The University of Kent is delighted to announce that its bid for an ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership as part of the South-east Network for Social Sciences (SeNSS) has been successful.
This award will enable SeNSS to offer fully-funded doctoral studentships each year for the next six years with the first cohort commencing their PhD research in October 2017.
Coordinated by the University of Essex under the directorship of Professor Shamit Saggar, Professor of Public Policy, the SeNSS consortium comprises 10 institutions: City University London; University of East Anglia; University of Essex; Goldsmiths, University of London; University of Kent; University of Reading; Roehampton University; Royal Holloway, University of London; University of Surrey and University of Sussex.
Professor Saggar said following the ESRC’s announcement:
‘The ten universities in the SeNSS consortium have great strength and ambition in the social sciences, and the award of a Doctoral Training Partnership by the ESRC is recognition of our plans in developing doctoral training. Through our thirteen training pathways, advanced skills modules, cohort development, and engagement with research users and practitioners, we will deliver step change in the student experience. I am delighted to lead SeNSS in this exciting venture. My aim is to ensure that SeNSS quickly becomes a sought-after badge of academic and practical excellence.’
Professor Diane Houston, Dean of the Kent Graduate School said:
‘This successful outcome is a testament to the world-leading research and high-quality of social sciences research training conducted at Kent and across the wider SeNSS partnership. Kent will make a distinctive contribution to SeNSS across nine of the thirteen training pathways by providing considerable expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Kent has been working effectively with seven of the SeNSS member institutions through existing doctoral collaborations over a number of years and we are confident that SeNSS will be similarly successful owing to our already excellent working relationships.’
A distinctive feature of SeNSS will be its cultivation of the impact of the social sciences, and engagement with research users. SeNSS will enable students to build strong relationships with both academic, user and practitioner networks at a number of different levels. Kent has an excellent track record of engaging successfully with a range of non-academic partners through CASE studentships (eg NHS, Age UK and Anne Frank Trust) impact and engagement activity and as a result of Kent student success in ESRC internship competitions (DCLG, BIS, BPS and Cabinet Office). The University will look to build on these relationships to strengthen the training opportunities provided to future SeNSS cohorts and use its alumni to promote the benefits of this type of collaboration.
Kent will be represented in the following SeNSS training pathways: (i) Social Anthropology, (ii) Social Work and Social Policy, (iii) Politics and International Relations, (iv) Science, Technology and Sustainability, (v) Linguistics, (vi) Psychology, (vii) Socio-Legal Studies, (viii) Business and Management Studies and (ix) Sociology.
From 2017 onwards, the ESRC will be funding 14 new Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) and two Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). In total, 510 studentships will be available per year (494 through the DTPs and eight in each of the CDTs). 50 Postdoctoral Fellowships will also funded through the DTP Network. The value of studentship funding awarded to SeNSS will be confirmed by the ESRC in September.