News | Tuesday, 11th October 2016
University joins £16.8m doctoral training network
Scheme will train social science postgraduates
Manchester Metropolitan shares in Research Councils UK £16.8m investment in world-leading postgraduate research training.
• Postgraduates at Manchester Metropolitan University and six other northern universities to benefit from White Rose Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership
• Scheme will offer 38 fully-funded studentships a year for six years
The new White Rose Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP) brings the social sciences research excellence of Manchester Metropolitan University and the Universities of Hull, Bradford and Sheffield Hallam University into the successful White Rose Doctoral Training Centre (Universities of Sheffield, York and Leeds) consortium.
Professor Martin Jones, Director of the White Rose Doctoral Training Centre and Principal Investigator on the WRDTP bid, University of Sheffield, said: “We will deliver a unique interdisciplinary and thematic student experience that will facilitate ground-breaking doctoral research beyond traditional discipline boundaries.”
Interdisciplinary
This innovative and dynamic new scheme, one of 14 new Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) accredited partnerships across the UK, will offer training in seven interdisciplinary themed training pathways providing future social science postgraduate students with the highest quality doctoral research training.
It will provide opportunities to work with non-academic international partners and build links with city regions. Skills and collaboration to develop deeply impactful research will be cultivated in a lively training environment through cross-university events, cutting-edge online learning platforms, and unique interdisciplinary links between social sciences, humanities and STEM subjects.
As a partner in this consortium, Manchester Metropolitan University further adds to the already outstanding portfolio of its Research Centres and thriving research community.
Professor Harry Torrance, Director of the Education and Social Research Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Faculty of Education, led Manchester Metropolitan’s discussions with the White Rose Partnership and contributed to the proposal to ESRC.
Recognition
He said: “We are delighted and proud to become a member of the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership and to be recognised by the ESRC for the high quality of our postgraduate research provision. The partnership contributes to our overall university research strategy and brings great opportunities to work more closely across the social sciences at the University.
"The partnership also builds on the social science research strategies of the seven universities in the DTP. I am very much looking forward to working with our new colleagues from Sheffield, York, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield Hallam and Hull, and to meeting the new WRDTP students when they start next year.”
Professor Jane Elliott, ESRC Chief Executive, added: "Our new Doctoral Training Network will assure our students’ futures as research leaders by providing them with valuable skills including capabilities in communication, project-management and collaboration within and beyond academia."
The first cohort of students will commence their studies in October 2017.
