Benefits for current ESRC DTP students

Covid extensions

Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)

Discretionary Fund

Overseas Institutional Visit

Covid Extensions

Requests for Covid-related extensions will be assessed termly.  You will need to complete a COVID extension form and seek endorsement from your supervisors.  

The next deadline for applications is Friday 10 March 2023.

Please visit the Covid-19 response pages for more information and the application form.

Extension Guidance 

Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)

All DTP students (except those in an MPhil year) automatically receive £300 p.a. as an allowance towards direct research training costs. Your RTSG allowance is handled by your Department, not the DTP Office; your Graduate Administrator will be able to advise you on how to access your RTSG.  Costs that may be considered are:

• UK fieldwork expenses
• UK, EU and overseas conferences and summer schools
• language training courses usually undertaken in the UK prior to an overseas fieldwork trip
• reimbursement of interpreters, guides, assistants
• survey costs e.g. printing, stationery, telephone calls
• gifts for local informants
• books and other reading material not available through libraries

Funding is not available for laptops (and other computer equipment) and specialist clothing.

** Final year PhD students who were granted an extension due to COVID-19 will be able to utilise any remaining RTSG allowance during the period of their extension, even though this is beyond the end of their third year. **

Discretionary Fund

Over the course of their studentship ESRC DTP PhD students may apply for some financial support from the ESRC DTP Discretionary Fund to support additional activities in their PhD:

• Collaborative opportunities
• Additional funding for research training (over and above your RTSG allowance)
• Conference Support
• Overseas Fieldwork
• Difficult Language Training

ESRC DTP Discretionary Fund guidance for students and supervisors is available here. Please read the guidance carefully before submitting an application.

Please note that the ESRC DTP will usually only be able to offer partial assistance so we strongly recommend investigating other possible sources of funding with your Department and College. 

You may apply for funding for different activities over the course of your studentship but the Discretionary Fund will not normally award more than £3,800 in total to an individual student over the lifetime of their studentship.

How to apply

Discretionary fund applications are assessed monthly.  The deadline for applications to be considered in any given month will be the first Friday of the month.  We aim to provide a response within a month but cannot guarantee this particularly during busy periods so you should make applications in plenty of time if you need funds by a certain date.

The form for Discretionary Fund applications covers the following:

•        Additional funding for research training (over and above your RTSG allowance of £300pa)
•        Collaborative opportunities (eg. internships, placements)
•        Conference Support
•        Difficult Language Training
•        Overseas Fieldwork

Application Form

You will need to provide a budget breakdown and can download a template here.

Summary of degree permission required and impact on stipend, studentship end date and thesis submission date

More information about the activities supported by the ESRC DTP Discretionary Fund

Collaborative opportunities (internships)

The ESRC DTP works in partnership with the private, public and civil society sectors to provide opportunities for DTP students to undertake collaborative activities (such as internships and placements) within non-academic organisations. Information on available opportunities can be found here.

Students may apply for support with the direct costs of undertaking internships and placements.

Once you have completed your collaborative activity, you must provide a short report to be posted on this website.

Additional funding for research training

Funding is available to cover any direct research training costs over and above your personal RTSG allowance.  Costs that may be considered include:

• UK fieldwork expenses
• Summer schools
• language training courses usually undertaken in the UK prior to an overseas fieldwork trip
• reimbursement of interpreters, guides, assistants
• survey costs e.g. printing, stationery, telephone calls
• gifts for local informants
• books and other reading material not available through libraries

Discretionary Funding is not available for laptops (and other computer equipment) and specialist clothing.

Conference Support Allowance

The Discretionary Fund offers support for in-person conference attendance. Students are encouraged to use their annual RTSG allowance to contribute towards conference attendance costs, and to seek all possible funding from Colleges or other sources.

Funding for conferences counts towards the lifetime limit of discretionary funding and therefore careful consideration should be given to the amount requested for conference support over the course of a studentship, particularly if a student is likely to seek financial assistance for overseas fieldwork or difficult language training.

The Discretionary Fund will normally offer only a partial contribution, and under no circumstances will conference support exceed £1500 for any individual student over the lifetime of their studentship.

Overseas Fieldwork

Students may apply for help towards the direct costs of overseas fieldwork for their research project once during the studentship period. 

