Information for Award Holders

Managing your studentship

A comprehensive guide to your studentship can be found in the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide, and if you have any questions about your studentship before or during your award, you should refer to the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide in the first instance.

The document includes information regarding sickness and parental leave policies, rules on undertaking additional employment during your studies, withdrawing from your studentship award, and other important policies.

The ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide is intended to complement the standard UKRI Terms and Conditions for Training Grants, which apply to all UKRI-funded studentships across all seven UK research councils, including ESRC.

Stipend payments, course registration, assessment and progression are managed by your institution. Queries on such matters should be directed to your department/school’s PGR Administrator or your supervisor in the first instance.

Changing your project, supervisor or mode of study

Throughout the duration of your studentship award, you may need to make changes to your project or mode of study. Such changes may include, but are not limited to: changing your supervisor/department/pathway, moving from full-time to part-time study or vice-versa, undertaking a period of employment relating to your research project, suspending your studies etc. Please note that any changes to your status or project must be reported to the WRDTP (via email to enquiries@wrdtp.ac.uk) before it takes place, as further approval by the ESRC may be needed. Requests for changes made retrospectively will not be considered.

If during the lifetime of the studentship, the primary supervisor leaves the institution where you are registered, wherever possible alternative supervision should be identified from within your current academic department/school. Student transfers are viewed as a last resort and require additional approval from ESRC.

In making such changes, you are also required to adhere to any relevant processes at your own university.

Please refer to the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide for further details.

Employment

Students should not be overcommitted during the period of their award. Please refer to the Employment section of the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide, which lists the guidelines for employment alongside your studentship award.

You must also ensure that you comply with all relevant policies, terms and conditions at the university where you are registered. Your WRDTP link administrator can advise on local rules and procedures in the first instance.

Studentship location

All study undertaken as part of a WRDTP studentship must be carried out within the UK, except as part of overseas fieldwork which is an integral part of the study, conferences, or training. Students may not, for example, write up their thesis whilst resident outside the UK during the period of their ESRC award. In such a case tuition fee and maintenance grant payments will cease.

All students must reside within a reasonable travel time of the university at which they are registered and we would expect there to be direct contact between the student and supervisor. This applies to full-time and part-time students.

Please refer to the Key conditions section of the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide for details.

Parental leave

Please refer to the UKRI Terms and Conditions for Training Grants (TGC 8.1) and associated grant guidance for details on parental leave entitlements.

Illness

Please refer to the UKRI Terms and Conditions for Training Grants (TGC 8.2) and associated grant guidance for details on sick leave entitlements. Additional time and additional funding will be added to your funding end date up to a limit of 13 weeks within any 12-month period.

Suspending or withdrawing from your studentship

Suspensions

Please refer to the Suspensions section of the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide, which lists the guidelines for suspension of a studentship.

Please note that studentship suspensions must be reported to the WRDTP (via email to enquiries@wrdtp.ac.uk) before they take place, as further approval by the ESRC may be needed. Requests for changes made retrospectively will not be considered.

Withdrawing from your studentship

Please refer to the Termination section of the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide for further guidance on withdrawing from your studentship award.

Please note that the ESRC is not responsible for your fees if you interrupt your studies before your funding end date, or if you withdraw from your studentship. If any funds have been paid to you in advance, you will be required to return these to your university – this includes both your tuition fees and maintenance stipend.

Transferring your studentship

Studentship transfers are viewed as a last resort and require additional approval from ESRC.

For full details, please refer to the Transfers to different ROs and/or DTPs/CDTs section of the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide.

The transfer process is complex and can take some time, so supervisors of students looking to transfer to another university/DTP should contact the WRDTP (via email to enquiries@wrdtp.ac.uk) at the earliest possible stage to discuss.

Useful contacts

Your WRDTP link administrator is responsible for liaising with you on all studentship matters, and are also available to help you with general queries. The local nominated contacts at each university are as follows:

University of Bradford	Neil Turner	Admissions Office	N.Turner2@bradford.ac.uk
University of Hull	David Griffiths	Doctoral College	whiterosedtp@hull.ac.uk
University of Leeds	Shirley Yeadon	Leeds Doctoral College	s.yeadon@adm.leeds.ac.uk
Manchester Metropolitan University	Tingyuan Yang	Directorate of Research & Innovation	doctoralfunding@mmu.ac.uk
University of Sheffield	Kirsty Tolmay/James Peacock	Research, Partnerships and Innovation/FoSS Graduate School	pgr-scholarships@sheffield.ac.uk/fcs-pgr@sheffield.ac.uk
Sheffield Hallam University	Dr Sarah Smith	Doctoral School	s.a.smith@shu.ac.uk
University of York	Penny Briggs	PGR Administration	esrc-whiterose-dtp@york.ac.uk

Navigating professional boundaries whilst studying

The WRDTP has a diverse postgraduate community. As part of your PhD training you will establish networks with academic staff and encounter staff in a variety of contexts both professional and social.

It is a vital part of the PhD process that you should be able to have regular contact with staff and to be able to engage with them intellectually. However, it is also important that where inappropriate conduct or behaviour takes place that there are transparent processes and clear guidelines that can be followed to protect both you and staff.

This concordat between the WRDTP institutions has been developed by the WRDTP in consultation with the Post-graduate researcher (PGR) forum to provide guidance on best practice with regard to professional boundaries for postgraduate researchers. It is not a replacement for formal guidance or Human Resource (HR) policies on conflicts of interest or equivalent policies at partner institutions which can be found on your home University website. The Students’ Union can also provide independent advice to PGRs on any issues that they encounter.

This concordat provides indications of best practice that we encourage staff and post-graduate researchers based at WRDTP institutions to observe. It is underpinned by the shared belief across the WRDTP that staff and PGRs should behave in a professional and respectful manner at all times and demonstrate exemplary behaviours and observe codes of conduct in their home institutions.

Concordat of the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership on professional boundaries between staff and postgraduate researchers

Open Access

The White Rose DTP is committed to ensuring the output from ESRC funded research is made publicly available. The UKRI open access policy can be found on the UKRI website, and ESRC funded Doctoral Researchers are expected to comply with the policy.