Social Policy Pathway

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship. The studentship will start on 1 October 2027.

How to apply

To apply for SWDTP Advanced Quantitative Methods pathway studentship please simply click on the ‘online application’ links below for the PhD Social Policy. 
Within the Research section of the application form, in the following fields, please add:
  • Proposed project title/studentship title: add your project title 
  • Proposed supervisor: add potential supervisor’s name
  • Studentship Code: SWDTP 27-10 Social Policy
When the application asks for a research proposal, please just upload the SWDTP Studentship Application Form 2027 Entry (Annex A).

Application guidance

It is important that you follow the instructions above or your application for this studentship may be missed and therefore will not be considered.
Before applying, please ensure you have read the Doctoral College’s general information on applying for a postgraduate research degree. 
For more information on the admissions process please contact research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.

Social Policy
School of Law, Humanities and Social Science
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business

The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has a long and distinguished track-record of internationally leading research in the social policy field. In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, 86% of our social policy research was classified as ‘world-leading’ or 'internationally excellent' and we are ranked 8th in the country for research impact. We have collective strengths in: public policy; geopolitics and social policy, media and communications; gender; sustainability; criminology and social policy, food and social policy, and offender rehabilitation. Our postgraduates have won a number of awards for their internationally leading research.
The breadth of interdisciplinary expertise at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ has enabled us to deliver applied and theoretically informed world class research to a wide range of groups including national and local government, healthcare providers, NGOs, social enterprises, patient groups and offender communities.
In the School of Law, Humanities and Social Science, researchers within the disciplines of Sociology, Politics, Law, Criminology and Education produce world leading (Social Policy related) research to foster resilient societies. As a successful PGR student, you would be joining this dynamic research environment which nurtures talent and drives research excellence and impact by supporting and promoting strategic external partnerships, collaborations and networks, and sponsoring cross-university research initiatives which align with the ESRC’s priorities.
Collaborating with the researchers in the social policy field will connect you with our research and thought leadership, which is at the cutting edge of the field. You will be working with outstanding academics of global standing who have extensive and active networks with universities and industries across the globe, and we are committed to ensuring our students have opportunities to explore the latest developments across a variety of areas.
Successful applicants will be part of a large, vibrant, highly collaborative community of PhD students with excellent interdisciplinary links, providing opportunities for research, training, and collaboration.
For details of our all staff research interests, please see our staff research web pages. Specifically, the following staff welcome contact for research related to the following areas in this SWDTP round: 
  • Health and well-being of health and social professionals (e.g. social workers, nurses, law enforcement)
  • Coping behaviours in response to occupational stress
  • Experiences of online micro-aggressions among LGBTQ+ youth
  • Discourses of regulation and professionalism in health policy
  • Health policy reform
  • Health policy formation
  • Politics and Public Policy
  • International trade policy and politics
  • Development policy
  • Iranian foreign policy and politics, including nationalism and the role of political identity
  • Political change and transformation in the MENA region
  • Populism in the Global South
  • World order and the Global South
  • Social prescribing, 
  • Nature-health interactions, health services and mental health
  • Systematic reviews and health policy
  • Links between health inequalities and criminal justice.
  • The lived experience of dis/ability for those caught up in the criminal justice system
  • The role of food in criminal justice settings
  • Delivering social justice for minoritised peoples
  • Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller inclusion 
  • Community cohesion after serious violence through multi-agency engagement 
  • Supporting social justice and inclusion in the justice sector
  • Trans and gender diverse lived experiences of harm
  • Working with stakeholders to address sexual violence on public transport
  • Gendered violence experienced through place and space
  • Regulation of online terrorist and extremist content
  • Rural crime and persecution of wildlife
  • Linking social harm to changing society
  • Environmental harm and lived experience
  • Policing policy and practice 

Initial enquiries

For more details and informal enquiries, please contact Dr Patrick Holden.

How to apply

The ESRC SWDTP encourages collaboration across the universities of the partnership and with external organisations.
Closing date: 12 January 2027, 12:00 noon (UK time)
Start date: 1 October 2027 
The studentship is supported for three to four years depending upon the pathway and includes full Home tuition fees plus a stipend which is currently £21,805 per annum 2026/27 rate (2027/28 rate TBC). 
There are limited number of places for international students.

Eligibility 

Information on the eligibility criteria for full awards can be found on the .

Application process

You will need to discuss your proposed research topic with an academic staff member in your field. More specifically, the staff listed above welcome contact for research related to the areas mentioned above in this SWDTP round.  You can also explore the member lists of staff research web pages and centres or search staff profiles using or an individual's name.
You will need to submit the following documentation in order for us to consider your application:
  • Completed University of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ online application (click on the link in the ‘How to Apply’ box above) 
  • Completed SWDTP
  • Completed SWDTP
  • Completed SWDTP EDI survey - a link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents
  • Copies of your academic qualifications (both certificates and transcripts of module/course marks).
  • Please include a CV with your application.
  • If applicable, appropriate proof of English proficiency.
  • Documents not included in the online application form can be emailed to research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk by the application deadline.
Your application will only be considered if it contains the above and you have met our . If we need further details or additional documentation, we will contact you.
For full details on the studentship process, please see the South West Doctoral Training Partnership and pages.
SWDTP Equal Opportunities Student Data Form 2027 Entry
Why do you collect data about people’s personal characteristics?
Across UK Higher Education it is generally suspected that access to postgraduate study is neither as open nor as inclusive as it should be and that more needs to be done to widen participation and equality of opportunity. However, the data needed to help make the system be more equitable is not as complete or as reliable as it needs to be to most effectively support change.  
Providing EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and equal opportunity data helps to better understand issues of selection and under-representation in postgraduate study. Such data are held confidentially and separately from the rest of your application. They are used only in aggregated and anonymised forms for internal monitoring purposes and as part of our required reporting to our funder, the ESRC – for example, as counts or percentages of the numbers in each category. We ask all applicants to complete the monitoring form. 
A link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents.