Guidance for Postgraduate Researchers

Yes – undertaking a placement is an integral and assessed component of your PhD if your studentship was funded by the ESRC from Autumn 2024. You must complete the equivalent of 3 months full-time work (13 weeks at 37.5 hours per week) before you can submit your thesis and complete your viva.

You get to choose what you do, where you do it, and when you do it, to suit your development needs and career aspirations. You will have the opportunity to apply elements of your research in the workplace, build on your professional network, and gain insight into a possible career, to name but a few benefits.

Your placement is funded by your studentship award, and you will continue to receive your stipend for the duration.

If your WRDTP studentship was funded before Autumn 2024 (which includes the 1+3 studentship funded from October 2023), you may undertake a placement, but it is not a compulsory funded aspect of your award. You will need to apply for additional funding through the Company Internship Scheme.

The placement scheme is flexible to cater for all researchers’ needs and requirements, so there is something for everyone. You have the option to work part-time hours, with a flexible/ remote working pattern, and you do not need to complete all of your placement activity in one continuous block. 

Please get in touch with your university Placement Contact or the WRDTP team to discuss the support that we can offer you if you are concerned about this (contact details are listed above).

If you have a disability or require reasonable adjustments, we encourage you to discuss your circumstances with the Disability Officer at your university, as they may be able to provide you with a support plan, which you can also share with your Placement Host if you choose to.

The placement scheme is managed by the WRDTP in collaboration with colleagues in the seven partner universities. The WRDTP’s Placements Manager will deliver an online briefing session about the scheme each academic year, which gives you the chance to ask any questions that you might have. 

The scheme is researcher-led, which means you take responsibility for securing your own placement in consultation with your Research Supervisor(s). The WRDTP will not match you to a project. However, we will negotiate placement opportunities with high-quality host organisations on your behalf, which will then be advertised on the Placement Opportunities webpage, and by email announcements to your university inbox, for you to apply for. 

You can also get in touch with your university’s Careers and Employability service to discuss the support that they can offer you (contact details are listed above). This may be in relation to contacting a suitable placement host, preparing an application statement, or planning what your project will entail.

Yes – all placements must be checked and approved by the WRDTP team before you can start. We check that the project meets the skill/experience level required to challenge you as a postgraduate researcher, and that it provides you with an opportunity to develop your transferable skills. We also consider health and wellbeing factors such as working hours, supervision, and any hazards or risks that the placement may involve.  

You must submit all of the paperwork for appraisal by the WRDTP team in good time before your placement is due to start, and within one of the call deadlines. You need to complete the Research in Practice (RinP) Placement Approval Form. We ask for a supporting statement from your Placement Host, a supporting statement from your Research Supervisor(s), the costings file (if you are requesting financial support during your placement), and travel documentation from your university (if your placement is overseas).

If you are working on multiple projects with a single host organisation, each separate project description and duties must be included in the supporting statement from the Placement Host. 

If you choose to work with multiple hosts for your placement activity, either in consecutive placements or as separate blocks, each placement with a new host will need to be approved separately by the WRDTP team.

Placements are flexible to support all researchers to participate in and gain value from them, but they must meet certain criteria to be approved.

Placements should:

• represent a discrete project, challenge or research question that is distinct from your PhD research topic.
• comprise a clear programme of activity/project which will develop your transferable skills, and ability to apply your research skills in different contexts. 
• meet the skill/experience level required to challenge you.
• not be used as a substitute for temporary staff or to cover business as usual within a host organisation.

Further guidance about this can be viewed in the Research in Practice (RinP) Placement Framework.

Some examples of the types of things that you might do are, but not limited to:

• Work in policy – produce a briefing paper, participate in a policy inquiry, or organise a policy event
• Answer a research question for an SME, think tank or charity
• Work in a university’s professional support services e.g. research services, quality assurance, finance, HR
• Business development or project management
• Process development or improvement
• Data collection, management and analysis
• Financial risk management
• Social media management

The WRDTP will negotiate placement opportunities with high-quality host organisations on your behalf. They will be advertised to you via the Placement Opportunities page, and by email announcements to your university inbox. All eligible ESRC funded researchers across all seven partner universities are welcome to apply to any opportunity listed. They will be made available to you throughout the academic year, so make sure you check back periodically for new opportunities that might interest you. 

It is your responsibility to apply directly to the host organisation for any of the advertised opportunities, and to secure yourself a placement, as the WRDTP will not match you to a project. If you need support with this, please get in touch with your university Careers and Employability service and they will be happy to help you (contact details are listed above). 

In addition to the placements sourced by the WRDTP, you also have the opportunity to source your own placement, as long as it meets the criteria listed in the Research in Practice (RinP) Placement Framework. The WRDTP reserves the right not to approve a placement if it does not meet these criteria.  

If you are a WRDTP Collaborative Awards Scheme studentship holder, you will normally undertake your placement with your collaborative partner organisation. If you wish to undertake your placement with a different host organisation, you must do so with the agreement of your Research Supervisor(s) and the collaborative partner organisation.

You get to choose who you work with for your placement. You can work for any organisation across the public, private and voluntary sector who you think will provide the most beneficial experience for your development needs and career aspirations.

It is your responsibility to approach a host organisation to arrange your own placement, as the WRDTP will not match you to a project. You can either contact any of the hosts that the WRDTP has liaised with on your behalf, or you can approach a host of your own choosing.

You may work in your own higher education institution, but we strongly encourage you to seek opportunities with other hosts to broaden your experience and networks.

Some examples of previous hosts are:

• Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC)
• Samaritans
• Housing Quality Network
• Global Partners Governance
• Labour Behind the Label
• Good Food York
• International Trade Centre

If you are a WRDTP Collaborative Awards Scheme studentship holder, you will normally undertake your placement with your collaborative partner organisation. If you wish to undertake your placement with a different host organisation, you must do so with the agreement of your Research Supervisor(s) and the collaborative partner organisation.

