Guidance for grant holders
Universities holding doctoral training grants from certain research councils have flexibility with how they use those funds to support students’ training needs.
Areas of flexibility include:
- Cooperative Awards in Science and Engineering (CASE) studentships and other collaborative training studentships or placements
- covering the costs of doctoral students studying or doing fieldwork outside the UK
- funding for research training outreach to undergraduate students
CASE studentships and related placements
CASE studentships allow highly motivated students to spend at least three months with a non-academic partner organisation, training in the workplace while collaborating on innovative research.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Medical Research Council (MRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)-funded universities and doctoral training networks can use funding for studentships to support CASE studentships. EPSRC offers funding for similar collaborative studentships through the Industrial Doctoral Landscape Award.
Partner organisations can be in:
- industry
- business
- government or other parts of the public sector
- non-profits, voluntary or community organisations
CASE studentships are usually flexible and do not require placements to take place across one uninterrupted span of months.
Research requirements come from the CASE partner.
For numbers of CASE studentships supported by an award and eligibility criteria for partners, see the award’s opportunity listing on the funding finder.
Some councils also have specific rules and requirements related to their CASE programmes.
BBSRC CASE studentships
Institutions receiving BBSRC doctoral landscape training funding should aim to use 25% of those funds for CASE studentships. All collaborative training partnership (CTP) studentships are CASE studentships.
BBSRC CASE studentships also cover costs of materials and facilities that are needed for the project but not provided by the research organisation.
No costs should be passed onto the student for undertaking a CASE studentship. They must be covered by the host research organisation, the training award partnership or some other source.
For further information, email case@bbsrc.ukri.org
EPSRC industrial doctoral landscape awards
Previously known as Industrial Cooperative Awards in Science and Engineering (ICASE), these funds are allocated to select sponsor organisations to support four-year doctoral studentships that include a business or industry sponsor. Read more about EPSRC’s industrial doctoral landscape awards programme.
MRC ICASE studentships
Universities that receive MRC doctoral training partnership funding can use this to support ICASE studentships if they judge it appropriate for the research project, partners and student.
The university will need to agree intellectual property (IP) arrangements with industrial collaborators before the studentship begins. Universities must ensure:
- they retain IP rights
- project IP meets the fully flexible or gated contributions requirement
- students publish their project outcomes without restriction in accordance with good research practice
- the partner agrees that project-generated data can be put in the public domain
Research training support grants (RTSG)
Research organisations should allocate these to all MRC PhD students. RTSGs cover costs directly related to training the student and developing their research skills, such as lab materials, courses, field work and conference attendance.
There is a standard minimum amount per year, but this can be set lower where the minimum is more than the project requires (for example, where funds covering those costs have been drawn from external sources).
MRC units and institutes should also award each student with an RTSG, although the recommended minimum is lower than grants from research organisations.
Doctoral training partnership supplement
MRC offers this flexible supplement to lead and partner universities in doctoral training partnerships. It can cover overseas fieldwork, but also a range of other opportunities included but not limited to:
- high-cost training
- internships or placements with industry
- training in new advanced research skills
For more information read MRC’s flexible supplement guidance.
NERC CASE studentships
Over the lifetime of the training grant, a minimum of 25% of the total notional studentships within the landscape and focal awards must be CASE studentships. The only exception is if the training grant terms and conditions specify otherwise.
NERC CASE studentships can last between three and 18 months.
Students have joint supervision, with one supervisor nominated by the host university and one by the partner.
STFC ICASE studentships
STFC has put its ICASE and ICASE+ studentships on pause until further notice. You can check back here and the news section of the STFC home page for updates.
Professional Internships for PhD Students (PIPS)
BBSRC and ESRC fund non-academic placements through doctoral training partnerships and doctoral landscape awards. PIPS last a minimum of three months and are intended to expose students to a variety of employment sectors beyond their research.
These include:
- policymaking
- public engagement
- regulatory roles
- media
- marketing
- teaching
- industry
PIPS aims to cultivate transferable skills, enhance understanding of various career paths, and contribute to personal and professional development.
Doctoral students on CASE studentships and CTP programmes spend varying periods of time on placement with their external host partner, focusing on projects directly related to their doctoral research.
Read BBSRC’s evaluation of the PIPS programme.
Overseas visits and fieldwork
Some research councils have specific funding for supporting international research training opportunities for research students.
Overseas institutional visits
ESRC provides doctoral training investments (for example doctoral training partnerships and centres for doctoral training) with funding for overseas institutional visits of up to three months so students can:
- complete specialist research training not available in the UK
- develop foreign language skills
- establish valuable overseas research links
Long-term attachment approvals
STFC training grant holders can apply for extra funds to cover fieldwork costs for STFC-funded students attached to overseas facilities from 120 to 365 days.
Covered costs include overseas travel and subsistence expenses connected with fieldwork or visits essential to the student’s research or training.
Read the guidance on Applying for overseas fieldwork costs for further information and application forms.
Internships and placements for undergraduates
EPSRC’s Vacation Internships scheme gives undergraduate students a taster of what it is like to do research. The students are given practical, first-hand experience of working on and carrying out research in a UK university. Vacation internships are an optional flexibility that universities with EPSRC doctoral training partnerships and university doctoral landscape awards can use.
NERC’s undergraduate research experience placements (REP) are paid summer placements for students considering a career in environmental sciences.
Last updated: 10 April 2026