Industrial Collaborative Awards in Science & Engineering ICASE Studentships – 2015 Guidance

NERC / MRC / STFC / AHRC / ESRC/BBSRC
Eligibility / The CASE partner may be in the private or public sector. Independent research organisations may act as the CASE partner if they can demonstrate that they meet specified criteria. / UK-based organisations can be considered as the non-academic partner if they can provide students with a distinctive research training and experience not available in an academic setting. Organisations eligible for RC funding cannot act as a non-academic partner. / In most cases, the non-academic partner will be a company and must have an established UK-based research and/or commercial production capability. Organisations eligible for RC funding cannot act as a non-academic partner. / Collaborative Doctoral Awards are only available through Doctoral Training Partnerships. / CASE Awards are only available through Doctoral Training Centres/Partnerships.
Application / Only on Je-S direct from academia / Only on Je-S direct from academia / Only on Je-S direct from academia
Number available / 30-35
Duration / 58 months / Min of 3.5 years
Industrial CASE Plus: student is employed full time by the non-academic partner for a further year working on the employer’s premises on the salary of a new STFC postdoc. STFC contributes 50% salary costs up to max STFC £14,250.
Duration with non-academic partner / Min: 3 months
Max:18 months / Cumulative period of no less than 3 months. / For a 3.5 year award, the cumulative period should be no less than 9 months. Not normally exceed 18 months.
Student stipend / Standard RCUK rate £14,057 in 2015/16 / Standard RCUK rate £14,057 in 2015/16 / Standard RCUK rate £14,057 in 2015/16
Fees / Standard doctoral studentship / Standard doctoral studentship / Standard doctoral studentship
RTSG* / £11K (overall) / £1K per annum
Contribution of £230 towards the cost of conference fees and UK fieldwork
Supplement by partner to student stipend / Min: £1K per annum / At least £2.5K per annum
(SMEs exempt) / Min: £2,760
Contribution by partner to University / At least £1.4K per annum
(SMEs exempt) / Annual contribution of £1,550.00
Contact / . / / /
  • Partners also responsible for student expenses and company’s coststhe whilst student is working at the premises of the company

Industrial CASE Studentships/Partnerships allocated directly to business – 2015 Guidance

BBSRC Industrial CASE Partnership / EPSRC Industrial CASE Award / AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships
Eligibility / Invite-only competition to companies who have shown a consistent track record in providing excellent training to BBSRC-funded doctoral students. / To be an industrial CASE sponsor, companies must have an established UK-based research and/or commercial production capability. / Organisations or consortia do not need to have held previous awards under the AHRC CDP and/or CDA scheme to be eligible to apply, but must be able to demonstrate that they have the capacity to manage at least three studentships per year.
ICP partners 14/15, 15/16 / AstraZeneca 7, Bayer 3, GSK 22, Bioscience KTN 10, MedImmune 6, Nestle 2, Oxitec 2, Syngenta 10, UCB 3, Unilever 6 / Awards allocated directly to businesses, primarily using an algorithm based on financial contributions on EPSRC-funded research. Business defines student project and selects research organisation. / Science Museum Group 8, The British Museum 7, TATE 5, British Library 6, Thames Consortium 6, Victoria and Albert Museum 4, Imperial War Museums 3, National Gallery 3, Glasgow Life 3, Scottish Heritage Museum 4, English Heritage 3, RGS-IBM and Royal Society 3
Number available / 75 per annum / 53 companies / 50 per annum
Duration / 4 year studentships / 4 years / 3.5 years
Duration with non-academic partner / Mandatory placement at the non-academic partner for a min of 3 months/max 18 months / Min: 3 months over the 4 years
Student stipend enhancement company / Cash payment direct to students of Min £2,500 per annum / £80,670 (overall)
Student stipend / RCUK National Minimum Doctoral Stipend (15/16)
£14,057 / Funded via an annual Industrial CASE Account (ICA) of 5 year duration.
Fees / RCUK Indicative Fee Level (15/16)
£4,052 / RCUK Indicative Fee Level (15/16)
£4,052
Contribution by partner to University / Min £1,400 per annum / £26,890 over the course of the project
Contact / Simon Cutler

01793 413243 / /
  • Partners also responsible for student expenses whilst student is working at the premises of the company
  • NB. EPSRC has set research organisations the target of converting 10% of their DTG funds into CASE Awards. If you have Doctoral Training Grant that you wish to convert to a CASE Award, get in touch with the CPD team in Research & Innovation Services via