Financial Support

Please consult Durham University Graduate School website or the Durham University Postgraduate Prospectus for up-to-date fees information. This page contains information on:

• Doctoral Awards
• MA Funding

Doctoral Awards

Durham Doctoral Studentships (DDS)

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities will be offering a limited number of Durham Doctoral Studentships. These are intended to further develop the external profile of Durham amongst prospective postgraduate research students and support the recruitment of high-calibre research postgraduates. In addition to single discipline awards, awards will be available to support interdisciplinary projects with supervisory teams drawn from more than one Department or School. Such applications are warmly encouraged.

Applications are welcome from both full and part-time candidates. Students who have deferred their entry from the previous academic year are, however, not eligible to be considered for these awards. Doctoral studentships will be tenable for three years from October 2014 and will annually provide award-holders with a fee-waiver at the appropriate rate (depending on fee status), and a tax-free maintenance grant at the current RCUK rate (currently £13726). Doctoral studentships cannot be deferred (except in exceptional circumstances) and will be managed in analogue with AHRC awards.

There is no separate nomination form for the DDS. Simply apply for a Durham place as described below and be sure that references arrive at the Department by the deadline of the 17th February.

The deadline by which candidates must have submitted their online application for a Durham place to be eligible also to be considered for a Durham Doctoral Studentship is 5pm (GMT), Monday 17th February 2014. Any applications received after this date will not go forward.

NB References must also be received by this same deadline (english.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk)

AHRC Funding (for EU citizens only)

From the 2^nd December 2013, recruitment began for AHRC studentships offered under the auspices of the Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership (NBDTP). The Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership brings together the expertise and exceptional resources of Durham University, Newcastle University, and Queen’s University Belfast and their partners for the training and development of outstanding Arts and Humanities postgraduate researchers. Northern Bridge is pleased to invite applications from outstanding candidates for AHRC Studentships for 2014-15 entry.

For more information see http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/

Full details on eligibility are available from the Partnership website.

The application deadline is 5 pm on 17^th February 2014.

NB The selection process will require both applications AND their supporting references to have reached Durham by the 17^th February 2014. Send to english.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk

(Please note that Durham’s strict deadline requirement for references may differ slightly from that on the NBDTP website)

Applicants for the AHRC/NBDTP awards must also send, to be received by 17^th February, a full CV and a Northern Bridge nomination form, with the first half (that to be filled in by applicants) already completed. Send to english.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk

You can download copies of the nomination form from https://www.dur.ac.uk/arts.humanities/funding_opportunities/

(The information requested on the nomination form essentially repeats that you will have given for your Durham entry application – the section entitled 'case for support' simply means your 750 word account of the research project proposed (see above). The section on “strategic partners” is an option that will not apply to the vast majority of applicants so most people should just skip it; you’ll not be disadvantaged by the omission).

How to Apply

To apply for Durham Doctoral Studentship and/or an AHRC NBDTP award, you will need to complete Durham University's on-line application form, and to state that you wish to be considered for Durham Doctoral Studentship and/or AHRC NBDTP when the form asks you to indicate how you intend to fund your studies. In addition, in the Other Relevant Experience Section of the online application form, you must include a summary of the research project you wish to conduct. This should not exceed 750 words in length and should consider the following:

• a. What research question or problem will they be addressing?
• b. What is the research context in which the question or problem is located?
• c. What contribution to knowledge and understanding do they expect to make?
• d. What methodology will they employ to address the research question/problem?
• e. What sources will they be using during the research project, where are they located, and how will they be accessed?

MA funding

AHRC (for EU citizens only)

The University may nominate candidates for the 3-5 AHRC MA studentships offered per annum by the NBDTP. Further details can be found on the Partnership website.

If you wish to be considered for this MA funding you will simply need to have sent in, by 5.00 pm on February 17th 2014, your online application for a Durham place. A few successful nominees will later be asked, at around the end of February, to fill in a NBDTP nomination form and send in their CV for the next round of the competition after 5^th March.

NB Please note that all supporting references must also be received by 17^th February 2014 at english.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk

Faculty of Arts and Humanities MA Scholarships

The Faculty will be offering up to 10 MA Scholarships to high-calibre postgraduate taught and research students joining a masters programme in the 2014/15 academic year and who intend to progress to a PhD. Faculty MA Scholarships are tenable for one year only and will provide award-holders with a fee waiver at either the taught or research Home/EU rate. All awards will commence from October 2014.

Applications are welcome from candidates planning to join either a taught or research masters programme of study in October 2014 on a full- or part-time time basis. Candidates must be planning to proceed from their MA to a doctorate in a field of study that could be supported – in terms of resources, research environment and supervision – by their department or by a combination of departments with the lead department located in the Faculty.

The deadline by which, to be considered for a MA Bursary, candidates must have submitted their online application for a Durham place is 5pm (GMT), Monday 28th February 2014. Any applications received after this date must not go forward.

NB Please note that all supporting references must also be received by 28^th February at english.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk.

How to Apply

Candidates applying for AHRC NBDTP Masters awards and the Faculty’s MA bursaries must detail the different elements of their course that they plan to study. This should cover the following:

1. The pathway that will be followed;
2. The modules, compulsory and/or optional, that they will take;
3. The research project they intend to undertake for their dissertation;

The way in which the different elements of their programme fit together to provide the foundation for a future PhD.

Further Information

For all enquiries about applying for admission and applying for the funding schemes, please contact Mrs M. Caygill at english.pgadmissions@durham.ac.uk

Research Assistantships

The Department regularly sets up several small Research Assistantships, partly to offer research students in Durham training in subject specific skills. Research Students are paid (£300-500) to help with the research project of a member of staff.