URBAN RETROFIT - Place adaptation and urban retrofit 'on the move': Urban policy mobilities and transnational planning for the climate emergency.

Information on the School/Research Group

The successful candidate will join the URBAN RETROFIT UK research project, a new £1.7m multi-university investment by the ESRC, based at the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence in the Division of Urban Studies and Social Policy at the University of Glasgow. URBAN RETROFIT UK will investigate how cities can be planned, developed and ‘retrofitted’ for net-zero living and work with partners across all four nations of the UK and internationally to investigate place adaptation successes and challenges, including barriers to scaling up. This exciting new research project is part of a £9.5million investment by ERSC into five projects that will research place-based approaches for an environmentally sustainable future, providing evidence to support local and national decision making. In addition to their studies at the University of Glasgow, the successful doctoral candidate will have opportunities to develop their research internationally through the project’s research partnership with Dalhousie University in Canada, as well as with project partners at UK universities and in practice with planning, development and community stakeholders.

Project details

For centuries urban planners and policymakers have looked beyond national boundaries to identify innovative ‘best practices’ that might help address local policy challenges and create new policy networks with stakeholders in other cities and countries. The search for translatable urban policy solutions has been accelerated by the urgency of the climate emergency as local policy actors look globally for ‘fixes’ that can be readily adopted at the local level to support more sustainable development. The aim of this supervisor-led doctoral scholarship is to produce a new critical evidence base on the transferability of policies and practices geared towards place adaptation and urban retrofit by examining how and why place adaptation concepts and urban retrofit practices move between places and whether policies that work in one place can be successfully transferred to another. Using and developing critical theories on ‘urban policy mobility’, which conceptualise policy innovations as being ‘in motion’ and moving across and between national and cultural boundaries through dynamic human networks, the studentship will be an integral part of the wider URBAN RETROFIT UK research project which ultimately seeks to create a series of global evidence exchange hubs where planning and development stakeholders can come together to share emerging practices. Further refinement of the research questions, methodological approach and geographical focus of the studentship will be determined by the doctoral student in collaboration with the project supervisors as the project evolves. The successful candidate will be strongly encouraged to take ownership of the project and develop it to suit their skills and interests.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria

• Applicants will have a good Masters degree (or overseas equivalent) in urban plannning, geography or a related discipline
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in urban planning and the topic under investigation.
• Applicants should be able to study full-time

Please note that all applicants must also meet the entry requirements for the Urban Studies, PhD. 

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +3 (3 year) PhD programme only. The programme will commence in October 2024. The funding includes:

• An annual stipend at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home rate or International rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information), uploading the following documentation:

• URBAN RETROFIT PhD Scholarship application form (in Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
  
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is strongly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Closing Date: 15 July 2024

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. Shortlisted applicants may be requested to attend an Interview.

All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programme in the School of Social and Political Sciences. Successful applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme after they are selected for funding.

Key contact

Professor James White (JamesT.White@glasgow.ac.uk)

Listed below is an ESRC-funded supervisor-led Doctoral Studentship currently available within the College of Social Sciences, i.e. a supervisor has been awarded a funded Doctoral studentship for a PhD research project of their design, for which eligible potential PhD candidates can apply (see individual studentship advert for project details, eligibility and application procedures). 

Europe-Asia Studies PhD Scholarship

Information on the School/Research Group

The School of Social and Political Sciences takes an interdisciplinary approach to the Social Sciences making a dynamic and engaging teaching and research environment. By linking core Social Science disciplines we deliver high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and cutting-edge research. We offer a wide variety of courses for everyone interested in the development and impact of economies and societies globally. Our undergraduate and postgraduate courses provide knowledge, skills and training relevant to a broad range of careers, and the flexibility of our courses and their interconnections allows for the exploration and analysis of all aspects of economies and societies, informed by contemporary concerns. Academic staff engage extensively with public and private sector partners in research dissemination and knowledge exchange to advance understanding of social sciences, and we are proud of our record of impacting upon public debate, social and economic policy development and practice based innovations. In REF 2014, over 80% of the School’s research performance was assessed in the two top categories of 4* world-leading or 3* internationally excellent.

Central and East European Studies (CEES) hosts a dynamic and thriving PhD student community which plays a significant role in the research activities of the subject area. Our students regularly deliver papers at leading international conferences, publish their findings in leading scholarly journals, and are helping to shape the research agendas in their respective areas.

