Sponsoring a research degree

We welcome partnerships with organisations who want to develop future researchers and research-informed practitioners, along with accessing world-class research outputs.

Why sponsor an OU research degree?

Funding, or co-funding, a research student provides an opportunity for bespoke research projects to be undertaken by a student linked to an issue of relevance and value to your organisation or research agenda.

Funding for a professional doctorate – either a professional doctorate in education (EdD) or in health and social care (DHSC) – entails an organisation committing to fund an employee through their research degree. This provides an excellent opportunity for an employee to undertake research that develops their capability as a research-informed practitioner – and enables the organisation to benefit from the knowledge produced.

Benefits

If you choose to work with us to fund a research student you will be benefitting from working with people who are passionate about your subject area, about knowledge transfer and about improving practice for professionals and service users. Other benefits are:

the development of your own organisation's research capability and capacity
free access for your research student to the OU’s library which holds 15,000 e-journal titles
their research being presented to a wide range of professional, academic and public audiences
their research being published in one of the leading UK university open research repositories, open to the public to view and access information
working with academic experts in innovative research fields.