PhD Opportunities in Public Policy in United Kingdom

Applications are open for the fully funded Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP) studentships for October 2027 entry. The programme is led by King's College London in partnership with Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London. Students can propose their own research project in collaboration with an academic supervisor. The available routes are 1+3.5, comprising one year of Master's stu...

PhD in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh is inviting applications for its Social Policy PhD programme, beginning in September 2027. The programme is available full-time over three years or part-time over six years and is based in the School of Social and Political Science, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Doctoral researchers develop an extended, focused project that makes an original contribution to knowledge. ...

[ESRC studentship covers tuition fees and an annual tax-free living stipend at UKRI minimum rates; current stipend is £21,805 for 2026/27.] This PhD studentship at Swansea University sits within the ESRC Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSSS) pathway in Health, Wellbeing and Data Science . The project area brings together observational, descriptive, and trials-based methods with large population-scale datasets to tackle pressing health and social challenges. Research in this area ...

The University of Edinburgh invites applications for a Korean Studies PhD in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures. The programme supports original research on the two Koreas within an active Korean and East Asian Studies community in Edinburgh, Scotland. Research strengths include modern Korean history, Korean society and culture, political economy, urban studies, security, public policy, political science and international relations. Interdisciplinary projects may connect Korean St...

[ESRC-funded studentship covering tuition fees and an annual tax-free living stipend in line with UKRI minimum rates (currently £21,805 for 2026/27).] PhD Studentship: Social Care, Social Work and Social Policy (ESRC Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences) at Swansea University . This funded doctoral studentship sits across Swansea’s social policy and social work expertise, bringing together the School of Social Sciences , the Department of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy , and t...

Ulster University Business School is advertising a PhD opportunity on Causal Evaluation of Innovation Policy Interventions . The project will estimate whether Invest NI’s business-support interventions generate additional economic activity, identify which firms benefit, and examine under what conditions support is most effective. This is a strong fit for applicants interested in Economics , Applied Economics , Public Policy , Innovation Policy , Causal Evaluation , and Business Support . The pos...

PhD study is available in the School for Policy Studies (SPS) at the University of Bristol, a world-renowned centre for research into the theory, practice, and implementation of social and public policy. The School emphasizes a multidisciplinary research approach, combining innovative conceptual thinking with diverse methodologies to study the determinants of social problems and the responses of governments, policy makers, and practitioners. Research is embedded in the School’s research centres ...

PhD opportunity at the University of East Anglia in the School of Environmental Sciences with Dr Katie Jenkins. This project, titled From climate information to climate action: Evaluating how climate information use shapes local adaptation decision making in English Local Authorities and opportunities for improvement , focuses on climate science, climate adaptation, environmental geography, and public-sector decision-making. The research asks how climate information, including hazard, risk, and ...

PhD opportunity at the University of Bath, School of Management on coworking spaces as place-based organisational actors . This project explores how coworking spaces and flexible office spaces contribute to entrepreneurship , regional development , and place-based innovation systems . The supervisory team is Prof Felicia Fai and Prof Phil Tomlinson . The research is interested in coworking spaces as hubs of innovative activity, as intermediaries or anchor organisations, and as actors that may he...