EPSRC DTP Funding

The EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) funds PhD studentships, Vacation Internships and Doctoral Prizes.

PhD studentships

Application information

PhD studentships are advertised on findaphd.com, jobs.ac.uk and the OU jobs page, as well as the STEM schools and institute PhD student pages listed below. Calls for applications are usually issued in December-January of each year.

• Computing & Communications
• Engineering and Innovation
• Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences
• Life, Health and Chemical Sciences
• Mathematics and Statistics
• Physical Sciences
• Knowledge Media Institute

Studentship information

PhD studentships are fully funded for 3 years and 3 months. Funding covers a monthly stipend (in line with UKRI rates), fees and a Research Training Support Grant (RTSG). RTSG is for the student to use to fund training and development opportunities and other consumables required for the project. Students start annually on 1^st October (or 1^st February).

We have a 30% cap on non-UK students.

PhD studentships can be:

• Fully funded from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
• Match funded (e.g. from industry)
• Converted to a CASE studentship with external funding, e.g. from industry. Funding covers an enhanced stipend for 4 years plus enhanced project costs. The partner organisation will also host and fully fund a placement of at least 3 months at their premises. Please note that specific criteria apply, see further information on CASE studentships here.  Our CASE conversion target is 10%. 

Processes

Recruitment of OU EPSRC DTP students is overseen by a STEM DTP management group that includes the DTP lead, STEM Associate Dean for Research and representatives from each discipline area. The following processes will be used to invite potential DTP projects from supervisors and applications from potential DTP students:

• An internal call for EPSRC remit research projects and students for each cohort (distributed internally to academic staff in schools and institute).
• Recruitment of high calibre students for each cohort: Recruitment will follow the University’s PGR recruitment policies and processes. DTP studentships will be advertised concurrently with school and institute studentships in order to attract the highest calibre candidates, both nationally and internationally, for the projects on offer.
• Student candidates with potential projects will be assessed initially in the relevant schools/institute. Candidates with projects who pass this initial stage are put forward to the DTP management group which makes the final selection against the selection criteria.
• Throughout the process, the DTP research manager and DTP lead provide advice and assistance to prospective supervisors, for instance, on whether projects are within EPSRC DTP remit and on practicalities surrounding industry collaborations (such as preparation of a collaboration agreement).

Vacation Internships

Every summer, we host up to 15 research internships within STEM. These internships will provide an opportunity for undergraduate students to get a taster of what it is like to do research in a UK university. Summer vacation internships are advertised on the main page of the OU EPSRC DTP. See further information on vacation internships here.

Doctoral Prizes

We award the best EPSRC funded PhD students with a fixed term doctoral role at The Open University to kick start their academic career in research. See here for further information.