SGSSS Apply.
SGSSS Social.

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba
  • About us
    • Governance
    • Challenge-Led Pathways
    • Case studies
    • Our Year in Review
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Contact us
    • Work with us
    • Complaints
  • Current Students
    • Events
    • Training
      • Summer School
      • Spring into Methods
    • Training Funds
      • ESRC Training Funds
      • Training Event Funds
      • Challenge Pathways Cohort Fund
    • Internships
    • Mentoring
    • Research Impact Competition
    • Student Handbook
    • Meet Our Students
    • Meet Our Fellows
    • Expenses Policy
  • Prospective Students and Fellows
    • Studentships
      • Overview
      • Supervisor-led Studentship Opportunities
      • Student-led Open Competition 2024/25
      • Eligibility
    • Fellowships
  • Supervisors
    • Supervisor Eligibility
    • Steers Competition 2024/25
    • Open Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Skills Development Scotland Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Spring into Methods
    • Supervisors’ Resource Library
  • Our Partners
    • Internships
    • Collaborative Studentships
    • Training
    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
    • Our work with Industry
    • SGSSS Alumni Community
  • About us
    • Governance
    • Challenge-Led Pathways
    • Case studies
    • Our Year in Review
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Contact us
    • Work with us
    • Complaints
  • Current Students
    • Events
    • Training
      • Summer School
      • Spring into Methods
    • Training Funds
      • ESRC Training Funds
      • Training Event Funds
      • Challenge Pathways Cohort Fund
    • Internships
    • Mentoring
    • Research Impact Competition
    • Student Handbook
    • Meet Our Students
    • Meet Our Fellows
    • Expenses Policy
  • Prospective Students and Fellows
    • Studentships
      • Overview
      • Supervisor-led Studentship Opportunities
      • Student-led Open Competition 2024/25
      • Eligibility
    • Fellowships
  • Supervisors
    • Supervisor Eligibility
    • Steers Competition 2024/25
    • Open Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Skills Development Scotland Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Spring into Methods
    • Supervisors’ Resource Library
  • Our Partners
    • Internships
    • Collaborative Studentships
    • Training
    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
    • Our work with Industry
    • SGSSS Alumni Community
  • About Us

    Governance

    • Our Funders
    • The Directorate
    • HEI Administrative Leads
    • Supervisory Board
    • Deans of Graduate Studies Network
    • Student Representation
    • Member Institutions

    Challenge-led Pathways

    • About Challenge Pathways
    • List of Challenge Pathways
    • SGSSS PGR Leads

    Useful Information

    • Case Studies
    • Our Year in Review
    • Contact Us
    • Work With Us
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Complaints
  • Current Students

    Training and Opportunities

    • Training Calendar
    • Summer School
    • Spring into Methods
    • Internships
    • Mentoring
    • SGSSS Impact Competition 2025

    Training and Event Funds

    • Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)
    • Overseas Fieldwork (OFW)
    • Overseas Institutional Visits (OIV)
    • Difficult Language Training (DLT)
    • Student-led Training Fund (SLTF)
    • Challenge Pathways Cohort Fund

    Useful Information

    • Student Handbook
    • Expenses Policy
    • Research in Practice
    • Student Wellbeing
    • Meet Our Students
    • Meet Our Fellows
    • PGR Networks
    SGSSS Apply
    SGSSS Social
  • Prospective Students and Fellows

    Studentships

    • Overview
    • Student-led Open Competition
    • Supervisor-led Studentship Opportunities
    • Eligibility
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

    Fellowships

    • ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship Competition
    • Meet Our Fellows
    SGSSS Apply
  • Supervisors

    Supervisor-led Competitions

    • ESRC Steers Competition
    • Open Collaborative Competition
    • SDS Collaborative Competition
    • Supervisor Eligiblity
    SGSSS Apply

    Training Funds

    • Discipline-led Training Fund
    • Spring into Methods

    Other

    • Resource Library
    • Supervisor Recognition
  • Our Partners

    Opportunities

    • Collaborative Studentships
    • Internships
    • Training

    Existing Work

    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
    • Our Work with Industry
    • SGSSS Alumni Community

