This strategic initiative aims to propel research training into the future, cultivating the next wave of social scientists and ensuring that the Midlands maintains a leading role in methodological advancements within the field of social science.
The Midlands Graduate School (MGS) partnership is set to embark on a mission to recruit up to 68 PhD students annually for the next five years. Postgraduate researchers will thrive within a dynamic, multi-centre research environment that offers cutting-edge training designed to meet the evolving needs of diverse social science disciplines.
The Midlands Graduate School will closely engage with non-academic partners, collaborating with a broad spectrum of local, regional, and national organisations across public, private, and the third sector, ensuring that the funded projects yield tangible social and economic impact.
Establishing itself as a central hub for social science training and impact in Central England, the MGS will organize annual regional PhD conferences and host a series of training events accessible to all PhD students within the Midlands region.
The inaugural cohort of students is scheduled to commence their studies in October 2024.
“We were delighted with this announcement. Our new consortium of eight institutions will continue the excellent work we started with the previous six partner institutions in 2016 and will secure the University of Birmingham’s status as a major centre for doctoral training in the social sciences for the next decade.”
Professor Ben Kotzee, the Institutional Lead for the Midlands Graduate School
The Midlands Graduate School consortium comprises the Universities of Warwick, Aston, Birmingham, Nottingham, Nottingham Trent, Leicester, De Montfort, and Loughborough