Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership

The Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership funds postgraduate students across a consortium of research organisations, rather than conducting a single experiment or study. This grant addresses the need to train the next generation of social science researchers. Without dedicated funding streams, fewer PhD students would be able to pursue advanced research in areas such as economics, sociology, geography, and political science. The partnership pools resources and expertise across multiple universities, allowing students to access a broader range of supervisors, training courses, and specialist facilities than any single institution could provide alone. If successful, this programme will produce a cohort of skilled researchers equipped to tackle complex social and economic challenges. These individuals will go on to work in universities, government departments, think tanks, and the private sector, where their training informs policy decisions, business strategies, and public services. The impact is indirect but systemic: better-trained researchers produce more rigorous evidence, which in turn shapes how society understands and addresses issues from inequality to urban planning. This is a training infrastructure grant, not a research project with a specific hypothesis or discovery goal.