Guidance for Current Students

GUDTP students have access to a range of additional funding opportunities to support their studies and development. Applications for all forms of funding must be submitted in advance of the activity as per the specific guidance. Full details are available on the website:

• Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)
• Overseas Fieldwork Expenses
• Difficult Language Training
• Overseas Institutional Visits
• Student-led Event Fund

International students

For all leave, students with a Tier 4 or a student visa should ensure that they are familiar with the UK Visas and Immigration terms and conditions around attendance and absence on their degree programme.
International students are required to comply with the conditions of their visa and providers with the requirements on them as sponsors. The rules on visas are set by the UK Home Office. Currently this means that international students may be limited in how much leave they may take without returning to their home country, and may not be able to utilise all of the leave as described below.

Annual leave
Students are entitled to take annual leave during the course of their doctoral programme. UKRI recommends that ‘a minimum of 30 days to a maximum of eight weeks per year to include public holidays' should be allowed (pro rata for part time students). The university's policy on annual leave should inform the exact number of permitted days.
Collaborative Studentship award holders are expected to consider their obligations to the partner organisation when planning leave.

Medical leave

Under the UKRI sick leave policy, students in receipt of a full award are eligible for 28 weeks of sick pay within any 12 month period for periods of illness after 1 October 2025. For periods of medical leave prior to 1 October 2025, the maximum allowable leave was 13 weeks in a 12 month period. They are eligible for sick pay from the first day of their award until the end of the funded period, if a medical certificate or letter is provided. If the period of medical leave is at least one month, then a corresponding funding extension will be provided.
Time off for common, short illnesses (for example colds, stomach bugs) would not normally result in an extension to the studentship.
It is not permissible to provide further funding once the funding end date of the student award has passed. Therefore, claims for medical leave must occur prior to the end of the funded period.

The total cumulative amount of medical leave must not exceed 52 weeks across the whole Studentship.

Family leave

• Maternity leave: DTP students are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave if the expected week of childbirth will occur during the period of their award. The earliest maternity leave can commence is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. For those in receipt of a full award, the first 26 weeks will be paid at full stipend rate (pro-rated as necessary for part time students). The following 13 weeks will be paid at a level commensurate with statutory maternity pay. The final 13 weeks are not paid.

• Adoption leave: The main adopter of a child placed during a studentship is also entitled to 52 weeks of leave. For those in receipt of a full award, the first 26 weeks will be paid at full stipend rate (pro-rated as necessary for part time students). The following 13 weeks will be paid at a level commensurate with statutory maternity pay. The final 13 weeks are not paid.

• Partner's/Paternity leave: Partners are entitled to up to two weeks paid Ordinary Paternity Leave on full stipend. Ordinary Paternity Leave cannot start before the birth and must end within 56 days of the birth.

• Parental leave: Under the unpaid parental leave scheme, eligible students are also entitled to an extended period of unpaid parental leave, up to a maximum of 50 weeks.

• You may be able to change mode of study from part-time to full-time, or vice-versa, during you studentship. You should discuss this with your supervisor and department/faculty in the first instance.
• It is expected that a change to mode of study would only occur once during the life of an award, however if there are exceptional circumstances, where you need to revert back to your original status, such instances can be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Transfers to part-time in the last six months of an award will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

• If health or personal reasons are preventing you from progressing in your doctoral research, it may be advisable to temporarily suspend or interrupt studies. You may also suspend so as to take up a short professional opportunity.
• The ESRC allows suspensions for up to a maximum of 12 months across the duration of the studentship, unless there are exceptional and compelling reasons.
• When your studentship is suspended, the award end date is extended in line with the duration of the suspension. You will not receive stipend payments during a period of suspension.
• You should discuss plans for suspension with your supervisor(s) and department/faculty in the first instance. Please also inform the GUDTP team before suspending, so that we can advise on the implications for your funding. University's guidelines for applying to suspend must be followed.

• Approved Difficult language training;
• Approved Overseas Institutional Visits (OIVs);
• Approved Placements (for studentships that commenced before October 2024). 

• Your supervisors play a key role in supporting your progress and development – in terms of your research project, your development as a researcher, and your wider professional skills.
• As a postgraduate research student, you can expect regular supervision meetings throughout your studies. 
• All ESRC-funded students are required to have dual supervision.
• Supervisors are expected to support you to complete the annual Development Needs Analysis to identify individual needs and identify gaps in your academic training and professional development, and to support you in completing your PhD by the required submission deadline.
• You are asked to remind your supervisor about the opportunities available to you as an GUDTP award holder. All of the GUDTP processes for additional funding require the support of your supervisor and you must maintain regular contact with them.

If you have any concerns about the supervision that you are receiving, you are advised to contact your department/faculty in the first instance.

If you are studying on a full-time basis, you may undertake a small amount of paid work, e.g. teaching of undergraduate students, provided that it is compatible with your studies and is approved by your supervisor(s).

It is recommended that the total time spent on such work should not exceed six hours in any week. In the case of teaching, this includes the time required for preparation and marking. Any paid work must be manageable alongside your studies, and should not impact on your progress to submit your thesis by your award end date.

Your studentship will be withdrawn if you take up employment on a full-time basis or a part-time role that is incompatible with your studies. If you study full-time, you cannot hold either a full-time job, permanent part-time job or temporary role for an extended period. If you study part-time, you cannot hold a full-time job

You are expected to participate in learning and development opportunities throughout your studies.

You must complete a Development Needs Analysis (DNA) on an annual basis thereafter.

In addition, you are expected to attend GUDTP cohort trainings, events, local institutional training provision, and personal and professional development. If you were awarded additional funding for training, you must undertake the stipulated training. If you have a steered studentship (AQM/Data Skills/Interdisciplinary Research), you are required to undertake the identified training linked to these additional skills and research methods. 

Visit your Learning & Development section to find more information.

The ESRC recognises that the student voice is an important factor in monitoring their doctoral training investments.  Every year, you are required to complete an ESRC survey about your experiences of your studentship, as well as the GUDTP annual student survey. The GUDTP's survey informs our responses in the annual report to the ESRC as well as informing training provisions.

You are also invited to share news and achievements with the GUDTP team, such as publications, conference papers, and public engagement activities (granduniondtp@socsci.ox.ac.uk). This information may be used for the annual report to the ESRC. With your permission, we may also share your news on our newsletter and website.

Your university will have entered details of your award onto the UKRI Studentship Database when you commenced study. This is an online record of your award that the ESRC will be able to view.

A summary of your doctoral research project is included in your record, which will then be published via UKRI's Gateway to Research (GtR). It must be suitable for publication and not contain sensitive or confidential information. Please contact your institution if you wish to make changes to your research summary published on GtR.

You must acknowledge the support received from the Research Council. Journal publications should acknowledge the funding source using the standard format agreed by funders and publishers, as specified below:

“This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number]”.

You should publish your research results in accordance with normal academic practice and the UKRI policy on open access: https://www.ukri.org/about-us/policies-standards-and-data/good-research-resource-hub/open-research/.

Students generating data over the lifetime of their award are strongly encouraged to offer copies of machine-readable data to the UK Data Service. Details can be found: https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/deposit-data/