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ESRC Studentships for the School of International Relations

ESRC Studentships for the School of International Relations

 

The School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews is pleased to announce the availability of ESRC funded PhD studentships for the 2013-2014 academic year. These studentships are offered through the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences, the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre (SGS-DTC) for Scotland.

 

The Scottish DTC in Politics and International Relations is governed by representatives from the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews. Although awards will be shared among the three universities, interested applicants should apply directly to the university where they believe their research interests are best represented in staff research activity. Applicants are not permitted to apply to more than one of these three universities within this pathway; doing so will invalidate their application. Awards will be determined by the governance committee representing the three universities. In view of the limited number of awards and the very high standard of applications received, ESRC studentship funding is highly competitive.

 

Candidates may apply for two types of studentships:

 

  1. 1+3 awards: Students will be funded for a one year MRes in International Relations, with an emphasis on research methods, followed by three years of research on a topic matching research interests of staff in the School of IR.
  2. +3 awards: Students demonstrating sufficient training in research methods will be funded for three years of research on a topic matching research interests and expertise in the School of IR.

 

For information on the research expertise at the School of International Relations, see: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/intrel/research/  

For details on the research interests of staff members in the School of International Relations, see: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/intrel/people/

 

Eligibility

 

Studentships are only available to UK and EU nationals who have been recently resident in the EU.  UK and EU nationals resident in the UK for the last 3 years (including for the purposes of education) are eligible for full studentships that cover both fees and maintenance. Fees-only awards are available for EU applicants without UK residency. Fuller details of eligibility can be found in the ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide.

 

Application Process

 

Students who are eligible for ESRC funding must first apply for a place on the School’s PhD programme through the University’s application system. Therefore two applications must be submitted in parallel to be considered for an ESRC Studentship:

 

  1. The School’s application for entry into the PhD programme (details available here: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/intrel/prospectivestudents/postgraduate/application/)
  2. The ESRC studentship application materials consisting of the following:
    1. Completed Pathway Cover Sheet 2013 (Word, 111 KB)
    2. A research proposal of 1,500 words maximum (excluding references and proposed timetable). If you have already applied for the PhD programme and been offered a place, you have the opportunity to re-submit a proposal that takes into account your potential supervisor’s expertise, which needs to be sent directly to the School’s Director of Postgraduate Studies (Research), Professor Patrick Hayden (jph10@st-andrews.ac.uk);
    3. A supporting statement from your prospective supervisor(s) at the University of St Andrews, including an explanation or demonstration of the adequacy of their supervision. (It is possible for the proposed supervisor to also be a referee, but the supervisor statement must be a separate document from the reference letter. Please refer to the SGS-DTC guidance note on supervisor’s statements for details about the information that should be included: 2013 Supervisor Support Statement Guidance Note);
    4. An up-to-date Curriculum Vitae;
    5. If you intend to utilise Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) as part of your research, you may also apply for an AQM Award in addition to a Politics & International Relations pathway award. If so, you will also need to submit additional information about the nature of the quantitative work you plan to undertake.

 

Submit the ESRC application pack in electronic format only to the School’s Pathway Representative, Dr Anthony Lang (al51@st-andrews.ac.uk) by 4 February 2013.  Also ensure you have completed an application for PhD study with the School of International Relations by 14 January 2013.  

 

Pathway members at St Andrews will review all applications and inform candidates whether they are being nominated for consideration for an ESRC Award no later than 13 February 2013.  If successful, students will then be asked to register via the ESRC DTC Online Portal by 22 February 2013.

 

Students will then upload their application materials directly to the DTC’s Online Portal. The deadline by which completed applications must be uploaded to the DTC’s Online Portal is 8 March 2013. Immediately afterwards the governance committee of the Politics and International Relations pathway will meet and make final recommendations to the SGS-DTC, which will announce the award decision by May 2013.

 

Applicants are strongly advised to contact potential supervisors and/or the Director of Postgraduate Studies (Research) about their suitability for the awards. Preliminary inquiries about the award scheme in the School of IR should be directed to Dr Anthony Lang (al51@st-andrews.ac.uk) or Professor Patrick Hayden (jph10@st-andrews.ac.uk).