The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a member of UBEL, the UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). This is a government-funded grouping, via the Economic and Social Research Council, that brings together six leading institutions (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University College London, School of Oriental and African Studies, Birkbeck, University of East London and University of Greenwich) to offer PhD studentships each year.
UBEL is one of the largest ESRC-funded Doctoral Training Partnerships in the UK, offering studentships over a wide range of pathways in areas that span the social sciences and economics. In order to organise so many interdisciplinary and cross-institutional studentships, the DTP comprises 30 different pathways, in 6 groupings across these 6 London institutions.
Studentship pathways
LSHTM is currently pathway lead for 2 of the 30 pathways:
- Health and Wellbeing pathway
- Population and Health pathway
This means that LSHTM is likely to be the primary institution to apply through for a studentship in this area.
The School is also a member of 3 other pathways:
In addition, you can apply to any other pathway for funding and still have your first or second supervisor at LSHTM, but your application will be reviewed by a panel led by another institution.
Available routes
The main variants of the awards are 1+3 (for applicants who do not have a relevant Masters. The ‘1’ denotes funding for a Masters, and the ‘3’ for the PhD itself), or +3 (for students who already have a Masters). Please note, it is possible that this award can be for 3, 3.25 or 3.5 years. LSHTM is not able to offer the +4 route on any of the pathways.
In addition to the above, full funding will also be provided for an extra three months for training throughout the PhD and a further 3 months to enable students participate in a new placement scheme.
Further information about each route available for 2024 entry can be found via the Structure of Awards on the UBEL website.
Awards available
Please refer to the UBEL ESRC DTP website and the Preliminary Application Guidance for full details.
Studentships for 2024-25 are open to all applicants (both 'Home' and 'Overseas' fee status), with up to 30% of the total awards available to international applicants.
International applicants will be expected to top up the award with an alternative scholarship or funding arrangement to cover the higher cost of overseas fees, unless they qualify for LSHTM’s bursary scheme which is only applicable for nationals of low income countries or lower middle income countries (LLMICs).
Awardees may not use family/personal funds or their ESRC living cost stipend to cover the necessary top up for fees. Please see the LSHTM statement for further details.
How to apply
You should follow the steps below before submitting a preliminary application:
- Contact the leading academic for the pathway of your choice.
- Together with the pathway lead you will be expected to contact relevant members of academic staff in order to discuss your research ideas and identify two potential supervisors. Do search the LSHTM’s website to find relevant staff and contact them directly. Potential supervisors have to complete parts of your ESRC preliminary studentship application form, so you will need to find academics who are interested in your research ideas.
- Only ONE application per applicant for an ESRC studentship beginning in 2024 may be submitted to the UBEL DTP.
- Please ensure you complete ALL questions on the application which apply to you.
- The application process itself is being conducted centrally by the ESRC UBEL DTP. Find out more about the ESRC Studentships.
The deadline to submit a preliminary application is 23:59 on Monday 15 January 2024. Successful applications will then need to complete a full application, which will include a clear proposal of the intended research.
By submitting an application for this funding applicants agree to its Terms and Conditions.
Incomplete applications will not be considered for this funding.
If you have more general enquiries regarding the ESRC UBEL at LSHTM, then please contact Simon Cohn in the first instance.
Please note that all applications will only be reviewed and processed after the deadline. All applications that are submitted before the deadline will be considered equally, regardless of submission date.