The Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSSS) trains top-level social scientist across Wales on a range of issues affecting society today. As part of their ESRC funded PhD, students must complete a 3-month placement. Our Research in Practice Placement scheme offers the opportunity for organisations to host a placement for a PhD student. These placements are designed to create meaningful collaboration between academic research and real-world practice.
Benefits
Hosting a PGR offers your organisation the opportunity to:
- Gain additional research capacity for projects work, research, policy/programme evaluations or reports
- Bringing a fresh perspective to the organisation and helping to link practice with the latest academic knowledge.
- Helping to build and access a network of researchers.
- Providing staff with experience of supervising and working with researchers.
- Helping to recruit doctoral graduates
- Flexibility – Placements can be offered full time, part time, on site or remote to meet the needs of your business
Placements can be:
Co-designed with the researcher to align with shared goals
OR
Developed independently by your organisation to achieve a specific outcome
Costs
- The Placements are funded by the ESRC as a paid extension to the student’s PhD studies, for a period of 3 months (or part-time equivalent).
- Students continue to be registered as a student during their placement and cannot receive a salary
- Should there be any associated costs with the placement e.g travel, equipment, accommodation, hosts are expected to provide a voluntary contribution where possible and if required.
Host organisation obligations
Organisations hosting a placement are expected to:
- Provide a structured programme of activity or a defined project that supports the development of the student’s transferable skills.
- Placements must not be used to replace temporary staff or cover routine business-as-usual tasks.
Placements should last for 3 months or the part-time equivalent.
Assign a dedicated point of contact to supervise the student throughout the placement, this includes offering regular guidance, mentorship, and constructive feedback.
Review and sign the Placement Agreement to confirm shared expectations around health and safety and welfare for the duration of the placement.
Submit a short feedback form at the end of the placement
How to apply
If your organisation is interested in hosting a placement, here’s how to get involved:
Step 1 – Submit an expression of interest
Complete the Expression of Interest form available on the bottom of this web page.
Step 2 – Eligibility review
The WGSSS team will assess your submission to ensure your organisation meets the placement criteria.
Step 3 – Submit a Placement Proposal
If eligible, you’ll be invited to complete a detailed Placement Proposal form outlining the role and responsibilities and issued our placement guidelines
Step 4 – Recruitment process
Once your proposal is approved, the placement opportunity will be advertised to our student cohort. Your organisation will manage the shortlisting and interview process.
Step 5 – Onboarding and placement start
After selecting a successful candidate, notify the WGSSS. We will then co-ordinate the Placement Agreement and any necessary pre-placement paperwork with their Home HEI. Once these are in place, the placement can begin.
For further information contact:
Research in Practice co-ordinator: esrcrip@bangor.ac.uk