Accomplished Study Program in Research Excellence (ASPIRE) is an innovative tripartite program led by Sheffield Hallam University in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University and Advance HE. Funded by the OFS, the program came into being in response to the call on funding competition to increase access and participation for Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in the postgraduate research study

The underrepresentation of Black students at PGR level is alarming. The broken pipeline report (2019) points out that the Black awarding gap is a major contributing factor to the under-representation of Black students at the postgraduate and doctoral levels.

Interestingly, out of the 20,000 fully funded studentships awarded by the UK research councils between 2016 – 2018 for PGRs, only 240, representing 1.2%, were awarded to Black and Mixed-Black heritage PGRs (UTHE UK, 2019). As of 2021, only 155, representing 1%  out of 23,000 UK university professors, are black (Coughlan, 2021). For this inequality to disappear, there need to be more concentrated efforts at supporting and mentoring Black students towards PGR. These statistics motivated the ASPIRE team to develop a high-impact targeted mentorship programme called ASPIRE to change the narratives for Black and Mixed-Black heritage students in the UK through personalised mentorships.

ASPIRE aims to provide access to an excellent, personalised mentorship programme designed to enhance Black students’ academic, social and network capital to create a pathway into doctoral-level studies and the industry. ASPIRE is designed by Black academics for Black students, which suggests that the lived experience of these Black students is factored into the programme design. Each student is allocated a Black mentor who works with them to support them throughout the six-month duration of the mentorship programme.

ASPIRE is for Black and Mixed-Black heritage individuals interested in pursuing doctoral education.