, improving lives and driving growth. This can be achieved at a macro level through the influence of the doctoral focal award plus on the sector; and at a micro level through the potential scientific, societal and economic impacts of the research undertaken by learners funded through the award. The successful applicants will be expected to capture its outcomes and impacts and share them with us.
Research ethics
We require that the research we support is designed and conducted in such a way that it meets ethical principles and is subject to proper professional and institutional oversight in terms of research governance.
We have agreed a Framework for Research Ethics that all submitted applications must comply with. Read further details about the Framework for Research Ethics and guidance on compliance. In particular, consideration must be given to how the legal, responsible and ethical use of data in research will be embedded within the work of the doctoral focal award plus.
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