PGR Policy, Strategy & Support

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Postgraduate Student Funding

Welcome to the University of Glasgow guide to ESRC Postgraduate studentship funding. The webpages below contain information for prospective and current students and staff with details about the previous scholarship application rounds:

  1. SGSSS Student-led Open Competition 2025/26
  2. SGSSS Supervisor-led Steers Studentship Competition 2025/26
  3. SGSSS Supervisor-led Open Collaborative Studentship Competition 2025/26
  4. SGSSS Supervisor-led Skills Development Scotland Collaborative Studentship Competition 2025/26

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funds research and training in social and economic issues including issues of importance to business, the public sector and government.  The ESRC is an independent organisation, established by Royal Charter, but it receives most of its funding from the Government.  More information on the ESRC can be obtained from the ESRC website.

The PGR Service provides central administration, monitoring and reporting for ESRC studentships in conjunction with the College Graduate Schools.  The College Graduate Schools provide general administration and day-to-day support to ESRC funded postgraduate students.

ESRC Scotland Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) Studentships

The DTP, Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS), replaced the previous ESRC Doctoral Training Centre and the first cohort of students started on 1 October 2017.  The Scottish DTP is the biggest in the UK, and maintains Scotland's share of UK studentship funding.  Each year there are multiple opportunities for studentship funding through the DTP.

Students may also be interested in learning more about the UK Data Service, funded by the ESRC or the National Centre for Research Methods.  Both organisation offer events, webinars and workshops:

 

ESRC Scotland Doctoral Training Partnership

The University of Glasgow is a member institution of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS), at the heart of the SGSSS is the ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership (ESRC DTP).  The DTP offers ESRC-accredited training involving collaboration across a number of Scottish universities to make sure the best expertise gets to the right students. For information on the other institutions involved in the DTP, please see the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science website.

ESRC Studentships are avilable in collaboration with the Scottish Government and other partner organisations.  For current studentship opportunities and application deadlines please visit the following webpages:

The Scottish Graduate School of Social Science awards ESRC-funded PhD studentships annually across the Student-led Open Competition and the Supervisor-led Steers and Collaborative Competitions. 

If you have any questions after consulting the application procedure, please contact your prospective graduate school office:

or email pgr@glasgow.ac.uk

ESRC Postdoctoral Fellows Competition 2026

The ESRC Post Doctoral Fellowship Competition 2026 launched on Friday 20th March.

Information can be found on the Postdoctoral Fellowships Call and Frequently Asked Questions.

This year the duration of the fellowships has been reduced from 12 to 9 months.

Successful candidates must be able to commence on 1st October 2026. If applying, please ensure that you have read the information about the fellowships for this year as there have been changes in expectations of what will be funded.

  • Applicants need to apply to a disciplinary area that is administratively aligned to an SGSSS approved Unit of Assessment within their proposed institution. The mentor does not need to have the same alignment, however, the application needs to be able to justify why it is an appropriate mentorship arrangement. 
  • Our eligible Units of Assessment are 
    • Architecture, Built Environments and Planning
    • Business and Management Studies - Economics
    • Business and Management Studies - Accounting and Finance and Business Management
    • Education
    • Geography and Environmental Studies
    • History
    • Law
    • Politics and International Studies
    • Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
    • Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care
    • Social Work and Social Policy - Sociology
    • Social Work and Social Policy - Criminology
     
  • To be eligible for an award, applicants must: 
    • Have been awarded a PhD or have passed their viva voce with minor amendments by the application deadline of 1 June 2026 and have been awarded their PhD by the fellowship start date of 1 October 2026. 
    • Have no more than 15 months of active postdoctoral experience (excepting career breaks). This is measured from the applicant’s viva voce pass date to the application deadline of 1 June 2026. 

The deadline for full application to SGSSS is 1st June but there are earlier deadlines for application to the University of Glasgow so that we can nominate the strongest candidates. If you need help in identifying a mentor then you may find the resource Choosing, recruiting, and working with a mentor useful. 

University of Glasgow deadlines are: 

An Expression of interest must be completed and submitted to rsio-pgr@glasgow.ac.uk by the Deadline 10th April 23.59.

No applications will be considered by the University of Glasgow if an expression of interest is not received by this deadline.

A complete The Application form must be on SGSSS Apply by the Deadline 13th May 23.59.

PLEASE NOTE: YOU SHOULD NOT PRESS SUBMIT on your application unless instructed to do so for 1 June 2026.

On 13 May 2026 we will download all applications made to the University of Glasgow, review these and nominate the strongest candidates. Applicants will be informed if they have been nominated. Please note that provisional costings are required by the 13th May deadline but these should be approved by relevant research offices and salaries confirmed with HR prior to the 1st June deadline and applicants are encouraged to be in touch with research offices and HR as early as possible.

Students requiring a visa - PLEASE NOTE we are currently seeking guidance on the viability of obtaining a visa/institutional sponsorship within the compressed timeframes for those who require these. We will update on this once we have more information.

TRAINING AND OPPORTUNITIES

SGSSS offer other funded opportunities for social science PhD students, many of which are open to all social science researchers regardless of how their PhD is funded. Please check with SGSSS regarding eligibility.

You can sign up to SGSSS SOCIAL to be kept up to date with the latest opportunities and news.