Postgraduate students are provided with numerous opportunities to advance their research skills and subject knowledge. These include regular talks and classes by leading academics via an extensive visiting scholars programme, cross-institutional workshops and mini-conferences. Students also benefit from the opportunity to participate in international Summer Schools and regular joint events with a number of partner universities including the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

Abstract

Russia’s construction of the ‘other’: implications for ontological (in)security

This research is concerned with how and with what implications contemporary official narratives of Russian identity have been shaped by the relationship with particular ‘others’, whether ‘internal’, ‘external’, or a combination of the two. The research theme focuses on the post-Soviet period, while taking into account the role of historical developments in explaining some of the present phenomena. The research may include one or more of the following dimensions.

Internal ‘others’:

• non-Russian ethnic groups (non-Slavic ethnic minorities and/or migrants)
• the Ukrainian minority (since 2014)
• sexual minorities
• ‘disloyal’ members of society (i.e. political opponents of the regime).

External ‘others’:

• external actors denounced by the Russian regime as promoting alternative norms or values, presented as an existential threat and a source of ontological insecurity for Russia.
• internal actors linked to external actors by the Russian government (e.g. though the so-called ‘foreign agents’ legislation).

Internal and external ‘others’:

The research considers how the construction of the ‘other’ may lead to its overlap with the concept of ‘enemy’, which, in turn, may trigger: a) ‘us-or-them’ dynamics to respond to a (real or perceived) challenge to official narratives on Russian identity; and b) the securitisation of the ‘other’.   

Besides state narratives on the construction of the ‘other’ in its multiple dimensions, we are interested in vernacular (in)security, or the experience of (sub-)groups affected by these dynamics: how they respond to securitisation by official actors, and whether/how they might seek to engage in counter-securitisation.

Due to security and ethical concerns, the research will not include interviews with actors within the Russian Federation. While in some cases it might be possible to interview participants based outside Russia, research methods should focus on other sources (e.g. policy documents, media outputs, social media (where possible), secondary sources).

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria

• Applicants will have a good first degree (or overseas equivalent);
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in, and knowledge of, Russian politics;
• Applicants will have advanced knowledge of Russian

Please note that all applicants must also meet the entry requirements for the Central & East European Studies, PhD. 

Award details

The scholarship is available as a +3 (3 year) programme only. The programme will commence in October 2024. The funding includes:

• An annual stipend at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home rate or International rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information), uploading the following documentation:

• Europe-Asia Studies Scholarship application form (in Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
  
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (from within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable).

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is highly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Closing Date: 17 May 2024

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by a selection panel and applicants will be notified if they have been shortlisted for interview by 31 May 2024. Interviews will be online and will take place by Friday 13 June.

All scholarship awards are subject to the successful candidate securing admission to a PhD programme within the School of Social and Political Sciences. The successful candidate will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme.

Key contact

Dr Federica Prina (Federica.Prina@glasgow.ac.uk)

CoSS-USYD Joint PhD Scholarship - The health and wellbeing impacts of the energy transition for low-income renters: a comparative UK-Australia study.

Information on the Schools/Research Groups

This PhD will be jointly hosted by the University of Glasgow and the University of Sydney, with a supervisory team comprising Professor Gerry McCartney (UoG), Professor Lynne Chester (USYD), Professor Robert McMaster (UoG), and Professor Harriet Thomson (UoG).

At the University of Glasgow, it will sit within the School of Social and Political Sciences, although one supervisor (Professor McMaster) is from the Adam Smith Business School.

The School of Social and Political Sciences conducts research of the highest quality, focusing on international, national, and local issues to inform public debate and contribute to the development of public policy. We achieve this through integrating our range of social science expertise, and building collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to research and knowledge exchange to deepen thematic interdisciplinary approaches.

We have a thriving research community bringing together both academic staff and research students working on a range of research programmes and agendas. Research in the School is assessed in the Research Excellence Framework under four units: Architecture, Built Environment and Planning; History, Politics and International Studies and Social Work and Social Policy. For REF2021 90% or more of our research has been assessed as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in terms of its originality, significance, and rigour.

We conduct research that develops theoretical, conceptual, and methodological insights to advance our core social science disciplines, and more interdisciplinary, team-based research which addresses major social and political challenges, often working with research partners to develop key interventions to change policy or practice. Our work spans local, place-based research and engagement, working with partners in the city and region as well as working with the Scottish and UK governments and further afield, with international partners and multinational agencies across the globe.

