RiP - Research Assistant Placement Scheme - South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership

The South Coast DTP is introducing a Research Assistant Placement (RAP) scheme where academics from our partner universities offer Research Assistant projects with openings for ESRC DTP-funded students to do their Research in Practice placement.

The opportunities will open to the SCDTP initially and then extend to the wider DTP network.

Please note that you are NOT permitted to do a placement with your own department or supervision team.

How to apply:

ESRC funded students should initially apply for the RAP supervisor following the application requirements for the project. This is usually a CV and covering letter sent directly to the PI. Any further requirements listed in the individual project details.
If selected, students should then follow the internship/placement approval process from their home DTP and obtain this approval BEFORE commencing the internship. See How to apply for your Research in Practice Placement for the SCDTP process.

Available Research Assistant Placement (RAP) projects:

There follows a list of available RA projects, with their title, supervisor, and key information. Click on the link in the project title to read the full RAP project description. The supervisor names link to their email address should you wish to contact them with any questions, and to send an application.

Placement Details	Location	Link	Deadline

Examining the impact of the UK Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘sex’ in everyday life Project supervisor Dr Jamie Chan, Centre of Transforming Sexuality and Gender. Placement Period To start April/May 2026; available part-time at 0.5FTE months in hybrid or remote working. Details This research project investigates the impact of the recent UK Supreme Court ruling that defines ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 as sex assigned at birth. The ruling may have significant implications for individuals whose gendered self-presentation and appearance do not conform to normative expectations. Recent findings suggest that the ruling has led to exclusion, segregation, harassment and violence affecting not only non-binary, intersex, transgender, but also cisgender individuals (TransActual, 2025). This study, therefore, aims to examine how this recent legal shift has shaped experiences of hypervigilance and wellbeing amongst those whose self-presentation and appearance are not perceived by others as conforming to 'normative' gendered experiences. The work involves literature review, analysis of survey data using R or SPSS and qualitative analysis, plus dissemination.	Hybrid (in-person and remote) University of Brighton	Read more	(Ref:260202, RIP-RAP-25-03) 2nd Feb 2026
Making Research Matter: Towards Evidence-Informed Science Education Practice in the UK Project supervisor Dr Wonyong Park, Mathematics & Science Education Research Centre, Southampton Education School. Placement Period To start between January and May 2026; available full-time for 3 months or part-time for 6 months. Details This project aims to strengthen evidence-informed practice in UK science education by supporting teachers to engage more effectively with research. Working in partnership with King’s College London and the Association for Science Education (ASE), the project will co-develop a practical toolkit and CPD resources designed to help science teachers access, interpret, and apply research evidence in their classrooms. Activities include a national survey of science educators, semi-structured interviews, co-design of resources with practitioners, and dissemination through workshops, conferences, and ASE’s practitioner networks. The work involves data generation, liaison with project partners, synthesis of findings.	Hybrid (in-person and remote) University of Southampton	Read more	Deadline has passed (Ref:251210, RIP-RAP-25-04) 10th Dec 2025
Scoping Accessibility and Disability Inclusion in Academic Publishing Project supervisor Dr Andy Coverdale, Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School. Placement Period Between January 2026 and March 2026. Placement available full-time for 3 months (13 weeks) or part-time (details to be discussed with project supervisor). Details The research project addresses the challenge of inaccessibility and the digital marginalisation of disabled scholars in academic publishing. Despite mandates for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility across UK public research funding, current research suggests an accessibility crisis in academic publishing, demonstrating a decline in the accessibility of scholarly documents over the last decade. The project examines how academic publishers are working to embed digital accessibility across the journal publication workflow to ensure publishing platforms and research outputs are accessible to all disabled people. The work involves scoping review, semi-structured interviews, qualitative data analysis and reporting.	Hybrid (in-person and remote) University of Southampton	Read more	Deadline has passed (Ref:251207, RIP-RAP-25-01) 7th Dec 2025
The implications of family complexity for leaving and returning to the parental home Project supervisor Professor Ann Berrington, Centre for Population Change: Connecting Generations (CPC:CG), School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences. Placement Period To start between 5 January and 13 March 2026; available full-time for 3 months (13 weeks) or part-time for 6 months. Details Transitions to residential independence have become protracted and increasingly reversible in the UK with significant increases in the percentage of young adults living with their parents in their late twenties and early thirties. This research examines how the experience of family complexity, such as parental separation, repartnering, living with half- and step-siblings, in adolescence is associated with patterns and reasons for leaving and returning to live with parents. The work will use prospective data from the Next Steps cohort who are now aged 34. The work involves analytic work on the dataset and co-authoring a CPC working paper and further dissemination.	Hybrid (in-person and remote) University of Southampton	Read more	Deadline has passed (Ref:251207, RIP-RAP-25-02) 7th Dec 2025
New Area Studies as a Methodological Framework Project supervisor Professor Simon Stewart , Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR), School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics and Literature. Placement Period To start between January and March 2026; available full-time for 3 months or part-time for 6 months. Details The Centre for European and International Studies Research is developing a distinct approach which utilises New Area Studies (NAS) as a methodological framework, with a strong emphasis on positionality and feminist and decolonial methods. Our approach to NAS also seeks a greater knowledge and understanding of people and places. It approaches social, cultural, political and economic life in a globalising world in ways that are multi-layered, non-linear, and transcending national boundaries. The project involves the development of this approach by conducting a literature review and helping to organise CEISR-related events that are taking place during the placement.	Hybrid (in-person and remote) University of Portsmouth	Read more	Deadline has passed (Ref:251207, RIP-RAP-25-05) 7th Dec 2025

Placement Details

Location

Link

Deadline

Examining the impact of the UK Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘sex’ in everyday life

Project supervisor Dr Jamie Chan, Centre of Transforming Sexuality and Gender.

