The NERC studentship algorithm
Most of our PhDs studentships are awarded to NERC research centres and Higher Education Institute (HEI) departments using an algorithm incorporating NERC funding of research grants and fellowships received by departments over the previous three financial years. The studentship allocation for 2013 can be found on the 2013 awards display notice.
This year, 240 studentships have been allocated via the algorithm.
The algorithm has been simplified for the 2012 and 2013 allocation, following the move to a new grants system in December 2010.
The algorithm for the 2013 allocation uses all NERC funding on research grants and fellowships received by departments in financial years April 2009 to March 2012. It includes all funding as shown on the NERC Grants on the Web system. It excludes funding for training grants and any funding not allocated via research or fellowship grants.
The basic spend data is then grouped as appropriate into larger units; eg where we have agreement to allocate on a faculty or institution basis.
The spend data is then divided by an appropriate scaling factor (to give an overall allocation of 240) and added to the carry over from the previous year to give the final figure, which will be rounded up or down to give the studentship allocation.
Theoretical example:
An institution has 1,000,000 funding, divided by scaling factor X gives 1·2, plus previous carry over (0·4) gives 1·6, which means they have an allocation of two studentships and a negative 0·4 carry over to the next year.
Enquiries on the algorithm should be made to:
Dr Avril Allman
Tel: 01793 411665