At the University of Sydney, the joint PhD candidate will be situated in the Discipline of Political Economy of the School of Social and Political Sciences. The school has five strategic research themes: Inequalities, Health, Governance, Environment, and Markets.

This joint PhD opportunity strongly aligns with each of these research themes:

• Inequalities: The project focuses on low-income renter households who experience cumulative disadvantage, and new forms of inequalities (energy injustices) as governments introduce energy transition measures.
• Health: The project will present evidence of the health and well-being impacts for the most vulnerable households and communities of extreme weather events that can be amplified by energy transition
• Governance: The project will consider the energy transition roles of the state and non-state actors, and explore the potentiality for processes and mechanisms, applying social justice principles, to address often institutionalised forms of inequality and energy injustices.
• Environment: The project will situate energy transition measures for decarbonisation of the economy, and government responses to extreme weather events, within contemporary debates about the environment and climate change.
• Markets: The project will advance understanding of the outcomes and impacts of contemporary energy markets and explore alternatives to the dualism of state-market provisioning for the energy transition.

The Discipline of Political Economy provides critical analysis of contemporary problems and policies and construct alternatives to prevailing orthodoxies. This internationally recognised analysis and research is across the broad areas of globalisation, development, the environment, energy, labour, gender, race, history of economic thought, neoliberalism, public policy, human rights, markets, and finance. Several analytical frameworks are applied to this research including Post-Keynesian, Marxian, Feminist, Institutionalist, Environmental Economics as well as drawing upon the disciplines of sociology, geography, anthropology, politics, and international relations.

Project details

Governments around the world are seeking to transition energy systems away from a high reliance on fossil fuels to society’s energy needs being primarily met from renewable energy sources. At the same time, the world faces a series of inter-connected and deepening crises, including extreme weather events from climate change, rapid increases in the cost of living exacerbating long-term social and economic inequalities, and stagnating health, well-being, and life expectancy trends.

The most vulnerable households and communities - those on low-incomes, lacking in multiple social and economic resources, and exposed to cumulative inequalities arising from characteristics such as gender and ethnicity – are the most disadvantaged by these crises. This situation is further exacerbated by energy transition policies that privilege homeowners and wealthier communities.

One critical contributor to the disadvantaged circumstances of low-income households is energy costs. These households spend a higher proportion of their income on energy than high-income households. Low-income renter households are further disadvantaged, being without the resources for energy-efficient appliances or access to cheaper energy renewable sources. Low-income households have reduced their energy use in seeking to manage energy bills. However, when extreme weather conditions occur, these households – who generally live in low-standard housing stock - are unable to meet the costs of additional heating or cooling, damaging health and well-being, and provoking potentially dangerous coping strategies.

This project will advance understanding of the health and well-being impacts for low-income renter households of energy transition measures proposed by governments, and design solutions to redress identified adverse impacts as integral to these proposed measures while also generating co-benefits more broadly for society.

The project will conduct a comparative study between two locations which are increasingly experiencing extreme weather events with significant adverse population impacts, and have high concentrations of low- income renter households – Glasgow (Scotland) and Sydney (Australia).

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the application, admission and enrolment criteria of each institution (including language requirements).

In addition, applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria

• Applicants will have a good Master's degree (or overseas equivalent) with a minimum overall pass average of 75% or above (for a coursework/postgraduate taught Masters)
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in the topic under investigation.
• Applicants must enrol on a full-time basis at both institutions for the duration of their candidature
• Applicants must be prepared to spend a minimum of 30% of their PhD candidature at the University of Sydney

Please note that all applicants must also meet all admission and enrollment requirements for the both the Sociology PhD (UofG) and the Arts and Social Sciences PhD (USYD)

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +3.25 (3 year 3 month) programme only. The programme will commence in October 2024. The funding includes:

• An annual stipend at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home rate or International rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year
• In addition to the above, a one-off travel grant of £3,000 ito facilitate the required travel between Glasgow and Sydney.

Further additional information

This award requires international travel. The successful student will register at the University of Glasgow, as the Home institution, and the University of Sydney, as the Host institution, simultaneously. The successful student will be required to spend a minimum of 30% of their PhD candidature at the University of Sydney.