No – your part-time job cannot be used as your placement activity. 

Placements should:

• represent a discrete project, challenge or research question that is distinct from your PhD research topic.
• comprise a clear programme of activity/project which will develop your transferable skills, and ability to apply your research skills in different contexts. 
• meet the skill/experience level required to challenge you.
• not be used as a substitute for temporary staff or to cover business as usual within a host organisation.

You may undertake a project focussed on conducting research, but it must be a discrete project, challenge or research question that is distinct from your PhD research topic, and it cannot form part of your thesis. 

We recognise that researchers come to doctoral training with a range of experiences and aspirations, and so placements in academic (research-based) settings that can offer a sufficiently differentiated experience will be considered where appropriate. You may not work with your current supervisor(s) and/or research team though, and you must work outside of your home department/ school.

The WRDTP will not source placements in academic (research-based) settings on your behalf, and so if you would like to undertake this type of placement, you will need to negotiate the opportunity for yourself.

You may undertake your placement with a host organisation based outside of the UK, but only in exceptional cases that must provide an opportunity to develop skills that would not be available in the UK. At the point of seeking approval for your placement, you will need to demonstrate to the WRDTP team that this is the case. 

Placements based overseas come with additional costs such as air fare, and you will need to consider how you will fund this, as it is unlikely that the WRDTP can provide you with financial support. It is expected that your host will make a financial contribution to help cover these costs, and so you should speak to them about this early on in your placement negotiations. 

We will also only approve for you to undertake a placement outside of the UK if you follow all of the specific guidance from your university for overseas travel e.g. complete a risk assessment and acquire travel insurance. If you need support with this, please get in touch with your university contact and they will be happy to help you (contact details are listed above).

Your time spent on placement must be equivalent to no less than 3 months full-time work (13 weeks at 37.5 hours per week), and must not exceed this. Placements can be held on a full- or part-time basis to suit your individual requirements, but if you choose to work part-time, you must still complete the equivalent of 3 months full-time work e.g. 2.5 days a week over 6 months. 

Your working hours will depend on the nature of the placement and the needs of the host organisation, but it is not expected that you will work outside of normal full-time working hours (usually 8am – 6pm). Any preparation work that you are required to do for your placement must also be within the 3 month allocation, and not in addition to this.

Your placement will normally be undertaken in one continuous block (3-months full-time, or part-time equivalent) with one host organisation. However, you may undertake up to three shorter placements consecutively, or at different time periods, as long as the total time spent on placement is equivalent to 3 months full-time work (13 weeks at 37.5 hours per week). You can work with up to a maximum of three different placement hosts. A one-month block (4 weeks at 37.5 hours per week) (or part-time equivalent) is the minimum amount of time a researcher must spend on any single placement with any single host. 

The WRDTP will only negotiate placements that are 3 months in length (or part-time equivalent) with host organisations on your behalf. If you would like to split your time between multiple hosts, you must organise this for yourself in consultation with your Research Supervisor(s). 

If you choose to work with multiple hosts for your placement activity, each placement with a new host will need to be approved separately by the WRDTP team. 

If you are working with the same host, but across separate time blocks i.e. not all 3 months will be undertaken consecutively, you will only need to seek approval from the WRDTP for your placement once. However, if you are working on multiple projects with a single host organisation, each separate project description and duties must be included in the application for approval.

You should plan in consultation with your Research Supervisor(s) to take your placement at a time that causes the minimal amount of disruption to your research. This will most likely be between months 12 and 30 of your PhD funding period (or part-time studentship equivalent); normally after you have completed your progression review.

However, the timing of your placement is flexible, and it may be taken at any point during the PhD funding period, as long as it is not in the first three months or the last six months (or part-time studentship equivalent). Placements cannot be undertaken during a Masters period.  

We strongly encourage you to have completed your placement by month 30 of your PhD funding period (or part-time studentship equivalent), so that you can focus the rest of your time on completing your PhD research, and writing your thesis and any research papers.

No – you cannot be paid a salary during your placement. You will continue to be registered as a student at your university for the duration of your placement, and will continue to receive your stipend. You cannot receive funding from your host in the form of a direct payment (e.g. as a salary), as you may become eligible to pay income tax. 

If there are additional costs associated with your placement e.g. travel and accommodation costs, or specialist equipment is required, it is expected that your host will make a financial contribution to help cover these. You should discuss this with your host when negotiating your placement. 

In the exceptional circumstance that your host cannot make a contribution to the additional costs associated with your placement, reasonable travel and accommodation expenses may be claimed from the WRDTP if essential for the placement to take place.

Yes – as part of your placement, you are required to complete an assessment. 

You will need to:

• deliver an oral presentation or briefing to your Placement Host
• submit an output to accompany the oral presentation

You should submit your output for marking by your Research Supervisor by uploading it to the Placement Assessment Submission Form. This will be assessed on a pass/fail basis, and you must pass this assessment to pass your placement. You can view further detailed guidance about your assessment in the Postgraduate Researcher Guidance document. An accompanying guidance document for Host Organisations is also available, which you should share with your Placement Host. 

You should plan your assessment in advance of your placement starting, in collaboration with your Placement Host and Research Supervisor(s). At the point of seeking approval for your placement project from the WRDTP, you will be asked to suggest what format your output will take.

In the event that you are undertaking multiple short placements with different host organisations, your assessment will relate to, and take place during, your final placement. It is your responsibility to communicate this to your hosts if this applies to you.

The deadline for submission of your assessment is within one week of the confirmed end date of your placement (pro-rata for Postgraduate Researchers on a part-time studentship).