PhD in Mathematics

The Midlands Graduate School is an accredited Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). One of 15 such partnerships in the UK, the Midlands Graduate School is a collaboration between the Universities of Warwick, Birmingham, Nottingham, Aston Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort and Nottingham Trent./nThe Department of Mathematics Education (DME) at Loughborough University as part of the Midlands Graduate School is now inviting applications for an ESRC Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner IDEMS International to commence in October 2026./nThe aim of the project is to improve transitions from school to university mathematics in low-resource environments by understanding students’ experiences of automated assessment and feedback using the open-source ‘STACK’ system. The PhD candidate will collect and analyse log data, interviews and surveys and experimentally test different feedback types to understand how STACK assessments can be better matched to student engagement./nThe PhD candidate will be based at Loughborough University for most of the project and will undertake fieldwork with IDEMS’ partner universities in Kenya, including a minimum of two 3-month visits to Maseno University in western Kenya./nOur ESRC studentships cover fees at the home rate, a maintenance stipend, and extensive support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Support is available to both home and international applicants.