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information), uploading the following documentation:

• CoSS-USYD Joint PhD Scholarship application form (Sociology) (in Microsoft Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
  
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (from within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable).
• Proof of meeting the English Language proficiency of both institutions (these are detailed on the Sociology PhD (UofG) and Arts and Social Sciences PhD (USYD) pages)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is highly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Closing Date: 19 April 2024

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. You may be requested to attend an interview. All scholarship awards are subject to the successful candidate securing admission to a PhD programme within the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow, and the Discipline of Political Economy, School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney.

The successful applicant will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant Joint PhD programmes.

Key contact

Professor Gerry McCartney (Gerard.McCartney@glasgow.ac.uk)

CoSS-USYD Joint PhD Scholarship - The Socio-Economic Impacts of Colonialisation in Australia.

Information on the Schools/Research Groups

The successful candidate will be registered as a postgraduate researcher in the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow. Within the Economics Subject Group, they will be supported by our Applied Economics Cluster. The cluster brings together staff and PGRs researching various fields including labour economics, behavioural economics, economic history, economic development, economics of crime and other. The first supervisor is going to be Professor Michele Battisti (University of Glasgow). The rest of the supervisory team includes Dr Jordi Vidal-Robert (University of Sydney), Associate Professor Marian Vidal-Fernandez (University of Sydney) and Professor Sayantan Ghosal (University of Glasgow).

Project details

Since the early European settlements in the late 18th century, the economic history of Australia is very deeply linked to its colonisation. This PhD thesis proposal will create a rich dataset to measure the impact that British colonialisation had on its Australian colonies on a range of economic outcomes in the short and long-run. Using British and Irish records of settlers, Australian arrival records and subsequent censuses, together with current and recent rich administrative health records and surveys, the focus of this thesis will be twofold.

First, this thesis will merge and match a range of British and Australian records to 1) measure the mortality, morbidity, and characteristics of settlers travelling to Australia in the short run and 2) understand how the selection of surviving settlers still impacts the health of current Australians. Second, this project will employ early Australian censuses and arrival records, together with data on massacres that is currently being collected and surveys, to analyse the impact of the relative arrival of free versus convict settlers across different areas in Australian on the severity and incidence of indigenous massacres and current political views. Understanding the dynamics of these foundational periods is crucial for shedding light on the root causes of contemporary disparities and informing effective policy measures.

The candidate will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with the supervisory team on the main project. In addition, the candidate will receive support from both the supervisory team and two institutions to conduct their own independent research.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the application, admission and enrolment criteria of each institution (including language requirements).

In addition, applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria

• Applicants will have a good Master's degree (or overseas equivalent) with a minimum overall pass average of 75% or above (for a coursework/postgraduate taught Masters).
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in the topic under investigation.
• Applicants must enrol on a full-time basis at both institutions for the duration of their candidature
• Applicants must be prepared to spend a minimum of 30% of their PhD candidature at the University of Sydney
• A preference will be given to candidates with a research-oriented Master degree, such as an MRes or equivalent

Please note that all applicants must also meet all admission and enrollment requirements for the both the Economics PhD (UofG) and the Arts and Social Sciences PhD (USYD)

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +3.25 (3 year 3 month) programme only. The programme will commence in October 2024. The funding includes:

• An annual stipend at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home rate or International rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year
• In addition to the above, a one-off travel grant of £3,000 to facilitate the required travel between Glasgow and Sydney.

Further additional information

This award requires international travel. The successful student will register at the University of Glasgow, as the Home institution, and the University of Sydney, as the Host institution, simultaneously. The successful student will be required to spend a minimum of 30% of their PhD candidature at the University of Sydney.

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information), uploading the following documentation:

• CoSS-USYD Joint PhD Scholarship application form (Economics) (in Microsoft Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
  
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (from within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable).
• Proof of meeting the English Language proficiency of both institutions (these are detailed on the Economics PhD (UofG) and Arts and Social Sciences PhD (USYD) pages)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is highly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Closing Date: 19 April 2024

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. You may be requested to attend an interview. All scholarship awards are subject to the successful candidate securing admission to a PhD programme within the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, and the School of Economics, The University of Sydney.

The successful applicant will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant Joint PhD programmes.

Key contact

Professor Michele Battisti (Michele.Battisti@glasgow.ac.uk)