DAERA studentships

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), funds a small number of postgraduate studentships for a three year period of research leading to a PhD qualification at a university in the United Kingdom (UK) or Republic of Ireland (ROI). Find out if you’re eligible and how to apply.

 

The value of a DAERA postgraduate studentship

A full DAERA award includes the cost of approved fees as well as maintenance support.

DAERA pay fees directly to your university. Other expenses which may be covered are:

  • conference expenses if you are presenting your research
  • Research Training Support Grant – paid by DAERA to your study centre
  • overseas fieldwork – DAERA may contribute to costs where it is essential to your research programme

Research topic and terms and conditions

Before you apply,  you must read the terms and conditions for 2020-21 and make sure your research proposal addresses one of DAERA's research needs for 2020

Eligibility criteria

Residency and citizenship

To be eligible for a full DAERA postgraduate studentship award, you must have been ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland for the full three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course.

For a tuition fee only award, you must have been resident in the European Economic Area or Switzerland throughout the three-year period immediately preceding the date you make your application for an award.

You must be a British citizen, EU national or relevant family member of an EU national. You may be eligible for support if you are the child of either a Swiss national or Turkish worker or if you have indefinite leave to stay in the UK.

Academic qualifications

You must hold or expect to get at least one of the following:

  • a first or upper second class honours degree
  • a lower second class honours degree plus a Masters degree in a subject of direct relevance to the proposed research topic

You must provide official, final results of qualifications used to meet the academic requirements before the start of the studentship.

Previous study

If you already hold a doctoral degree or you have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year or equivalent part-time basis, funded from any source, including self-financing, you are not eligible for a studentship.

How to apply for a DAERA postgraduate studentship 

When applying for a DAERA postgraduate studentship, you must include a unique research proposal supported by at least one supervisor from the proposed study centre. You must also send an academic reference from the institution of your primary degree and the offer of a place at the proposed university, supporting your research proposal.

As the number of DAERA awards is limited, only eligible candidates will be invited for interview. It may be necessary to shortlist candidates to go forward to interview. Shortlisting criteria are included in theTerms and Conditions for 2020/21.

Applications must be submitted by midnight on Tuesday 25 February 2020.

Criteria based interviews will be held from 6 to 8 April 2020 at the following address:

Offers will be issued in May 2020 and studentships will start on 1 October 2020. Funding is provided for three years ending on 30 September 2023.

For queries about the DAERA postgraduate studentships contact DAERA Postgraduate Student Awards.

Terms and conditions for 2019 DAERA postgraduate studentships

If you received a studentship in 2019, the terms and conditions are below.

More useful links

Postgraduate studentships

 

Share this page


 

What do you want to do?
What is your question about?
Do you want a reply?
Your email address
To reply to you, we need your email address
Your feedback

We will not reply to your feedback.  Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

This feedback form is for issues with the nidirect website only.

You can use it to report a problem or suggest an improvement to a webpage.

If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly as we don’t have access to information about you held by government departments.

You must be aged 13 years or older - if you’re younger, ask someone with parental responsibility to send the feedback for you.

The nidirect privacy notice applies to any information you send on this feedback form.

Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

Plain text only, 750 characters maximum.
Plain text only, 750 characters maximum.

What to do next

Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

What to do next

If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

Carer's Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912
Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

Call 0800 587 2750 
Email customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

Disability Living Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912 
Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Employment and Support Allowance

Call 0800 587 1377

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

Personal Independence Payment

Call 0800 587 0932

If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

What to do next

Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

What to do next

For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

What to do next

For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

What to do next

For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

What to do next

For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

What to do next

Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

What to do next

For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

What to do next

For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

What to do next

For queries about:

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

What to do next

For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

What to do next

For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

What to do next

For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

What to do next

If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

What to do next

For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

What to do next

For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

What to do next

For queries or advice about  60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.