The project call is now open and will close on 4th October 2026 and is for studentships starting in Autumn 2027.  
 

We have 25 studentships to award per year for the next three years, to be hosted at the five DLA partner Universities of Sheffield, Leeds, York, Durham and Newcastle. 
 

Projects must align with the DiMeN XL strategic themes, and the MRC strategic research priorities.   

Projects must be designed to provide training in MRC strategic skill priority areas 
 

We aim to have good numbers of high quality collaborative (formerly iCASE) projects in our portfolio. These will be scored and ranked separately to Standard (non-iCASE) projects to ensure representation. Collaborative projects are paired with a non-academic partner.  
 

We have a strong focus on supporting cross-institutional Standard projects with the primary and secondary supervisors sited in different DLA partner institutions. Excellent interdisciplinary projects with cross institutional provision may be prioritised, with target numbers for these in subsequent years.  
 

Interdisciplinary projects forging links between different research areas are strongly encouraged, as well as projects with a regional focus across Yorkshire and the North East.  Excellent projects with interdisciplinary provision or regional themes may be prioritised, with target numbers for these in subsequent years.
 

Studentship funding is available at Home fee levels only.  Please await updates on arrangements for international fee status applicants. 
 

Projects are funded for four years, but students have the option of using the final few months of funding (post-submission, pre-viva) to undertake a career development transition activity, such as a placement. Project timelines should therefore allow for this.