The UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership

The UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership is an ESRC funded organisation that unites six leading social science institutions.

Birkbeck University of London

UBEL is a Doctoral Training Partnership between University College London, Birkbeck University of London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, SOAS University of London, University of East London and University of Greenwich.

UBEL is one of the 15 Doctoral Training Partnerships across the UK funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), providing postgraduate students with high-quality social science research training.  

UBEL offers fully funded and co-funded ESRC studentships cover payment of tuition fees per year to eligible students.

Find information about managing your studentship and get support with any issues that may be affecting your ability to study.

The UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership is an ESRC funded organisation that unites five leading social science institutions.

Our Vision

The DTP’s strategic vision is driven by a shared emphasis on interdisciplinary research; a multiplicity of existing connections within and across the partners; a joint apetite for engagement with non-academic partners; and a collective embedding in London, a super-diverse city with global reach and one of the largest populations of doctoral students anywhere in the world.

We are guided by a collective aim to foreground learning how to work across boundaries(disciplinary, institutional and professional) and work to produce graduates with the ability and flexibility to operate at the highest level within the London context and elsewhere, moving between local, national and international concerns. 

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Find the right competition for you

The UBEL DTP’s fully funded ESRC studentships cover full payment of tuition fees per year and an annual maintenance stipend.
Co-funded and Collaborative Studentships are doctoral projects which are jointly and collaboratively run by both academic and non-academic organisations.
Fellowships are aimed at those in the immediate postdoctoral stage of their career, to provide the opportunity to consolidate their PhD through developing publications, their networks, and their research and professional skills.
This three-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the FutureLearn platform provides  general advice for those curious about whether doctoral study is the right path for them.  The MOOC was developed by current PhD students and staff and is completely free. See video trailer or enrol on the course.

Meet our students

Shomo Basu
Birkbeck, University of London

Play Video about Kieran Robson

Kieran Robson
University of East London

Play Video about Hamda Mohamed

Hamda Mohamed
University of East London

Since 2017 UBEL has:

46

studentships on average per annum across competitions

330

in our community of funded students

6

partner institutions

30

research pathways

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46

non academic partners

UBEL Blog

Get in touch

The UBEL DTP support team provide guidance to prospective and current students in relation to ESRC guidelines and internal DTP processes. The UBEL DTP support team are in regular contact with partner colleagues as well as the Director and Deputy Director.  

Alison Freeman (alison.freeman@ucl.ac.uk) – DTP Manager 

Jamie Kozak (j.kozak@ucl.ac.uk) – DTP Co-ordinator 

Gita Tailor (ubel-dtp@ucl.ac.uk) – DTP Administrator