Find information and guidance on collaborative studentships.
Background
The main funder is usually the Research Councils - but not exclusively. Top-ups are funded by the relevant sector partner
Collaborative studentships consist of;
- Industrial Cooperative Awards in Science & Technology (CASE) provides funding for PhD studentships where businesses take the lead in arranging projects with an academic partner of their choice.
- CASE Conversion - which allows a Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) to be converted to a CASE award if predefined conditions are met.
- Impact studentships - Ìýare funded by the Department/Faculty and do not normally involve Research Council funding.
Things to do first
- Ensure that the external partner has completed the °×С½ãÂÛ̳ sign-up form (pdf) Ìý(this will be used to inform the studentship contract.
- °ä´Ç²Ô³Ù²¹³¦³ÙÌýÌýto initiate the contract processes.
- Complete any UKRI JeS student details, including partner contributions.
- Liaise with Ìýon a regular basis for contract completion.
- Liaise with the lead academic accordingly.
Running the studentship
- Monitor the funding from both Research Council and sector partner to ensure all funds are fully used.
- A Project Financial Review should be carried out quarterly.
- Ensure that any required time at the sector partner organisation is completed. Minimum 3 months for CASE Studentships, but does not have to be completed in a single tranche
- If the student drops out then notify the Research Studentships Unit, who may be able to re-use funds. You will also need to amend the relevant UKRI Je-S record.
Administrators best practice
- Ensure that you have read and understood the terms of the contract and Grant conditions. The student/supervisor should be aware of any specific terms that relate to their conduct of the project and/or obligations that have been placed on °×С½ãÂÛ̳ and themselves. Students need to record all visits to the partner sites in the student e-log.
- It is important to make sure that students do not commence until the Studentship contract has been signed by °×С½ãÂÛ̳ and the external partner. If they do start ahead of contract completion then this is at the Departments risk.
- When negotiating with the sector partners make sure that all staff involved are aware of the R&D Tax Credit rules – this is a great bargaining tool to hold in reserve.
- For CASE conversions or Impact studentships you can use 1 x 4-year studentship from the Research Councils to provide 50% of funding and therefore if a funder is prepared to fund a whole studentship, they could have two studentships undertaking differing projects on their behalf for the same funding. Note: R&D Tax Credits includes both cash and in-kind contributions.
Liaise with Ìýas required to ensure that the studentship commences on time and is adequately funded.
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