Placement Period To start April/May 2026; available part-time at 0.5FTE months in hybrid or remote working.

Details
This research project investigates the impact of the recent UK Supreme Court ruling that defines ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 as sex assigned at birth. The ruling may have significant implications for individuals whose gendered self-presentation and appearance do not conform to normative expectations. Recent findings suggest that the ruling has led to exclusion, segregation, harassment and violence affecting not only non-binary, intersex, transgender, but also cisgender individuals (TransActual, 2025). This study, therefore, aims to examine how this recent legal shift has shaped experiences of hypervigilance and wellbeing amongst those whose self-presentation and appearance are not perceived by others as conforming to 'normative' gendered experiences. The work involves literature review, analysis of survey data using R or SPSS and qualitative analysis, plus dissemination.

Hybrid

(in-person and remote)

University of Brighton

(Ref:260202, RIP-RAP-25-03)

2nd Feb 2026

Making Research Matter: Towards Evidence-Informed Science Education Practice in the UK

Project supervisor Dr Wonyong Park, Mathematics & Science Education Research Centre, Southampton Education School.

Placement Period To start between January and May 2026; available full-time for 3 months or part-time for 6 months.

Details
This project aims to strengthen evidence-informed practice in UK science education by supporting teachers to engage more effectively with research. Working in partnership with King’s College London and the Association for Science Education (ASE), the project will co-develop a practical toolkit and CPD resources designed to help science teachers access, interpret, and apply research evidence in their classrooms. Activities include a national survey of science educators, semi-structured interviews, co-design of resources with practitioners, and dissemination through workshops, conferences, and ASE’s practitioner networks. The work involves data generation, liaison with project partners, synthesis of findings.

Hybrid

(in-person and remote)

University of Southampton

Deadline has passed

(Ref:251210, RIP-RAP-25-04)

10th Dec 2025

Scoping Accessibility and Disability Inclusion in Academic Publishing

Project supervisor Dr Andy Coverdale, Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School.

Placement Period Between January 2026 and March 2026. Placement available full-time for 3 months (13 weeks) or part-time (details to be discussed with project supervisor).

Details
The research project addresses the challenge of inaccessibility and the digital marginalisation of disabled scholars in academic publishing. Despite mandates for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility across UK public research funding, current research suggests an accessibility crisis in academic publishing, demonstrating a decline in the accessibility of scholarly documents over the last decade. The project examines how academic publishers are working to embed digital accessibility across the journal publication workflow to ensure publishing platforms and research outputs are accessible to all disabled people. The work involves scoping review, semi-structured interviews, qualitative data analysis and reporting.

Hybrid

(in-person and remote)

University of Southampton

Deadline has passed

(Ref:251207, RIP-RAP-25-01)

7th Dec 2025

The implications of family complexity for leaving and returning to the parental home

Project supervisor Professor Ann Berrington, Centre for Population Change: Connecting Generations (CPC:CG), School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences.

Placement Period To start between 5 January and 13 March 2026; available full-time for 3 months (13 weeks) or part-time for 6 months.

Details
Transitions to residential independence have become protracted and increasingly reversible in the UK with significant increases in the percentage of young adults living with their parents in their late twenties and early thirties. This research examines how the experience of family complexity, such as parental separation, repartnering, living with half- and step-siblings, in adolescence is associated with patterns and reasons for leaving and returning to live with parents. The work will use prospective data from the Next Steps cohort who are now aged 34. The work involves analytic work on the dataset and co-authoring a CPC working paper and further dissemination.

Hybrid

(in-person and remote)

University of Southampton

Deadline has passed

(Ref:251207, RIP-RAP-25-02)

7th Dec 2025

New Area Studies as a Methodological Framework

Project supervisor Professor Simon Stewart , Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR), School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics and Literature.

Placement Period To start between January and March 2026; available full-time for 3 months or part-time for 6 months.

Details
The Centre for European and International Studies Research is developing a distinct approach which utilises New Area Studies (NAS) as a methodological framework, with a strong emphasis on positionality and feminist and decolonial methods. Our approach to NAS also seeks a greater knowledge and understanding of people and places. It approaches social, cultural, political and economic life in a globalising world in ways that are multi-layered, non-linear, and transcending national boundaries. The project involves the development of this approach by conducting a literature review and helping to organise CEISR-related events that are taking place during the placement.

Hybrid

(in-person and remote)

University of Portsmouth

Deadline has passed

(Ref:251207, RIP-RAP-25-05)

7th Dec 2025

RiP - Research Assistant Placement Scheme

How to apply:

Available Research Assistant Placement (RAP) projects:

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