SWDTP Advanced Quantitative Methods studentship

Applications close on 9 January 2026 (12:00 noon UK time) and the studentship will start on 1 October 2026

Apply

To apply for the SWDTP Advanced Quantitative Methods pathway studentship simply select the ‘online application’ link below for PhD Mathematics and Statistics :
Online application
Within the Research section of the application form, in the following fields, please add:
  • Proposed project title/studentship title: add your project title
  • Proposed supervisor: add the potential supervisor’s name 
  • Studentship code: add SWDTP 26-10 AQM 
When the application asks for a research proposal, please just upload the SWDTP Studentship Application Form 2026 Entry (Annex A)

Application guidance 

It is important that you follow the instructions above or your application for this studentship may be missed and therefore will not be considered.
Before applying, please ensure you have read the Doctoral College’s general information on applying for a research degree .
For more information on the admissions process, please contact research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk. 
Advanced Quantitative Methods
Mathematical Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering) and Centre for Health Technology (Faculty of Health)
The Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) pathway is for social science researchers who wish to learn and develop advanced quantitative methods and apply them to answer substantive questions from their discipline. It is also well-suited for statistically trained researchers whose interests are more methodological. You will be part of an interdisciplinary research group interested in the development and application of advanced quantitative methods to address research questions in social sciences. Projects may involve applying statistical methods to address social science problems or developing novel statistical methods for analysing social-science data.
The AQM pathway at the University of Plymouth is part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South West Doctoral Training Partnership for the South West (SWDTP), offering opportunities for funded PhD studentships. 
Research in AQM at Plymouth is carried out in various research clusters, including the Centre for Health Technology , Mathematical Sciences and  Big Data . Joining this pathway, you will benefit from insights from a number of disciplines and research groups, including data science, business, health, psychology, mathematics and statistics.
Successful applicants will be part of a large, vibrant, highly collaborative community of PhD students with good interdisciplinary links, providing opportunities for research, training and collaboration.

Initial enquiries

For more details and informal enquiries, please contact Dr Matthew Craven . 

How to apply

The ESRC SWDTP encourages collaboration across the universities of the partnership and with external organisations.
Closing date: 9 January 2026 12:00 noon (UK time)
Start date: 1 October 2026 
The studentship is supported for three to four years depending upon the pathway and includes full home tuition fees plus a stipend which is currently £20,780 per annum 2025/2026 rate (2026/2027 rate TBC). There are a limited number of places for international students.

Eligibility

Information on the eligibility criteria for full awards can be found on the South West DTP website.

Application process

We strongly encourage you to discuss your proposed research topic with an academic staff member in your field. You can explore the member lists of Plymouth's research groups and centres , search staff profiles using subject-area search terms (e.g. citizenship) or an individual's name or search by using the SWDTP Potential Supervisor Database.
Since the AQM is an interdisciplinary pathway and projects could focus on topics in different subject areas, please discuss with your potential supervisor the PhD programme title you need to submit a formal application for.
You will need to submit the following documentation in order for us to consider your application: 
Documents not included in the online application form can be emailed to research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk by the application deadline.
Your application will only be considered if it contains the above and you have met our minimum criteria. If we need further details or additional documentation, we will contact you.
For full details on the studentship process, please see the South West Doctoral Training Partnership Preparing to Apply and Applying for a Studentship pages.

SWDTP Equal Opportunities Student Data Form 2026 Entry

Why do you collect data about people’s personal characteristics?
Across UK Higher Education it is generally suspected that access to postgraduate study is neither as open nor as inclusive as it should be and that more needs to be done to widen participation and equality of opportunity. However, the data needed to help make the system be more equitable is not as complete or as reliable as it needs to be to most effectively support change.  
Providing EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and equal opportunity data helps to better understand issues of selection and under-representation in postgraduate study. Such data are held confidentially and separately from the rest of your application. They are used only in aggregated and anonymised forms for internal monitoring purposes and as part of our required reporting to our funder, the ESRC – for example, as counts or percentages of the numbers in each category. We ask all applicants to complete the monitoring form. A link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents.