(Cornwall Campus)

About the award

The College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter is offering a fully funded studentship for a Home / EU student studying for an MPhil / PhD programme in the department of Politics / Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) at the University’s Cornwall Campus. Politics at Exeter excels in research across all the main areas of political science including international relations, political theory, public policy and administration, comparative politics, public opinion and political behavior. The ESI leads cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research into solutions to problems of environmental change.

This prestigious award is worth over £52,000 and includes direct payment of tuition fees (at the standard UK/EU rate) and maintenance allowance for accommodation and living expenses of around £13, 590 per annum. Due to funding restrictions, the studentship is open to both full-time and part-time students from the UK/EU who go on to enrol with the Politics department in 2013/14 at the Cornwall Campus. 

Applicants are invited in any area of environmental politics that fits within the remit of the Environment and Sustainability Institute, and particularly within the two research areas below:

Pro-environmental behaviour

We invite applications that seek novel social-scientific ways to test promising initiatives designed to encourage individuals and/or institutions to adopt more environmentally friendly behaviors. We are particularly interested in research projects that have the potential to make a significant contribution to the Cornish environment and economy. This could be in any of the following areas: travel and transport; household energy use; energy production / extraction; fashion and textiles.

Barriers to effective climate change mitigation policies

Climate change is considered a pressing environmental problem. Unfortunately, policy at  both domestic and international levels appears to be ill-equipped to mitigate its worst effects. We invite PhD applications which seek to address why is this the case and what can be done about it. In particular, we encourage applications which: evaluate the extent to which climate change policy network actors act as barriers to or conduits for effective policy-making; explore the feasibility of alternative climate change policy proposals.

How to apply/further information

For full information about the award including eligibility and how to apply, please visit our Funding website. Interviews will take place week commencing 26 August at the University’s Cornwall Campus. For informal enquiries and further information please contact Dr Clare Saunders at C.Saunders@exeter.ac.uk. Information about our research can be found at www.exeter.ac.uk/politics and www.exeter.ac.uk/esi