Skip to main content

Doctoral Student Training Programme

In 2017, DurhamARCTIC received a major grant from the Leverhulme Trust to support the Interdisciplinary Understanding for a Changing Arctic Doctoral Student Training Programme (Leverhulme grant DS-2017-070). Between 2018 and 2023, the DurhamARCTIC Doctoral Student Training Programme is supporting 15 doctoral students at Durham University, each of whom is pursuing a research project that contributes to and benefits from a blend of disciplinary expertise and interdisciplinary enquiry. 

DurhamARCTIC students with Leverhulme Trust funding are enrolled in department-based doctoral programmes and receive the benefits normally provided to fund doctoral students in their respective department (office / lab space, membership in research clusters, access to university professional development resources, etc.). Full fee waivers are provided for UK / EU students, and students receive maintenance stipends at the standard Research Council UK rate. In addition, during their three years of support, DurhamARCTIC students receive a number of additional benefits, including: 

  • Cross-disciplinary supervision (every DurhamARCTIC student's supervision committee includes one member of academic staff from outside one's home department) 
  • A funded three-month placement at a relevant Arctic institution 
  • Dedicated funds for research expenses and conference attendance 
  • Annual summer schools featuring prominent keynote speakers, postgraduate involvement from outside Durham, and workshops incorporating interdisciplinary collaborative exercises leading to potential publications 
  • Interdisciplinary colloquia featuring student research presentations, guest speakers (from Durham and beyond), field trips, and other events 
  • Automatic enrolment in Ustinov College, Durham's dedicated postgraduate-only college 

Students entered the programme in three cohorts, beginning in 20182019, and 2020. 

Funding from the Leverhulme Trust is set to expire in 2023. Therefore, DurhamARCTIC is no longer recruiting students for the Interdisciplinary Understanding for a Changing Arctic Doctoral Student Training Programme.