ESRC Research Training Support Grants (RTSG)

WRDTC Policies & Procedures

ESRC Research Training Support Grants (RTSG)

Research Training Support Grants (RTSG) providefunding for ESRC studentship award-holders to meet the costs of certain expenses arising from their research and training. The WRDTC is required by the ESRC to administer the funding in the most effective, efficient, transparent and equitable manner for supporting its award-holders based on the individual needs of their research and training.

Cohort 1 (Oct 2011 starters) – the ESRC RTSG policy states that each student is awarded £750 p.a. from the start of the doctoral element of their studentship. This includes part time and Fees Only award holders. The student can carry over the allocation into the following year if unspent in any one year up to the end of the award (i.e. the end of standard period of study. RTSG cannot be claimed in a student’s overtime/writing up year). The DTC will be recycling any unspent RTSG at the end of the award.

Cohort 2 (Oct 2012 starters) – the ESRC announced flexibility in the administration of the RTSG funding. The WRDTC Academic Quality Committee (AQC) agreed that it would continue to pre-allocate £750 to each student p.a.from the start of the doctoral element of their studentship. This includes part time and Fees Only award holders. The student can carry over the allocation into the following year if unspent in any one year up to the end of the award(i.e. the end of standard period of study. RTSG cannot be claimed in a student’s overtime/writing up year). The DTC will be recycling any unspent RTSG at the end of the award. Students in their master’s year are not eligible for this funding. Eligible students are also able to apply for additional Top-Up RTSG directly from the WRDTC.

Cohort 3 (Oct 2013 starters) –the WRDTC Academic Quality Committee (AQC) continues to pre-allocate £750 to each student p.a. from the start of the doctoral element of their studentship. This includes part time and Fees Only award holders. The student can carry over the allocation into the following year if unspent in any one year up to the end of the award (i.e. the end of standard period of study. RTSG cannot be claimed in a student’s overtime/writing up year). The DTC will be recycling any unspent RTSG at the end of the award. Students in their master’s year are not eligible for this funding. Eligible students are also able to apply for additional Top-Up RTSG directly from the WRDTC.

Cohort 4 (Oct 2014 starters) - each new incoming student will receive a total of £2,000 (£666 p.a.) over the three years of their PhD studies from the RTSG pool. This includes part time and Fees Only award holders. The student can carry over the allocation into the following year if unspent in any one year up to the end of the award. The DTC will be recycling any unspent RTSG at the end of the award. Students in their master’s year are not eligible for this funding. Eligible students are also able to apply for additional Top-Up RTSG directly from the WRDTC.

RTSG Top-Up

There is no limit to the amount of funding any one student can receive from the total RTSG pot allocated to the WRDTC by the ESRC, provided there are sufficient remaining monies in the grant. It is a pot from which the WRDTC allocates funds on the basis of student needs and priorities.

Procedure

The WRDTC now offers this new RTSG Top-Up Scheme whereby those students from cohort 2, 3 and 4 can apply for additional RTSG top-up funding.

ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDING

WRDTC ESRC award-holders who commenced their PhD doctoral study from October 2012 onwards can apply for Top-Up RTSG to fund a range of activities, equipment and items that are critical to the successful completion of their research and training. To receive the additional RTSG top-up funding, award-holders must be actively registered with their host institution. Award-holders whose studies/studentship has been suspended etc are not eligible to receive additional RTSG top-up funding.

The following categories of activities, items and equipment can be supported by RTSG funds:

a) Fieldwork that is conducted in the United Kingdom. Additional funding is available for award-holders undertaking fieldwork outside of the UK (OFE), for which separate arrangements are in place.

b) Attending conferences, training courses, summer schools and other similar events.

c) Undertaking language training courses prior to conducting fieldwork.

d) Reimbursing interpreters, guides, assistants and informants that are assisting an award-holder’s fieldwork.

e) Meeting the costs of conducting surveys and other data collection exercises, including printing and stationery.

f) Purchasing small items of equipment and consumables, such as cameras, tape recorders, films and cassettes.

g) Acquiring books and other materials not available through libraries.

h) Obtaining laptops and other computer equipment, where this is assessed to be essential to the completion of the award-holder’s PhD and cannot be directly funded by the award-holder’s host department/school or other sources.