Please read the guidance on Overseas Fieldwork and Difficult Language Training before making your application.

Difficult Language Training

Students may apply for assistance towards the direct costs of Difficult Language Training once during the studentship period. 

Please read the guidance on Overseas Fieldwork and Difficult Language Training before making your application.

Overseas Institutional Visit (OIV)

An OIV can help you to acquire language skills; develop research links beneficial to your current of future academic plans; undertake specialist research training not available in the UK; or boost your opportunities for engagement, by participating in seminars or other dissemination activities directly relevant to your PhD project. 

• Awards are made competitively in a single competition. 
• Support given under the auspices of the OIV competition will not count towards the £3,500 Discretionary Fund lifetime limit.
• Upon your return from an OIV you must provide a short report to be posted on this website; the report proforma can be downloaded here.

The OIV competition is currently closed

Next steps - Degree Committee Permission

Students should seek support from their Supervisor and permission from their Degree Committee to undertake additional activities during their PhD. Please note that the Student Registry is not able to make any ESRC DTP Discretionary Fund award payments unless permission has been sought and approved, as outlined below.    

Your thesis submission deadline will not be changed, with the exception of undertaking collaborative activities such as internships.  If you feel that you will need additional time in which to complete your thesis you must apply for an extension to your submission deadline.  Information on how to do this can be found here.

Important points to note:

• Discretionary Fund award payments are arranged and reconciled by the Graduate Funding team at the Student Registry.  Payments are made directly to your bank account as part of the University's monthly payroll run and are not released until applications for Leave to Work Away or intermission have been approved.  If approval is granted by the payroll deadline for a given month, you can usually expect to receive payment at the end of that particular month but this is not guaranteed.  If you have any queries about payment dates, please contact the Student Registry at: research.council.funding@admin.cam.ac.uk
• You must upload a risk assessment to your application for Leave to Work Away. This is to ensure that risks have been considered and where possible mitigated before you travel.  Even if you are working away for less than two weeks and are not required to apply for leave to work away, you are advised to still complete a risk assessment.  Useful information on assessing risk and other safeguarding measures can be found at https://www.safeguarding.admin.cam.ac.uk/.

• The University has produced new guidelines on sustainable business travel. The purpose of the guidelines, which were approved by University Council in March, is to support a reduction in non-essential business travel (particularly air travel) and its associated carbon impacts. They are not intended to limit essential travel.  

  In summary, the guidelines recommend that:

  • Staff and students attend meetings and conferences virtually 
  • Staff and students consider whether their travel is essential (guidance on defining this is provided) 
  • Staff and students prioritise modes of travel that have the lowest carbon impact, and provide a hierarchy of preferred travel modes 
  • Flights to UK destinations and to European destinations that can be reached by train within six hours from London terminals are discouraged 
  • Where it is necessary to travel by plane, staff and students are strongly encouraged to offset the carbon emissions in accordance with the University’s offsetting policy. 

  • There is more detail about the guidelines on the University’s sustainability webpages. Please contact sustainability@admin.cam.ac.uk if you have further questions. 

• You may apply for funding for different activities over the course of your studentship but the discretionary fund will not normally award more than £3,800 in total to any individual student over the lifetime of their studentship.
• Retrospective applications for funding cannot be considered under any circumstances.
• A statement of support from your Supervisor is required for all applications.
• Food and subsistence expenses are not eligible unless you are able to demonstrate these costs are over and above your usual living expenses while in Cambridge.
• The ESRC DTP will usually only be able to offer partial assistance so we strongly recommend investigating other possible sources of funding with your Department and College.  Your Supervisor may also be able to suggest other sources of funding.
• The ESRC DTP Management Executive Group expects you to use your RTSG allowance (where applicable) to assist with costs in the first instance.
• The ESRC DTP Management Executive Group considers each application on a case-by-case basis.
• The ESRC requires receipts for the total amount awarded; please retain all original receipts and submit them to the Student Registry upon your return with this form. If you are not able to provide exact receipts you will be required to return this portion of your award. Please contact the ESRC DTP Office with any questions.
• Please note that where required, the Student Registry uses OANDA currency converter https://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/ . Any conversions are calculated at the date of purchase provided on the supporting receipt.