This pathway will build on the excellent provision and research into sociological methods training at Swansea, to build capacity and achieve a network strategy across Wales for PhD training in sociology and STS, drawing on FtF, hybrid and blended approaches. Pathway strengths include the centers and other UKRI investments, ADR Wales and the Center for Aging and Dementia Research.

Sociology/STS is an emerging disciplinary force at Swansea University which currently falls within the UoA20, with pockets of excellence that speak to the cross-cutting WGSSS themes. This is a merger of the two DTP2 routes, which are disciplinaryly adjacent, with an extension to include Bangor and Swansea, as well as Cardiff.

Research environment

Training: The track offers advanced training in: quantitative and qualitative methods (all higher education institutions); Ethnography. Interaction analysis (audio, video and multimedia approaches); Advanced approaches to science and technology studies. Theorizing change and contemporary social transformation. advanced statistics; and PGR Statistics Summer School, from 2024 (Swansea). Students will also be able to participate in the training offered by WISERD, which is closely aligned with the pathway, benefiting from its partnership with the ESRC National Center for Research Methods (NCRM) (2019-2024), a center for providing innovative training and capacity building activities. In addition to pooling these resources where possible, we will also use WGSSS training support to develop and package a range of short online methods training courses, as well as creating and delivering a track/group summer school (hosted on a periodic basis as a ‘signal’ event), also open to other tracks and desktop publishing schemes, where possible.

Community engagement includes presentations at the National Eisteddfod and Hay Festival and collaborative research with, for example, the National Adoption Service, the Welsh Care Inspectorate, the Welsh Council for Voluntary Work (an official partner of the WGSSS), Shelter Cymru, and the Senghenydd Youth and Community Center (South Wales).

Cohort building:

We will open higher education-focused research groups to all track and group students. This network approach will integrate these activities into a series of blended activities that will be open across the pathway, improving opportunities for cohort building and engagement. The rotating summer school serves as an annual collegiate signaling event.

Funding suspension

The ESRC-funded scholarship covers tuition fees and an annual tax-free living stipend in line with the UKRI minimum rates (currently £20,780 for 2025/26). Students can also access a Research Training Support Grant.

If you have a disability, you may be entitled to Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) in addition to your studies. Disabled Students Allowance (DSA)