The North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP) is a consortium of five universities in the North West of England:

• Keele University
• University of Lancashire
• Lancaster University
• University of Liverpool
• University of Manchester

The NWSSDTP is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), to support postgraduate studentships and training in the social sciences. The NWSSDTP awards between 44-60 postgraduate studentships each year.

The NWSSDTP is one of the largest DTPs in the ESRC network. Since 2017 we have awarded more than 450 postgraduate studentships, 30% of which were supervised in collaboration with private, public or third sector organisations. Building on research excellence across the partnership, our PGRs benefit from a world-class research environment, exceptional supervision, extensive links with non-HEI partners and bespoke training provision. Alongside high-quality, research-led skills training provided locally within the DTP’s constituent universities, our flagship training scheme Methods North West has delivered over 250 methodological training courses since 2017, which have been attended by researchers from across the UK and beyond.

The full range of social science disciplines supported by the NWSSDTP can be found here. 

Please see our ‘How to Apply’ page for details of how to submit an application for postgraduate funding.