Whilst you are free to apply for admission to study at any (or all three) of the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP consortium institutions, you must decide in advance to which one you would like to apply for AHRC funding. You will not be able to transfer your application to another institution within the consortium following submission. Please follow the funding application procedure of the chosen institution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pre-application
No, you must choose whether to apply for an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP studentship via the standard route or Collaborative Doctoral Award competition. The OOC DTP will not accept more than one application for studentship funding from an applicant in any one year.
No, you may only apply for one Collaborative Doctoral Award in any one studentship competition. The Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP will only accept one application for studentship funding per candidate in any one year.
The Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP is one of 10 Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) doctoral training partnerships in the UK. You may choose to apply to several of these doctoral training partnerships (DTPs). If you are offered an AHRC studentship by more than one DTP however, you must choose which one to accept and are asked to decline the other offer(s).
If you have already commenced doctoral study at one of the consortium institutions, you are eligible to apply for funding provided that, at the start of the AHRC award, you will have at least 50% of your period of study remaining. Period of study relates to fee liability, i.e. length of time a university charges course fees, not to the maximum time it might take to write up and submit a thesis. This means that if you are studying on a full-time basis, you may be eligible to apply in your first year of study. If you are a part-time student, you may be eligible to apply in your first, second or third year. If you are unsure of your eligibility, please enquire with your department or faculty in the first instance.
The application process for current doctoral students varies for each institution. Further information is available on our How to Apply page.
On-course students will be assessed according to the same criteria as, and in competition with, new applicants for funding. If successful, awards will made in support of the remaining time on course, i.e. they will be adjusted on a pro rata basis to reflect the time already spent working towards the doctorate.
Please see the further guidance section of the website for information on the OOC DTP review process and selection criteria.
Beyond the 2018/19 academic year, the AHRC no longer supports master’s studentships. Only those applying for a programme of doctoral study are eligible to apply to the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP for studentship funding.
See the webpage on eligibility for further information.
Eligibility for AHRC studentship funding has changed. From 2021/22 onwards, international students will be eligible for UKRI studentship funding. All UKRI-funded doctoral students will be eligible for a full award, both the stipend to support living costs and fees at the UKRI approved rate. Awards to students liable for Overseas fees are capped at 30%.
Any students who started their degree in previous academic years are not affected by this announcement. EU, EEA and Swiss Nationals starting UKRI-funded programmes in the 2020 academic year will remain eligible for funding under the same terms as guaranteed by the Government in July 2019.
The Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP supports discipline-based projects in all of the subjects covered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), but also welcomes interdisciplinary research and research in emerging fields of study and creative practice. To be eligible for studentship funding the main focus of your proposed research must fall within one of the AHRC's primary research areas and be supported by the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP.
The subject remit is divided into three clusters. Further information on the eligible subject areas for each is given on our eligibility page.
If your research is interdisciplinary and draws on fields supported by another research council, such as the ESRC, your application must clearly demonstrate that at least 50% of the proposed research falls within the AHRC's remit, as demonstrated by the focus of your research questions. Your project should also seek to contribute predominantly to one of the AHRC's primary subject areas that is supported by the OOC DTP, with its main academic audience coming from that discipline or field.
If the focus of your proposed research is evenly split between the AHRC and another research council, you should apply to the DTP that is likely to be the best fit in terms of your training needs.
Please note
- The use of research methods associated with the Arts and Humanities is insufficient justification for eligibility, if your project’s main concerns and expected contributions lie outside AHRC subject areas.
- You should not submit the same doctoral research proposal to more than one DTP associated with a single university in the OOC DTP consortium. So, for example, a candidate should not seek support for doctoral research at Oxford from both the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP and the Grand Union ESRC DTP, unless applying for two different research projects.
If you remain unsure whether your proposed doctoral project and course of study fall within the remit of the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP, please discuss with your prospective supervisor in the first instance.
Post-application
If your application for DTP funding is successful, you will receive an offer letter from the OOC DTP from early April. Further offers will be made as reserve places become available.
Due to the volume of applications, unsuccessful applicants are not notified on the outcome of their application.
It will not be possible to provide feedback to unsuccessful candidates at any level of the competition.
Some Cambridge and Oxford studentships are co-funded by specific colleges. The award may involve changing colleges from your initial preference. Please note that if you are offered a college-shared award that involves changing colleges, the offer is dependent on you agreeing to move colleges.
If you are offered a college-shared award, your acceptance will be taken as confirmation that you have agreed to change college. Following your acceptance, your home university will arrange for the necessary processes to be undertaken to confirm your change of college.
It is possible to change status (e.g. from full to part-time study) once during the studentship. We recognise that life circumstances may change during the research project, and try to support our doctoral researchers as far as possible.
No, but it may be available in individual cases where this would specifically benefit your research project.
Funding
A full award through the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP offers:
- Payment of university fees throughout the funded period;
- A tax-free maintenance grant for your living costs at the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) minimum rate, which increases each year in line with inflation (£19,234 for 2024/25);
- An additional stipend of £600 per annum for Collaborative Doctoral Award students, as a contribution towards costs incurred by working with the partner organisation;
- The opportunity to apply for an extension to your studentship funding on the basis of individual training and research needs or to support a professional placement;
- Additional support for research expenses, individual skills training, and/or development opportunities, e.g. conference participation, language training, research visits, placements;
- Other benefits including Disability Support Allowance (DSA), maternity, paternity, parental and adoption leave, and funded extensions to cover sick leave.
The funding is exclusive in the sense that you cannot hold another studentship award offering fees (at 'Home' rate) and stipend at the same time. However you are not prevented from seeking other funding sources to support research or personal development activities; if these cover living expenses, your OOC DTP funding can be interrupted.
Normally, those new to doctoral study and working on a full-time basis will be offered an award of three years and three months (39 months). Funding is adjusted on a pro-rata basis for part-time students.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) expects award holders to submit their doctoral thesis by their award end date. In certain circumstances and at certain times, however, award holders may apply to the DTP for an extension to their award and therefore to their AHRC submission deadline. See guidance on extensions to studentships.
The total funded period, including any extensions, shall not exceed four years (full time equivalent).
Further questions
Please contact enquiries@oocdtp.ac.uk.