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba
  • About us
    • Governance
    • Challenge-Led Pathways
    • Case studies
    • Our Year in Review
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Contact us
    • Work with us
    • Complaints
  • Current Students
    • Events
    • Training
      • Summer School
      • Spring into Methods
    • Training Funds
      • ESRC Training Funds
      • Training Event Funds
      • Challenge Pathways Cohort Fund
    • Internships
    • Mentoring
    • Research Impact Competition
    • Student Handbook
    • Meet Our Students
    • Meet Our Fellows
    • Expenses Policy
  • Prospective Students and Fellows
    • Studentships
      • Overview
      • Supervisor-led Studentship Opportunities
      • Student-led Open Competition 2024/25
      • Eligibility
    • Fellowships
  • Supervisors
    • Supervisor Eligibility
    • Steers Competition 2024/25
    • Open Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Skills Development Scotland Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Spring into Methods
    • Supervisors’ Resource Library
  • Our Partners
    • Internships
    • Collaborative Studentships
    • Training
    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
    • Our work with Industry
    • SGSSS Alumni Community

Eligibility


At a glance

ESRC grants are available for students who:

  • meet the residency criteria (see below for details)
  • have engaged a first supervisor/supervisory team, who must meet the criteria listed here: https://www.sgsss.ac.uk/studentships/supervisoreligibility/ 
  • hold a conditional or unconditional offer of a place in a relevant discipline on a PhD programme at an eligible institution (some institutions confirm offers of a place once the award of a studentship has been made).

Guidance in the second bullet above was updated 15 August 2024.  

Eligibility in more detail

SGSSS funds postgraduate students with outstanding academic backgrounds and research potential. All applicants are expected to meet the ESRC Eligibility criteria summarized in the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide (for a more detailed version of student eligibility criteria, please see the UKRI guidance published in October 2020). Applicants must hold or be predicted a First or a good 2:1 undergraduate degree in the social sciences, or have relevant comparable experience. Additionally, if you are applying for a +3.5 award then you must also hold or be completing a Masters degree in the social sciences, which satisfies the ESRC 2015 methods training requirements (this guidance will be updated for the 23/24 application cycle).

If a first year student (or part-time equivalent) is self-funding their PhD, or they are in receipt of financial support not in excess of an ESRC award, they can apply for ESRC funding from their second year, i.e. they must be in their first year when applying. The precise length of award will be determined by SGSSS based on the stage of progress (but may be +2.5 or +3.5).

Part-time awards are permitted and the funding and award lengths are pro-rated accordingly, in accordance with the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide.

As announced in August 2020, UKRI are opening up their studentships (including ESRC-funded studentships) to international students from academic year 2021/22. All students will receive a full award, to include a stipend and fees at the home level. However, the proportion of international students appointed each year is a maximum of 30% of the total studentships. In SGSSS, this accounts to approximately 16 awards across the supervisor-led and open competitions. As such, some highly ranked international students may not be able to receive an award due to the 30% cap.

The full residential eligibility guidance is available within the ESRC Funding Guide, which also covers the full studentship package. To be classed as a home student, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a UK national (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have settled status, or
  • Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If an applicant does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as international.

For a more detailed version of student eligibility criteria, please see the UKRI guidance published in October 2020.

Further Information for International Applicants

The funding arrangements for international students are the same as that of home students, i.e. you are eligible for the full ESRC studentship package and are not required to pay any additional international tuition fees (top up fees). This is because all of our partner institutions have agreed to waive the difference between home and international tuition fees.

Please Note:

  1. If you are applying to the University of Stirling, full fee waivers will be offered, however the number of fee waivers is limited to an institutional cap (30% of the total number of studentship awards). Applicants are advised to seek confirmation of the funding position from the University of Stirling directly by contacting the HEI Admin Lead at ias@stir.ac.uk.
  2. If you are unsure of your fee status (home or international) and/or if you will require a student visa to study in the UK etc., please check with the relevant institution’s admissions team.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Privacy Policy

© 2024 All rights reserved​

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science, proudly funded by