DTP 2020-2021 Open University

The Open University (OU) has strategic objectives to develop the number and significance of our large-scale, external research and doctoral training partnerships and to maximise the leverage of industrial funding. Therefore, the OU's allocation of DTP funding (8 studentships) will be used, in conjunction with other funding sources, to support a total 14 new PGR students (2 cohorts of 7 students) as follows:

2 DTP studentships will be converted into 2 CASE awards;
3 DTP studentships will be converted into 6 "industrial collaborative" studentships;
3 DTP studentships will be converted into 6 "other collaborative" studentships.

DTP funding will be aligned with research priorities of the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), specifically within the following four discipline areas: Physics, General Engineering, Mathematical Sciences and IT, Systems Sciences and Software Engineering. These strategically identified areas of research strength and growth will directly benefit from an increase in PGR activity which will help to strengthen the health of both disciplinary and multidisciplinary research in these areas.

The Graduate School supports community building activities for PGRs in person and virtually. A bespoke VLE, the Graduate School Network, provides online researcher development training and supports PGR community activities and communication online. An OU training strength results from our internationally-acclaimed expertise in public engagement and communication across academic and non-academic contexts. DTP PGRs will have the opportunity to learn directly from world leading PE champions.

The OU's Mission is to be "Open to people, places, methods and ideas." We promote educational opportunity and social justice by providing high-quality university education to all who wish to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential. This mission flows through to our academic research and collaborative partnerships, where engaged research is part of the OU's Strategy. We seek to codesign our research and deliver impact with our industrial and external partners by actively engaging them in the research process. Our approach of combining discovery-research with end-user informed projects means that our PGR graduates will be well placed to become tomorrow's research leaders fit for the challenges of a 21st century career in academia, industry or policy.

The Open University's mission to promote educational opportunity and social justice, coupled with our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, underpins our PGR recruitment policies and practice which provides a fair, transparent and competitive selection process. This award will be overseen by a STEM DTP management group that will include the DTP lead, STEM Associate Dean for Research and representatives from each discipline area. The following processes will be used to invite potential DTP projects from supervisors and applications from potential DTP students:

An internal call for EPSRC remit research projects for each cohort: Potential projects will be assessed by the DTP management group against the selection criteria. Once approved these projects will be used as the basis to recruit each cohort of students;
Recruitment of high calibre students for each cohort: Recruitment will follow the University's PGR recruitment policies and processes. DTP studentships will be advertised concurrently in order to attract the highest calibre candidates, both nationally and internationally, for the projects on offer.

DTP studentships will be advertised on various recruitment databases and the following OU website (http://www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate/research-degrees/how-to-apply/doctoral-training-centre-studentships) in order to attract the highest calibre candidates, both nationally and internationally, for the projects on offer. For further information about EPSRC DTP studentships please contact (Research-degrees-office@open.ac.uk).