Funding for Prospective Students – University of Exeter in London

Applications are invited for up to four PhD studentships (available for study on either a full time or part time basis) in the Centre for Rural Policy Research within the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter. We are looking for PhD proposals in any of the following areas or any other social science issue related to the changing role of agriculture and the countryside and relevant to the core research interests of the supervisors.

• The debate on livestock agriculture
  • Why and in what way is there disagreement about the place of meat and/or dairy products in contemporary diets?
  • What are the views of farmers on the ‘meat and/or dairy debate’?
  • How might farmers adapt their businesses in the light of concerns over meat and/or dairy?
  • To what extent might more sustainable livestock systems answer some of the concerns expressed by consumers and activists?
  • Are there differences between rural and urban consumers in their responses to the dairy/meat debate?
  • What are the implications of the dairy/meat debate to scientists working on these issues and/or to science policy?
• The debate on productivity in UK agriculture
  • What are the causes of low productivity in UK agriculture?
  • To what extent are the agri-technological solutions on offer appropriate to UK agriculture?
  • Why do agri-technologists and agro-ecologists disagree?
  • Might GMOs (re-)emerge as a potential solution to some of farming’s challenges?
  • What do consumers/citizens make of the new technologies on offer?

You should have at least a 2:1 Honours degree, or International equivalent, in social science (e.g. Anthropology, Geography, Politics, Sociology) and will ideally already hold or be currently working towards a Masters degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in a subject area giving appropriate knowledge of social science research methods.

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements and provide proof of proficiency.

Please note that these PhD projects may entail extensive travel to remote, rural farm locations and national travel with extended periods of fieldwork.

This studentship, including full tuition fees and maintenance allowance, is available to UK/EU candidates.

How to apply

To apply you will be asked to submit some personal details and upload a full CV, covering letter, research proposal and details of two academic referees, and if relevant, proof of your English language proficiency. Your covering letter should outline your academic interests, prior research experience and reasons for wishing to undertake this studentship.

You will also be asked to upload verified transcripts of your most academic qualification. All application documents must be submitted in English. Certified translated copies of academic qualifications must also be provided.

Please note that we will not be contacting referees to request references; you must arrange for them to be submitted to us by the deadline. References should be submitted by your referees to us directly in the form of a letter. Referees must email their references to us from their institutional email accounts. We cannot accept references from personal/private email accounts, unless it is a scanned document on institutional headed paper and signed by the referee.

Please quote reference 3498 on your application and in any correspondence about this studentship.