South East Doctoral Training Arc (SEDarc) studentship

The South East Doctoral Training Arc (SEDarc) Doctoral Training Partnership, funded by the Economic Social Research Council (ESRC), is a centre of excellence in social science postgraduate research training, and is in partnership between six UK universities. SEDarc are offering up to 39 ESRC fully funded studentships across the entire consortium.

Start date

1 October 2026

Duration

Dependent on programme applied for: 3.5 or 1+3.5 years, both options include a 3-month placement (or part-time equivalent)

Application deadline

Funding source

The University of Surrey and SEDarc

Funding information

Awards cover UK tuition fees and provide a stipend at the UKRI home rate on a full-time and part-time basis. The UKRI has not yet announced the fees and stipend for 2026/27, but for the academic year of 2025/26 the UK fees are £5,006 and the stipend is £20,780 (£21,237 if London weighting applies). This competition-funded studentship is available to UK and International students and includes full UK or International fee waiver and stipend at UKRI rates. Please see eligibility criteria for further information.

About

The SEDarc Doctoral Training Partnership, funded by the ESRC is a centre of excellence in social science postgraduate research training, and is a partnership between the Universities of Kent, Kingston, Reading, Royal Holloway, Surrey, and Sussex.

At the University of Surrey, SEDarc offers ESRC studentships to high-quality research students wishing to study:

  • Business and management
  • Hospitality, leisure, and tourism
  • Economic
  • Linguistics
  • Politics and international relations
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Or related multidisciplinary topics.

Themes

Within these subject areas, SEDarc funds projects in five thematic areas:

Living sustainably

  • Climate change, Net Zero, green and circular economies
  • Biodiversity and conservation
  • Ecosystem services, energy, good and resource security
  • Environmental risks, resilience and justice
  • Environmental understanding
  • Education and behaviour change
  • Group norms
  • Managing population movements linked to environmental change
  • Conservation across age and cultures.

Healthy thriving communities

  • Health and social care
  • Wellbeing
  • Health inequalities, public policy, services and goods
  • Poverty
  • Equality, diversity and inclusion
  • Place, identity and citizenship
  • Voluntarism
  • Transport and mobility
  • Neighbourhood dynamics
  • Housing and homelessness
  • Families, childhood and youth
  • Ageing
  • Schools, education trajectories and effective interventions
  • Intergroup interactions
  • Migration.

Inclusive economics growth

  • Mechanisms, regulatory frameworks and policies that promote inclusive growth
  • Macro-economic (in)stability
  • Taxation and fiscal policies
  • Global, regional, place-based and demographic inequalities
  • Education and skills
  • Lifelong learning
  • Labour market outcomes
  • Fair work and pay gaps
  • Sustainability and legitimacy of growth strategies
  • Economics decision making.

Secure, effective, and trusted institutions

  • Shifting geopolitical orders and the role of institutions
  • Future international trade frameworks
  • Operation, effect and legitimacy of democratic institutions
  • Effective legal frameworks and systems for ensuring justice
  • Human rights
  • Forced displacement
  • Modern slavery
  • Peacebuilding and conflict resolution
  • Diversifying leadership.

Transformative technologies for society

  • Societal shaping and outcomes of AI, robotics and VR/immersive media
  • Socio-economics aspects of transformative technologies, including face recognition, computer vision and natural language processing
  • Digital technologies in education, (mental) health, and justice
  • Societal engagements with cybersecurity
  • Fintech and livelihood strategies
  • Technological change and future of work
  • Digital divides and digital inclusion.

Placements

A professional placement of three months (if full-time) forms a key element of studentships funded by SEDarc. Placement partners can be from public, private, or academic sectors.

There are 40 placement partners, however students are also encouraged to source their own placement so that it best serves their career goals. Applications will need to indicate potential placement partners.

PGR directors

SubjectDirector
BusinessProfessor Andrew Alexander
EconomicsDr Federico Martellosio
Hospitality and tourism managementDr Jason Chen
Literature and languagesDr Carl Thompson 
Politics and international relationsDr Roula Nezi
PsychologyDr Kimberley Smith
SociologyProfessor Christine Hine

Eligibility criteria

This studentship is open to UK or international candidates.

If you are applying as an international student (this includes EU nationals) and successfully secure a scholarship, Surrey will waive the difference between the home and overseas fees.

Please be aware that there is a 30% cap on international studentships across the entire consortium.

How to apply

It is not possible to apply directly to SEDarc for a studentship, applications for students wishing to be based at Surrey must initially be made via the University of Surrey.

Your SEDarc application will therefore go through a two-stage process, being considered firstly by the University of Surrey to go forward to SEDarc and, if successful, secondly by the  SEDarc panel.

Steps of application

1. Identify and speak to a prospective supervisor 

Identify a prospective supervisor from the school of your choice and contact them to discuss your project before applying. You can find them through these school websites:

If you are uncertain about who could best supervise you, please speak to one of the PGR directors.

2. Complete the SEDarc application form

You must submit the completed SEDarc Doctoral Training Partnership application form (docx). Please refer to the guidance notes (PDF).

Note that this will require input from your supervisor.

3. Apply for a place on a Surrey PhD course

Deadline 19 January 2026, 4pm.

Please browse our course listings for a relevant course. You can apply for a place by clicking the ‘apply now’ button, please select October 2026 as your start date. No other entry points are offered with this studentship.

Please submit the completed SEDarc Doctoral Training Partnership application form in place of a research proposal. Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview.

4. Submit a copy of the application form

Deadline 19 January 2026, 4pm.

When you apply to the Surrey PhD, you must also send the same SEDarc application form by email to the PGR director of the department you are applying to, informing them of your intent to apply for SEDarc funding. Please note, you will need to have been interviewed by your proposed supervisor by this date.

Shortlisted applicants

Candidates that are shortlisted will be notified by Friday 23 January and will be invited to apply to SEDarc (deadline Friday 30 January, 4pm).

The form to be submitted at this stage is the same you will have initially submitted to Surrey, but you will have a week to incorporate any feedback from the Surrey shortlisting panel.

Studentship FAQs

Read our studentship FAQs to find out more about applying and funding.

Application deadline

Contact details

Email: doctoralcollege@surrey.ac.uk

studentship-cta-strip

Studentships at Surrey

We have a wide range of studentship opportunities available.

See our full list