PhD/MPhil Social Policy or Social Work

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Financing your studies

ESRC PhD Studentship Competition Social Policy and Social Work through the South West Doctoral Training Centre (SWDTC)

The School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol is pleased to be able to offer PhD studentships in Social Policy or Social Work. Studentships cover maintenance and fees for UK residents for full-time or part-time beginning in October 2012.

The School also leads the following Interdisciplinary pathways: Security, Conflict and Justice and Health and Wellbeing. See further details about these here: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/fssl/swdtc.html

The School for Policy Studies is committed to providing the highest standards of social policy and social work research.  Applications will be considered in any of the areas of the Schools’ national and international research expertise. Further information about the School is available at: www.bris.ac.uk/sps  

All candidates must fulfil relevant ESRC academic and residential eligibility criteria. Candidates who have already completed a programme of research training at Masters Level are eligible for a 3 year award (PhD only). Candidates who have not completed a programme of research training at Masters Level are eligible for a 4 year award (1 year MSC in Policy Research/Social Work Research + 3 year PhD).  Further information about the DTC is available at: http://www.bris.ac.uk/fssl/swdtc.html

Further details and application forms are available at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/studying/doctoral/phd/applying

Application forms for Social Policy and Social Work pathways should be clearly marked ‘SPS ESRC Studentship’ (Section 6).

Application deadlines for 2012 are 17 February 2012.

The SWDTC will also accept applications for Interdisciplinary pathways (Advanced Quantitative Methods in Social Science and Health; Environment, Energy and Resilience; Global Political Economy: Transformations and Policy Analysis; Health and Wellbeing; or Security, Conflict and Justice).  Application deadlines for 2012 are 17 February 2012.

Potential applicants are welcome to discuss these opportunities further with the Postgraduate Research Admissions Officers, Dr Patricia Lucas or Dr Anne Haase (sps-pgadmissions@bristol.ac.uk)

The criteria against which applications will be assessed are:

• Your previous experience/qualifications
• The quality of the research proposal
• The content and coherence of the proposal
• The proposed methodology and methods
• The School's capacity to provide appropriate supervision

Other funding options

The funding priorities of research councils vary year to year, so we suggest you consult the Student Funding Office website for up to date information on sources of finance.

International students can apply for the Overseas Research Student Award which pays the difference between home and overseas fees. Applicants for the ORS also apply for the University of Bristol Scholarship for maintenance and tuition fees at the home rate.  International students may also wish to consult the British Council, which provides advice to students wishing to travel to the UK to study.

Fees

Please check current fees on the University's Tuition Fees pages.