Scholarships & funding

ESRC Doctoral Studentship – Co-production of an acceptable, valid and reliable measure to evaluate the effectiveness of the MCR Pathways mentoring programme in improving young people’s wellbeing

MCR Pathways is a charity that supports young people who have had traumatic experiences including being in care, losing a parent or abuse (https://mcrpathways.org). MCR’s aim is to support young people into positive post-school destinations through in-school support and a community mentoring programme. To secure funding and learning for the programme, it is essential that MCR have robust tools to evaluate their work, particularly how it impacts on young people’s wellbeing. There are no previous tried and tested evaluative tools suitable for young people who have experienced such a range of traumatic experiences.

In this PhD project, the student will work with relevant stakeholders, including young people participating in the programme and MCR staff and volunteers, to understand the challenges around current wellbeing tools, and to consider how wellbeing is conceptualised for this group of young people. Drawing on new qualitative research, and a review of existing tools published in the academic literature, the student will co-produce a new wellbeing tool for use with this group of young people. They will then test it with young people participating in the programme, making changes to the final tool if required.

The study will enhance understanding of concepts of wellbeing among young people who have experienced early life trauma and will use innovative co-design techniques to involve these young people in the development of a new tool to measure wellbeing. If this tool is found to be an acceptable and accurate measure of wellbeing in this group, it will be incorporated into MCR’s evaluations and will be made available for other organisations supporting vulnerable young people’s wellbeing to use in their evaluations.

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Applicants must hold or be predicted a First or a good 2:1 undergraduate degree in the social sciences, or have relevant comparable experience.
• Applicants can have a Masters degree, however this is not a requirement.
• The applicant must also show demonstrable interest in the topic area under investigation.
• Applicants can study part-time or full-time

Essential
An undergraduate degree in a social science (e.g. social policy, sociology, psychology, politics, education) or relevant social science research experience
Knowledge of mixed methods research designs
Knowledge of evidence synthesis methods

Desirable
Experience of working with young people aged 11-18
Experience in both quantitative and qualitative methods
Knowledge of co-production in social research

Number of Scholarships

1

Value

The scholarship is available as a +3.5 (3 year PhD and placement) or a 1+3.5 (Masters year, 3 year PhD, and a placement) studentship depending on prior research training. This will be assessed as part of the recruitment process, however you can access guidance here to help you decide on which to apply for. The programme will commence in October 2026. The full ESRC studentship package includes, as advised by ESRC:

• An annual maintenance grant (stipend)
• Fees at the standard institutional home rate
• Students can also draw on a pooled Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)

How to apply

1. Applicants must register on SGSSS Apply, completing their Equal Opportunities data.

2.Applicants must apply via SGSSS Apply, uploading the following documentation:

• Application Questions (answered within SGSSS Apply, no upload needed)
• Academic transcripts
• Academic prizes
• Referee information
• CV
• Other information (if required by the advert)

We strongly encourage applicants review the applicant guidance document for more on the process. 

Please Note:

• This is not an application to the relevant University, this is an application for SGSSS (ESRC) funding.
• Students do not need a Masters/PhD offer from the relevant University before they can apply for funding, i.e. this studentship.
• If successful in obtaining the SGSSS (ESRC) studentship, students can only start the funded studentship once they have an unconditional Masters/PhD degree offer from the relevant University. It is your responsibility to find out the University’s application process, including when you need to secure your offer, as SGSSS plays no role in this process.

Apply now via SGSSS Apply