ACCE PLACEMENTS SUPPORT
You will be given an opportunity to undertake a placement of 1-3 months duration usually between
month 12 and 36 of your ACCE studentship. ‘ACCE Placements Support’ for this is available and will be
awarded competitively to students who can demonstrate that the experience will benefit them
professionally. A placement should be a training or experiential learning opportunity which offers
significant added value to your doctoral programme (it should not be a continuation of your research
project which could actually be achieved within your home institution instead). Therefore, when you
think about which organisations to approach, you should consider:
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Your career aspirations;
The skills you want to develop;
Opportunities to translate the learning from your studies into the wider world;
Practicalities such as the location of the organisation and the feasibility of completing the work
within the time requested.
APPLICATION PROCESS FOR ‘ACCE PLACEMENT SUPPORT.'
 Identify a suitable placement host organisation;
 Establish contact and agree on the timing and placement proposal;
 Fill in the ‘Application for ACCE placement support form', which contains the following sections:
1. Personal details;
2. Details of the placement provider;
3. Placement proposal details – job title; summary of the placement project proposal, starting date,
end date, expenses covered by the host, provisions by the host, main responsibilities, etc.;
4. Benefit of the Placement – how will the placement benefit you; what benefit this will bring to
your host University; what benefit this placement will bring to the external partner;
5. Detailed costing– you will need to provide an evaluation of the travel and subsistence costs
associated with the placement;
6. Confirmation – to be completed by you, the Placement provider representative and your
supervisor.
ACCE PLACEMENTS SUPPORT EVALUATION
Application for ACCE placement support form
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Placements opportunities should be beneficial to the student, the placement provider and to the host
University. The following are some of the expected benefits that might accrue from placements
facilitated by ACCE:
 Seed new relationships with external partners that
Eligible costs for ACCE Placements
might then progress into larger/longer term
Support
engagement for the University/academic
 Extra Stipend for the duration
supervisor and benefit for the partner;
of the placement beyond the
 Improve engagement with the City/
funded period of 3.5 years;
Region/Community;
 Standard class rail travel
to/from placement location;
 Embed the culture of Knowledge Exchange
 Mileage claimed at local
(KE)/engagement with external partners, students
institution rate;
and supervisors;
 Economy air travel (Oversea
 Improve the students' employability by enhancing
placements;
relevant skills and, hence, improve quality of
 Bus fares (if not relocated);
recruitment to the partner organisations;
 Taxi (where bus is not
 Benefit /Impact at the external partner.
available);

