Accessibility statement

CHE and Department of Politics/ IGDC PhD scholarship opportunities

Posted on 9 November 2018

Get your applications in for PhD scholarship funding soon!

We are looking for exceptional students to apply for funded PhD opportunities at the Centre for Health Economics (CHE) and Department of Politics/ Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre (IGDC) in the field of global health research to begin in January 2019 (applications for registration in autumn 2019 will be considered).

York will fund two scholarships from the following topic area:

Topic 5: Building knowledge and cooperation through regionalism. IGDC PhD scholarship funding Topic 5 (PDF , 533kb) (Registered through Department of Politics)

Enquiries to: Professor Jean Grugel

See http://www.york.ac.uk/che and https://www.york.ac.uk/igdc/ for a full description of each topic.

Supervision and research environment

The successful candidate will be supervised in Politics and the Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre (IGDC), which is led by the Department of Politics.

The Department of Politics is one of the leading centres for research and teaching in Politics and International Studies in the United Kingdom. It was ranked eighth in the country for its research performance in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework and is in the top ten of both the Guardian and Times/Sunday Times league tables. The Department is characterised by a strongly international character, intellectual pluralism, and a commitment both to innovative research and to the application of this knowledge to significant political problems.  The Department recently led the creation of a major research and teaching centre on global development, the IGDC, to promote interdisciplinary research and engagement that contribute just and sustainable global transformations. Health and Wellbeing is one of the areas where the IGDC is most active.

This is an opportunity to work with leading researchers in Development Politics to contribute to interdisciplinary research that uses the insights from Politics, International Relations and International Political Economy to address global health, working on a major project funded through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) that examines how research and capability building can support better health decision making in Malawi and other countries in eastern, central and southern Africa (Thanzi la Onse).  The PhD studentships are funded by the University of York as part of this research project.

Athena SWAN

Both CHE and Politics have departmental Athena SWAN Bronze awards which recognise their commitment to good practice in recruiting, retaining and supporting the careers of women. Both departments strive to provide a supportive culture and family friendly work environment and to offer equal opportunities to all staff members. CHE and Politics seek to ensure the policies and procedures in the department are fair and support good work practices for everyone, and welcome applications from women, minorities and disabled people.

Eligibility criteria

The successful candidate should have a background in Politics, International Relations or International Political Economy, or a cognate discipline.  A 2.1 at least in their undergraduate studies and a relevant MA/MSc is also required. Some understanding of debates on regionalism and governance and/or the politics/international relations of East and Southern Africa would be advantageous. The English language requirement is IELTS: 6.5, with no less than 6.0 in each component.

The awards

One award will cover academic fees at the UK/EU tuition fee rate plus a maintenance stipend for 3 years (£14,777 in 2018/19).  A second award will cover academic fees at the international (non-EU) tuition fee rate plus a maintenance stipend for 3 years (£14,777 in 2018/2019).  Further information: https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/fees/

Students are welcome to register full-time or part-time.

Process for application

Applications should be received no later than Monday 26 November 2018 before 16.00h (UTC).

Please provide a curriculum vitae and two academic references.  In addition, you should upload an outline of your intended approach to the area of research, noting the potential methods or approaches that could be used (up to 500 words in PDF format).  If you have already published academic papers, one of these may also be uploaded.

You are welcome to apply for more than one topic.  Please complete a separate application for each of your preferred topics.

Applications should be made using the University of York on-line application process which can be accessed using the following link. http://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/

Select PhD in Politics on the application form, in order to be registered in the Department of Politics. Insert reference TLOPHD2019 in “How studies will be funded” field.

Insert TOPIC 5 in the “Preferred supervisor or research group, or field of research” field.

Interviews

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed.  Interviews take place on Wednesday 5 December 2018.

At interview, candidates will be expected to give a short presentation on their proposed project including relevant literature, potential data sources and applicable methods.  It should also focus on their plans for the studentship for which they have applied and the skills they would bring to their doctoral research. 

Students residing overseas will be offered an opportunity to be interviewed using the University’s video-conferencing facility.

General enquiries

For general enquiries relating to topic 5, please contact Jean Grugel, Department of Politics/ Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre – jean.grugel@york.ac.uk