RTSG funds will not be used to fund activities, equipment and services that constitute part of the award-holder’s host institution’s core/basic provision for postgraduate research students. Such core/basic provision, which all award-holders can expect to be directly met by their host department/school encompasses:

a) Basic IT provision, including access to desktop computing and printing.

b) Attending training events provided by WRDTC universities (these events are provided free of charge to award-holders).

c) Core books, texts and other reading materials.

OWNERSHIP OF PURCHASED ITEMS

All items of computer equipment in excess of £200 purchased using RTSG will remain the property of WRDTC and the dispensing institution, which will insure and account for such assets. Award-holders will be required to return to WRDTC all items that were purchased via RTSG on the submission of their PhD theses or prior to this date. Should an award-holder fail to return and/or not be able to account for their equipment WRDTC’s partner institutions reserve the right to invoice the award-holder for any reasonable losses or damages incurred.

ALLOCATION OF FUNDS

WRDTC allocates the RTSG funds that are its disposal via an open, transparent and equitable process, which is focused on meeting the specific and individual needs of its award-holders. To meet these objectives unspent RTSG funds are pooledannually at the end of the student’s awardand available for students to access via anapplication process 3 x per annum.

All applications for additional RTSGTop-Up fundingmust be made on the basis of individual need in relation to the award-holder’s specific research and/or training requirements, and these must be articulated in their RTSG application. There is no limit to the amount of funding that award-holders can apply for each year, provided there are sufficient monies remaining in the grant.

APPLYING FOR RTSG TOP-UPFUNDING

All applications for additional RTSG funding must be made in advance by the award-holder using the WRDTC RTSG Top-Up Application Form. Within this form award-holders are required to detail the amount of funds required and to explain why such funds are requested. Retrospective applications for funding will not be considered.

Award-holders must secure the support and authorisation of their main supervisor for their application, confirming their need for the funding and that the student is making good progress.

Completed and authorised application forms, together with any accompanying documents, should be submitted electronically tothe student’s local university Postgraduate Scholarships Office (or equivalent) whois responsible for liaising with the student on matters relating to the award and any subsequent WRDTC funding applications. The local nominated contacts at each university are as follows:

University of Leeds - Shirley Yeadon (), Postgraduate Scholarships Officer in the Postgraduate Scholarships Office. Relevant forms can be downloaded from the ‘Award Holders’ tab on the Scholarships website –
University of Sheffield - Rachel Shirley(),PGR Scholarships Officer, Research & Innovation Services. Relevant forms and further information is available at
University of York – Kay Mitchell (), Research Student Administrator, Registry Services.

For other general enquiries contact

ASSESSING RTSG TOP-UP APPLICATIONS

Received applications are checked by the relevant Scholarships Officer to ensure they are eligible for RTSG Top-Up funding, logged and then passed to the DTC Office to be considered by the Academic Quality Committee (AQC).

All applications received will be reviewed in conjunction with the award-holder’s original studentship application, their latest doctoral project plan, their Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and recent progress reports from their supervisory team. The need for the proposed expenditure in support of the award-holder’s research and/or training will be assessed and this will be the primary basis of all decisions made regarding RTSG Top-Up Funding applications.

The DTC Office will notify the Scholarships Officer when a decision has been made as to their application. In cases where an application has been declined the reason for such a decision will be outlined in the notification.

A call for applications will be made 3 times per annum, December, March and May via the WRDTC web site wrdtc.ac.uk.

ACCESSING APPROVED RTSG TOP-UP FUNDS

Where additional funds are approved by the AQC the funds will be internally transferred to the award-holder’s host department/school to be added to the existing RTSG student account.

To access the Application Form, go to wrdtc.ac.uk and search for ‘RTSG’.

WRDTC

May 2014