The ACCE+ DLA is committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or religious belief, pregnancy or maternity, parental or caring responsibilities or career pathway to date. We understand that a student’s potential can be shown in many ways and we strive to recruit students from all backgrounds, and support them on their scientific journey.
We have designed our application systems to identify candidates who are likely to be successful in research regardless of what opportunities may have been available to them prior to their application.
For 2027/28 entry we have introduced a Widening Participation aspect to our candidate recruitment process (for Home candidates only); candidates will be asked if they meet one or more widening participation criteria. The scheme aims to promote fairer access to formal interview, for suitably qualified candidates from relevant groups. See our Widening Participation pages for more details.
Each year ACCE+ funds at least 13 studentships, although the precise number may vary from year to year. Details of the funding we provide can be found here.
ACCE+ DLA studentships are available to UK and international students. Due to UKRI funding regulations we are only able to offer up to 30% of our studentships to international applicants. Implementation of the 30% cap imposed by UKRI will occur during pre- and post-interview shortlisting where needed. I.e. no more than 30% of ACCE+ interview places will be allocated to international applicants, and no more than 30% of our notional studentships will be offered to international applicants.
Please note that not all ACCE+ departments are accepting international candidate applications for 2027/28 entry. Please see the individual project adverts for details of whether a project is open to international applications.
You may contact acce.dtp@liverpool.ac.uk if you have queries about the application process.
Key dates for the 2027/28 recruitment round
Projects advertised – from early November 2026
Candidate application deadline – 4.00pm (UK time), Thursday 7th January 2027
Candidate interviews – weeks commencing Monday 15th February and Monday 22nd February 2027
NERC Universal Acceptance Date – Wednesday 17th March 2027.
Choosing a project
Click on the relevant ACCE academic partner below to see our available projects and application details per institution. You may apply for any projects which fit with your research interests. As some projects have many more applicants than others, you can apply for more than one project, up to a maximum of two projects at each ACCE+ institution, to maximise your chances of being interviewed. However, you can only be put forward for interview shortlisting for one project. If you are shortlisted for more than one project we will ask you to choose which one you wish to be interviewed for.
UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH)
National Oceanography Centre (NOC)
Before you apply
Please ensure you are eligible for an ACCE+ studentship before applying. Details on eligibility can be found here.
We strongly recommend you read the selection criteria used to assess applications before writing your application, to ensure your application includes the relevant information we are looking for, and to give you the best chance of your application being selected for interview. Our selection criteria can be found here.
Please see our 2027/28 candidate guide here!
2027/28 candidate webinar (Monday 7th December, 1-2pm UK time): if you would like to join the candidate webinar, please complete this Google form with your details!
Making an application
Applications to ACCE+ are made directly to the institution you are applying for. You need to look at the guidelines for applicants for each University or Department hosting the PhD as they may vary. These can be found through the links to each of our academic partners above, and at the bottom of this page.
Your application should include:
- the correct online application form for your institution (see above for the page for each ACCE+ partner where you can find specific application information). This includes questions that replace the traditional CV and cover letter/personal statement, guided questions that make up your personal statement, details of the project/s you wish to apply to, and your referee contact details
- if required, supporting documents. The relevant online application form will note if you need to submit additional documents (such as your previous degree transcripts and certificates, passport copy and English language certificate, if relevant) via email as well as submitting the online form
- an EDI form (a separate form will be made available to submit these details).
Please check this list carefully, as your application may not be processed if any documents are missing.
ACCE+ personal statement proforma questions
The ACCE+ personal statement proforma questions (to be answered within the online application form) are used in place of a standard personal statement or cover letter to standardise this part of the application and minimise the difference between those who are given support and those who are not.
For guidance on what qualities we are looking for in potential students from your application, please see our What We’re Looking For page, where the selection criteria used to assess your application are available.
ACCE+ uses a holistic review process, including contextualised reviews of applications. This is because evidence shows that disparities in experiences and opportunities can drive differences in application assessed only using traditional metrics. We recognise that many candidates have the potential to succeed at PhD level and have designed our recruitment strategy to – as best we can – level the playing field for candidates who have faced significant barriers in their studies and careers to date.
As part of the application process you will be asked if you wish to provide additional context for your application. This may detail any circumstances you feel materially constrained your progress. Where you feel it appropriate, please provide a minimal account of these circumstances and their impacts. Example text is given below.
How this information is used:
Details given here will be used solely to provide context for your application and will only be seen by our administrative team, the supervisors and ACCE+ interview panel. It will not be shared more widely within ACCE+ or the university, used for any other purpose, or influence decisions outside this application process. The candidate will not be asked to expand on this information by the supervisors or panel, but is welcome to discuss it further themselves if they choose. Applications will be deleted in line with University guidance following the recruitment round.
Examples:
Example: “Diagnosed with a serious health condition requiring regular treatment and appointments. I was unable to attend university at all for 3 months in my 3rd year and in total was affected for approximately 1 year of my studies”
Example: “As a transgender student, I have experienced prejudice and lack of support throughout my education. This affected my mental health and hindered my ability to seek out opportunities such as networking, leadership roles, and extracurricular activities.”
Example: “During my masters I suffered a significant bereavement which resulted in lower grades than expected based on my undergraduate degree.”
Example: “Caring responsibilities mean I am unable to work outside of the working week through-out my degrees and have needed to prioritise income during holiday periods. I have thus been unable to take up opportunities such as extracurricular activities and volunteering work which I otherwise would have liked to.”
Referees
The two referees you provide details for must include at least one academic referee. If you are unable to provide an academic reference you can ask your old department to provide a statement confirming your attendance and performance based on your records. If you are applying for a position with your current (or past) supervisors it is not advisable to use them as a referee, as this creates a conflict of interest. References are used only to highlight issues that may prevent you from being successful, and are not considered when assessing your application.
EDI Form
The EDI form is a mandatory application document, but will not be used as part of the assessment process. It will not be passed to supervisors or assessment panels, will be anonymised at the earliest opportunity, and within the ACCE+ DLA will only be accessible to management staff. Data will only be kept until the Training Grant expires. The data collected will be used to ensure that our processes provide equal opportunities to all. For reporting purposes, anonymised data will be shared with NERC. For any questions you do not wish to provide information for, or where you would prefer your data not to be shared with NERC, please select ‘prefer not to say’. If you have any questions about this form, please contact us at acce.dtp@liverpool.ac.uk.
The EDI form must be completed regardless of which ACCE+ institution you are applying to. You only need to complete one EDI form regardless of how many projects or institutions you apply to in this round. You will be contacted post-application regarding how to submit this data.