1. Awards are for full-time study.
2. Awards can only be used to support applicants with a fee status of Home.
3. Awards are for 4 years, and they consist of:
   • a full Tuition Fee Waiver at the Home fee rate.
   • an annual amount for living expenses made up of a stipend payment and a salary for the teaching element of the award. The overall amount will be at least equivalent to the UKRI standard stipend rate. The salary payment will include an additional amount to cover the annual leave benefits.
   • a Training Support fee (TSF) of £1,000 per year to fund miscellaneous costs such as travel, equipment, fieldwork expenses
4. All students receiving awards are normally expected to commence study at the start of the academic year (that is, October). Awards cannot be deferred to the following academic year. That is, they have to be used for the years that they have been awarded.
5. All students receiving awards are expected to follow Reg.16.5 (i) Attendance Requirements.
6. If a student suspends their study for a period of time (ref. Regulation 16.1 (d), including specific criteria for suspension) then the funding will be suspended for this period. Teaching Assistant PhD Scholars suspending for health reasons will be eligible to receive sick pay for a period of up to 13 weeks, and those going on parental leave will be eligible to receive paid maternity/paternity/adoption leave.
7. If a student withdraws, the University may require any funding paid in advance to be refunded.
8. Continuation of the award for the duration of the programme is dependent on the student satisfactorily meeting any progression and reporting requirements (as indicated in the Quality Assurance Code for Research Degrees (QA7)), and satisfactorily meeting teaching requirements throughout the period of study, fulfilling all such requirements as may be in force within the Department.
9. If a student completes their studies and submits a doctoral thesis before the end of the studentship, the date of submission normally becomes the funding end date. The student will be expected to continue any agreed teaching until the end of the semester.
10. Teaching Assistant PhD Scholars are expected to serve as Teaching Assistants as a condition of receiving the funding. The responsibilities of Teaching Assistants include tasks such as: teaching tutorials, marking, providing feedback, answering questions, facilitating seminars, demonstrating laboratory classes and assisting with student research projects, trialling new experiments for courses etc. Unit conveners must retain responsibility for the provision of suitable teaching materials and guidance to Teaching Assistants. Teaching Assistants are required to:
    • Undertake compulsory teaching training prior to the commencement of teaching activity. For details of courses available please refer to the Director of Studies for your Department and to the Doctoral Skills Programme. Teaching Assistant PhD Scholars are encouraged to follow the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) and apply for an AdvanceHE Fellowship (FHEA).
    • Contribute annually up to 400 workload hours, which will be made up of a combination of contact hours, contact preparation, marking of assignments and student support. To ensure fairness and transparency:
      • the allocation will be based on the same Workload Allocation Management System that applies to all teaching in the Faulty of Science
      • the allocation will be agreed by the appropriate Departmental Learning, Teaching and Quality Committee (DLTQC) at the start of each academic year
      • the Head of Department will have oversight of the allocation to ensure a balance is maintained between teaching and research commitments
      • the Head of Department will assign the Teaching Assistant PhD Scholar a “teaching mentor” who will be a different member of staff to those within the PhD supervisory team

Owner: Doctoral Admissions
Version number:
Approval date:
Approved by:
Date of last review: 10 March 2023