How to Apply

Applicants do not apply directly to the WRDTP for an award, but are instead nominated by their university. You should therefore allow sufficient time to liaise with potential supervisors. You should also ensure that you observe any processes or deadlines that the individual department, school or university has in place for assessing applications – we recommend speaking to the person responsible for PGR admissions in your chosen academic department at your preferred university for more details.

Applicants who are interested in the WRDTP Pathway, AQM, ADA and WRDTP/SHF Awards are also invited to attend a virtual WRDTP information session for guidance on the application process. To book your place, please follow this link.

Applicants must submit the following by 17:00, 20 January 2027* in order to be considered for an ESRC WRDTP studentship:

Their application for a PhD study place
A WRDTP Studentship Application Form

Please note that the WRDTP Studentship Application Form is a separate process, and is in addition to any form that you may have completed when applying for a place to study a PhD at your chosen university.

*Some departments/schools may set earlier internal deadlines by which they need to have received your application. It is your responsibility to consult with the department/school you are applying to for your PhD to confirm the process.

As part of the studentship application process you will be asked to provide Equality, Diversity and Inclusion data, for the purposes of generic reporting to ESRC as part of their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring, and to inform the WRDTP’s future strategy for equality, diversity and inclusion.

You can preview a copy of the WRDTP Studentship Application Form here – however please note that your chosen university will provide you with a version for completion, which should be returned to them directly. The WRDTP does not accept direct applications from candidates.

All universities are required to have fair and equitable processes for determining which applicants should be nominated to the WRDTP for consideration. Your department/school will inform you if you are being nominated to the ESRC for studentship funding. Your department/school will then compile a nomination pack, which includes your WRDTP Studentship Application Form, and will submit this to the WRDTP for consideration by 17:00, 24 February 2027.

All nominations to the WRDTP are then assessed by senior academic staff from all of our partner universities during March 2027. Once confirmed, the award winners will be announced by 23 April 2027. Your university will contact you to let you know if you have been successful. Please also be aware that due to the number of applications we receive, the WRDTP is unable to provide individualised feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

What happens if I miss the deadline to apply?

Unfortunately, we cannot consider late applications. However, If you miss out on the deadline to apply for a WRDTP Pathway, Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) or Advanced Data Analytics (ADA) Award, but are still interested in undertaking a WRDTP-funded studentship, there are other opportunities to secure funding for a PhD.

In early Spring, we recruit students to our WRDTP Collaborative Award projects – these studentships are designed by academic colleagues at our partner universities, and involve collaboration with an external (non-HE) partner. Further details can be found on our WRDTP Collaborative Awards webpage.

Key information for Applicants

Key information for Supervisors and Nominating Universities

In addition to the documents listed in the Applicants section:

Information Sessions

Applicants who are interested in the WRDTP Pathway, AQM, ADA and WRDTP/SHF Awards are invited to attend an information session for guidance on the application process. The session will be held online on the following date:

Pathway, AQM, ADA and WRDTP/SHF Awards (open to applicants only):

Thursday 8 October 2026: 17:30 – 18:30

To book your place on a session, please follow this link.

The session will run on a virtual basis, via Zoom. You will receive a reminder email with the link to your session, nearer the time of your workshop.

If you are unable to attend but would like to receive further information, please indicate this via the form. Slides/recordings from the event will be posted on our website in due course, and you will be emailed once these are available.

University staff who would like to find out more about the WRDTP’s Pathway, AQM, ADA and WRDTP/SHF Awards are invited to attend an information session for guidance on assisting students through the application process. The session will be held online on the following date:

Pathway, AQM and ADA Awards (open to university staff only):

Wednesday 7 October 2026: 11:00 – 12:00

To book your place on a session, please follow this link.

The session will run on a virtual basis, via Zoom. You will receive a reminder email with the link to your session, nearer the time of your workshop.

Two drop-in sessions will be offered as a follow-up to the information sessions detailed above. These will be held on the following dates:

For student applicants – Tuesday 3 November 2026, 17:30 – 18:30
For academic supervisors – Wednesday 4 November 2026, 15:00 – 16:00

The purpose of these sessions will be to offer an opportunity for supervisors/students to ask questions about the studentships schemes and application processes following the substantive content provided in the information sessions.

All sessions will run on a virtual basis, via Zoom.

To register your interest in the drop in sessions, please follow this link.

Academic colleagues who are interested in submitting a proposal to the Collaborative Awards competition are invited to attend an online information session for guidance on the process. The session will be held online on the following date:

Wednesday 30 September 2026: 10:00 – 11:00

To book your place on a session, please follow this link.

The session will run on a virtual basis, via Zoom. You will receive a reminder email with the link to your session, nearer the time of your workshop.

There are lots of misconceptions about PhD research. Some of these include:

Only people who want an academic career should do a PhD. Actually, most people who do PhDs go into a whole range of interesting and well-paid jobs outside of academia.
You need a first-class degree to do PhD research. That’s not true. The minimum entry requirement is usually a 2:1. We’re looking for motivated students with good ideas and a passion for their topic area. When assessing your application, we think about your potential as a PhD researcher, not whether you were top of your class in your undergraduate studies.
Doing a PhD is expensive. There are a range of different PhD funding schemes that are available to you. The WRDTP offers a PhD studentship that pays your tuition fees, pays you approximately £20,000 a year (tax-free) to live on and provides you with money to help pay your research expenses.

An online What is a PhD and is it for me? information session took place on Wednesday 10th June. One of the Deputy Directors of the WRDTP explained what a PhD entails, what the benefits of doing a PhD are and how to start thinking about applying for a PhD.