Accommodation at local rates
 Improve the student’s understanding of how
(if relocated)
research is used in society and hence help them to
design better research
Placement support is awarded on a competitive basis, and the ACCE Management board will evaluate
applications based on criteria reflecting the benefit/impact, added value to the student’s programme of
study, and value for money. In order to comply with RCUK guidance regarding granting placement
financial support, the placement should be a well-justified enhancement to the Ph.D. training. It should
provide relevant training on subject-specific or generic transferable skills identified in your training need
analysis or the UK Researcher development framework (https://www.vitae.ac.uk/vitae-publications/rdfrelated/researcher-development-framework-rdf-vitae.pdf/view). At the same time, ACCE wishes to
incentivise genuine engagement with non-academic end users of research with this scheme.
ACCE DTP Management board may reject your application if your placement appears to be a simple
continuation of your primary Ph.D. research question, and does not bring added value only to be found
outside the academic environment.
Winning ACCE Placement support means that your Ph.D. stipend will be extended by the duration of the
placement beyond the 3.5 years of NERC funding. You and your supervisor need to be aware that this
WILL NOT extend your submission time and you will still need to submit your Ph.D. at the end of year 4.
As a condition of receiving ACCE Placement support, you will need to provide a short post-placement
report.
Application deadlines may change.
Please see details on the ACCE DTP website > ‘Placements support tab’.
Application for ACCE placement support form
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ACCE PLACEMENT SUPPORT APPLICATION FORM
PERSONAL DETAILS
Forename
Surname
Department
Cohort
Email Address
Contact Address
Contact Telephone Number
DETAILS OF PLACEMENT PROVIDER: ORGANISATION THAT YOU ARE COMPLETING YOUR
PLACEMENT WITH
Name of Organisation
Address
Key Contact details:
Name:
Email:
Contact Telephone Number:
PLACEMENT PROPOSAL DETAILS
Job Title:
Proposed start date:
Proposed end date:
Wage (if any):
Application for ACCE placement support form
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Status of intern at partner (volunteer,
worker, employee, consultant), and
insurance covering the intern, if any (e.g.
employer liability, public liability)
Will any expenses be covered by the host
organisation during your placement?
Yes/No
(If Yes, what will they cover and how much do you expect the total to
be?)
Note that It is expected the hosting organisation to provide
consumables and in-kind support (such as desk space and computers)
necessary for the project to be successful.
Name of the interim supervisor/ line
manager during the placement:
What is the anticipated level / frequency
of supervision? (e.g. contingent, weekly
meetings, etc.):
SUMMARY OF THE PLACEMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL:
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A brief description of the work or the project – Description of the placement, main duties, outlining what
the individual will be working on, what colleagues they will encounter and their specialities, what the
work environment will be, and identifying the responsible line manager;
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The key objective for the placement – if a desired outcome or set of results is spelt out, the work
experience benefits from the clarity that this generates. It can also provide an important frame of
reference for the work-based learning which the student will be acquiring through the placement.
Application for ACCE placement support form
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BENEFITS OF PLACEMEN T
How will the placement benefit you? What important skills will it provide that you would not normally gain
during your Ph.D. (as outlined in the researcher development framework)? (Max 200 words)
What benefits will this placement bring to your host Research Organisation? (Max 200 words)
What benefits will this placement bring to the External Partner? (Max 200 words)
Application for ACCE placement support form
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Funding requested
Please provide a breakdown of the costs you hope to cover with the ACCE placement support grant.
Note that travel costs can be claimed to (i) get you to your placement location in the first instance (if away from
your host location) and home again at the end, or (ii) cover commuting costs if you chose to stay in your current
accommodation, but commute to a different location for the placement. If you move to a new location (and so
require accommodation costs) then you would not usually be expected to claim commuting costs since your
accommodation should be close enough to your placement.
If you are unsure of how to interpret these guidelines, please seek advice from Veni Koleva before applying.
Cost
Description
Amount, £
Accommodation
(if the placement will require
changing the location)
Travel to placement
(to get you to your placement
location in the first instance (if
away from your host location)
and home again at the end)
Other travel
(Occasional travel or commuting
costs - mileage at local rate, bus
fares, taxi, where bus is not
available, etc.)
Note, maximum budget for all costs should not exceed £ 1,500 for placements in the UK and £3,500 for Oversea
placements.
Non-confidential summary (Max 200 words)
Please provide a short non-confidential summary of the project – this may be placed on the ACCE website
Application for ACCE placement support form
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SIGNATURES
I confirm that I wish to apply for funding and:
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The placement complies with my visa requirements (where applicable)
I confirm that the information given here is correct to the best of my knowledge
I agree to the described above placement funding conditions
Signature of Applicant/Ph.D.
student:
Date:
PLACEMENT PROVIDER REPRESENTATIVE
I confirm that I wish to host this student during their placement and if placement support is provided:
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I can confirm that I will provide the necessary resources to complete the placement and relevant
training: computer/work station, desk, appropriate personal protective equipment (where
necessary; other equipment, etc.;
Will take due care for the health and safety of the student and will ensure that the work the
intern will undertake has been risk-assessed and that reasonably practicable control measures are
in place;
Will enter into a placement agreement with the research organisation to formalise expectations
on both sides.
Signature of placement
provider representative:
Date:
ACCE STUDENT’S LEAD SUPERVISOR:
I confirm that:

I support this application for my student to undertake a placement for ……. months

I understand that this will extend the period of funding but not the period of the student’s
submission time.
Supervisor Signature:
Date:
RETURN
One signed electronic or one hard copy to:
Dr Venelina Koleva
ACCE DTP manager, University of Sheffield
Alfred Denny Building, D210
Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
phone: 0114 22 20054
email: [email protected]
Application for ACCE placement support form
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Application for ACCE placement support form
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