ESRC Doctoral Studentship The food-energy-climate change trilemma

Applications are invited for a full-time ESRC Doctoral Studentship commencing January 2014. The focus of this fully-funded 3-year doctoral studentship is three interconnected problems in ‘the food-energy-climate change trilemma’. The successful candidate will be supervised by Prof Mark Harvey (Department of Sociology, University of Essex) as part of his ESRC Professorial Fellowship.

The world is facing three unprecedented challenges: climate change, the depletion of finite energy and material resources, and a growing population with increasing demand for food.

Different regions of the world, through natural endowments, levels of development, and varied economic and political systems, have both driven and responded differently to trilemma challenges. Prof Harvey’s overall project will compare four regions: the USA, Europe, Brazil and China. It will employ strategic food+energy crops as research probes into changing economic configurations, undertaking 150 in-depth interviews with stakeholders, policy-makers and experts.

The holder of the doctoral studentship will participate in this major global research programme as a full member of the team and be aligned with Essex’s ESRC Doctoral Training Centre. The doctoral project will build up case studies of the development of voluntary sustainable self-regulation, in particular the Roundtables for Sustainable Palm Oil, Soy, Sugar, and Biofuels. Applicants with a background in economic sociology or political economy or environmental studies are very welcome.

The 3-year award pays fees and an annual maintenance grant (£18,376 for 2013-14) plus a Research Training Support Grant of £750 per annum. Due to funding restrictions the usual ESRC eligibility rules apply, including having an appropriate Masters degree by October 2013 and meeting the ESRC’s residential requirements.

The application form can be downloaded from the Apply link below and must be returned to the Graduate Administrator, Michele Hall, mehall@essex.ac.uk by 4pm on Fri 4 October 2013. Interviews will be held (by skype or in person at the University of Essex in Colchester) in the week commencing 21 October 2013.

Informal enquiries should be made to Prof Mark Harvey (mharvey@essex.ac.uk).

More information about studying at the University of Essex can be found at http://www.essex.ac.uk/study/pgt/default.aspx.

All enquiries about funding and scholarships should be sent to scholarships@essex.ac.uk.

Founded nearly 50 years ago, the University of Essex is ranked in the top ten universities in the UK for the quality of its research and in the top 20 mainstream English universities for student satisfaction. It is the most internationally diverse campus-based university in Britain, with more than one third of its 11,000 students coming from outside the UK. The University has three campuses in Essex, and partnerships with a number of other education institutions across the region.