Information for ESRC award holders

The maintenance stipend is intended to cover all day to day living expenses.

Stipends are paid in three instalments, at the start of each term.

Payments will be paid direct to your UK bank account saved in the Finance Hub which can be accessed from the Fees, Income and Credit Control web pages. More information on Maintenance payments.

Please make sure that your Annual Progress Report form is returned to the PhD Academy to ensure that your funding renewal for the next academic year can be processed.

If your research requires you to acquire or develop a working ability with a language in order to carry out fieldwork or other parts of your research, you may be eligible for additional funds to support the language acquisition.

This funding is available for students who have upgraded to the PhD. If following the langague training you will imediately undertake overseas fieldwork, you should apply for Difficult Language Training (DLT) and Overseas Fieldwork funds at the same time.

Apply at least two months before the language training is due to start. Only one application can be made during the length of your studentship.  DLT should be undertaken before overseas fieldwork. A maximum of twelve months can be applied on the grounds of the language required (see Annex I of the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide). Your supervisor will be asked to support your application. To apply, complete the Difficult Language Training Form and upload via the Financial Support Office enquiry form. Further information can be found in the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide. 

Any activity that means you are away from LSE will need to have approval from the PhD Academy (study elsewhere).

UK fieldwork

Additional costs associated with undertaking UK based fieldwork should be claimed from the Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) after you have upgraded to the PhD. It is for those spending time away from campus based location to support the costs of longer distance UK travel (shorter distances should be covered from your stipend), temporary UK accommodation whilst undertaking fieldwork , or any other costs relating to fieldwork. 

Overseas fieldwork

Overseas Fieldwork funding is available for students who have upgraded to PhD. You must apply at least two months before beginning fieldwork. You can apply for Difficult language Training at the same time, if applicable. Only one application can be made for the duration of your studentship, this application can include multiple visits if applicable however you will need to justify how multiple visits benefits your research. You can apply for costs to support data collection, flights, temporary accommodation if you cannot vacate your campus based accommodation for the period of fieldwork. Retrospective applications cannot be made, nor can you apply for an increase to costs once you are abroad. Your supervisor will be asked to support your application. To apply, complete the Overseas Fieldwork Guidance and Application Form. Further information can be found in the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide. 

Any activity that means you are away from LSE will need to have approval from the PhD Academy (Fieldwork).

If you have a condition which affects your ability to work at a normal pace throughout your research, please contact the Financial Support Office and the LSE Disability and Mental Health Service as you may be eligible for additional funding.

The DTP1 grant has a requirement for at least 30% of LSE ESRC DTP students to be involved in collaboration during their programme. This can include internships, placements and longer term collaborations with public, private or third sector organisations in order to collect data or develop new skills and insights.

The ESRC is not prescriptive about the type of collaboration, but the general principles are that:

• Co-funding can be involved but is not essential
• The collaboration must be with a non-academic organisation in the public, private or civil society sector
• Collaborations must include substantive knowledge exchange and not just one way engagement (eg data collection) 

Additional funding is available from the DTP to assist periods of collaboration - please contact the Financial Support Office.

The DTP2 grant has a requirement for 15% of LSE ESRC DTP studentships to be collaborative. Collaborative studentships are advertised and awarded pre-entry and all terms and conditions are included in your funding offer letter. 

This funding is intended to provide applicants with the opportunity to establish research networks, to disseminate early research findings, to participate in seminars and other academic activities directly related to their research, or to undertake specialist research training that is not available in the UK. In the application, students are required to enter detailed costs of their visit, eg flights, accommodation and general living expenses, along with justification of these costs. This scheme is designed to help you to make the most of the global opportunities offered by LSE, to enrich your research opportunities and to deepen and develop the important relationships between LSE and these institutions. The DTP will be looking at contributing to these expenses.

You must apply at least two months before the proposed date of your visit and the visit must be completed at least three months before your ESRC funding end date.

To apply, please complete the Overseas Institutional/University Visits form. It is important that your supervisor reads the notes before authorising the visit. Once the form has been completed and you have the agreement of your supervisor, please submit the form to the Financial Support Office.  It is a condition that all successful applicants must submit an end-of-award report to the Financial Suport Office within two weeks of the end of the visit.

Any activity that means you are away from LSE will need to have approval from the PhD Academy (study elsewhere).

The DTP has a pooled Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) that all ESRC funded students can apply to for research related costs within your ESRC funded period only. 

If you want to make a claim again the RTSG, you should contact the Department Manager / PhD Administrator within your academic department.

Those who's ESRC funding was awarded 2023/24 or earlier (DTP1) who wish to undertake an internship/placement, will need to request prior approval from the LSE ESRC DTP.

For those who's ESRC funding was awarded 2024/25 onwards (DTP2), three months of your ESRC studentship is allocated to support you in pursuing ‘Research in Practice’ placement activities. (Further information on Research in Practice and placement requirements is provided in the postgraduate training and development guidelines 2022 in sections 2.4 and Annex III.) You should note that if you do not complete the required placement activities, ESRC will require the DTP to withdraw three months of your studentship and this will mean that your studentship end date and submission deadline will be three months earlier. Support will be provided by the DTP’s Research in Practice manager in fulfilling this criterion.

Please can you contact the Financial Support Office and the PhD Academy to discuss this further.

Studentships are intended to be held on a continuous basis. Students may need to interrupt studies, for example, due to health reasons, or to take up a temporary, short term job opportunity (which can be justified if it is highly relevant to your research). Interruption requests on the grounds of financial hardship will not be considered.

Information about parental leave can be found in the UKRI Training Grant Guidance.

Please contact the Financial Support Office and the PhD Academy to discuss. 

For any changes between full-time and part-time study, please contact the Financial Support Office and the PhD Academy. 

If you wish to transfer your research to a different institution you will need to request prior approval from LSE and ESRC. There is more information on the PhD Academy web pages. Please also discuss this with the Financial Support Office. 

Those who's ESRC funding was awarded 2023/24 or earlier (DTP1), your expected submission deadline is one year after your ESRC funding end date (usually two years for those studying part-time for the duration of their programme but these are confirmed on a case by case basis where mode of study changes occur).

Those who's ESRC funding was awarded 2024/25 onwards (DTP2), your funding offer letter will state your expected submission deadline. If you have any queries about this please contact the Financial Support Office.

Those who's ESRC funding was awarded 2023/24 or earlier (DTP1), if you have not completed your thesis within your ESRC funded period, you can apply to LSE's Final Year PhD Fund for a contribution to your living costs during an unfunded period of enrolment. 

Those who's ESRC funding was awarded 2024/25 onwards (DTP2) are expected to submit within the ESRC funded period. 

If you wish to extend your submission deadline you will need to submit a request from LSE via the PhD Academy no later than 6 months prior to your current submission deadline. The  DTP may need to request approval from ESRC before any request can be finalised.