Queen Mary and Goldsmiths ESRC Doctoral Training Centre DTG 2011

This grant funds doctoral training places, not a specific research project. It provides the financial and institutional framework for postgraduate students to pursue their own research across the social sciences at two London universities. The problem it addresses is structural: the UK needs a pipeline of skilled researchers trained in rigorous methods, critical thinking, and specialist knowledge. Without sustained funding for studentships, the next generation of social scientists—who will go on to work in academia, government, think tanks, and the private sector—simply does not get trained. This grant fills the gap between a student’s undergraduate degree and their ability to conduct independent, high-quality research. If the training succeeds, the impact is diffuse but real. These doctoral graduates will produce original research on topics ranging from education policy to digital culture, economic inequality to media regulation. Their work may inform government decisions, improve public services, or reshape how industries operate. But the primary output here is people, not a single discovery. The grant builds the human infrastructure of UK social science—the expertise that quietly underpins evidence-based policy and public debate for decades to come.