Outline

Cardiff University School of Social Sciences invites applications for PhD study with the possibility of being awarded a fully-funded ESRC DTP Studentship, available to start in October 2020, which is available in the area of Sociology.

Working alongside Ramblers Cymru, this PhD project will document the uptake of the ‘Paths for People’ project in one community, using the project as a jumping off point from which to explore the impact of green corridors on people’s everyday lives. Using a range of innovative sensory/multimodal and mobile methods, the PhD student will work with one community to map their neighbourhood. This could include go-along interviews with local residents, and workshops with different community groups (e.g. school children and older people), using video, photographic, and audio methods and devices to make sensory maps. This data will be used to understand the impact of local green infrastructure on communities, and to explore how different people develop a sense of place and connection to nature. The project will pay particular attention to access and inclusion, look at how landscapes and communities change over time, and seek new ways of connecting people with nature. More broadly, it will contribute to scholarship on place, space and mobilities, and to the development of sensory/multimodal methods. Findings from the project will have direct impact, strengthening Ramblers Cymru’s evidence base and understanding of the importance of green corridors and providing them with new resources.

What is funded

Studentship Awards commence in October 2020 and will cover your tuition fees as well as a maintenance grant (currently £15,009 p.a. for 2019/20 for full-time students, updated each year); and includes access to an additional Research Training Support Grant (RTSG), though an element of this latter fund may be ‘pooled’ and require separate applications from 2020 onwards. There are other opportunities and benefits available to studentship holders, including an overseas fieldwork allowance (if applicable), internship opportunities, overseas institutional visits and other small grants.

Eligibility

Applications are invited from exceptional candidates with a first class or strong upper second class honours degree, or appropriate Masters’ degree. We welcome applications for both full and part-time study, and studentships are available as either ’1+3’ (i.e. one full year of research training Masters followed by three years full-time Doctoral study, or the part-time equivalent), or ’+3’ (i.e. three years of full-time doctoral study or its part-time equivalent), depending on the needs of the applicant. Further details on types of awards http://walesdtp.ac.uk/studentships/.

How to Apply

Applicants should apply to the Doctor of Philosophy in Social Sciences with a start date of October 2020.

In the research proposal section of your application, please specify the project title and supervisors of this project and copy the project description in the text box provided. In the funding section, please select ’I will be applying for a scholarship/grant’ and specify that you are applying for advertised funding from WALES ESRC DTP PHD ‘COLLABORATIVE’ STUDENTSHIP - School of Social Sciences: Paths for People.