Funded PhD Studentship: Liveable Cities

Liveable Cities is an ambitious, five-year programme of research to develop a method of designing and engineering low-carbon, resource-secure, wellbeing enhanced UK cities. This will be achieved via the development of a unique City Analysis Methodology (CAM) that will measure how cities operate and perform in terms of their people, environment and governance, taking account of wellbeing and resource security. The CAM will be used to establish future visions of low-carbon, resource-secure, liveable UK cities from which the team will backcast to determine what needs to be done now to achieve these visions. Using the CAM, the Liveable Cities team will develop realistic and radical engineering solutions for achieving the UK’s ambitious carbon reduction targets and will test them in three UK cities: Birmingham, Lancaster and Southampton.  The studentship covers the payment of tuition fees and a tax free yearly stipend of £13,590.

PhD in Design in ImaginationLancaster, Lancaster University, supervised by Rachel Cooper (plus other colleagues if appropriate). See http://imagination.lancs.ac.uk

This person will join ImaginationLancaster, an open and exploratory design-led research lab at Lancaster University. We conduct applied and theoretical research into people, products, places and their interactions. This PhD will consider how to communicate our research which involves radically envisioning sites for low carbon living as a means of providing a brief to engineers, designers and policymakers and challenge conventional design and engineering approaches. The person appointed will have a background and interest in information and visual communication, skills in visual and media production with an ability to deploy various research methods. The person should be willing to participate in the wider EPSRC Research Programme including collaborating with colleagues in Birmingham, Southampton and UCL.

PhD in Sociology in the Centre for Mobilities Research, Sociology Department Lancaster University, supervised by John Urry (plus other colleagues if appropriate). See http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/centres/cemore/

This person will join the Centre for Mobilities Research at Lancaster University which has pioneered new ways of thinking about and analysing travel, transportation and movement. The person undertaking this PhD will develop one or more case-studies of places, industries or activities where major reductions have occurred in the carbon cost of the movement of people and/or objects. The PhD will consider how this has been achieved and what lessons can be learnt more generally for how to develop and sustain Liveable Cities. The person appointed will have a background and interest in social science with an ability to deploy various research methods. The person should be willing to participate in the wider EPSRC Research Programme including collaborating with colleagues in Birmingham, Southampton and UCL.

How to apply

The application process will include:

• Completion of the University standard application form including a short personal statement.  
• A supporting document (two pages) demonstrating your knowledge, experience and skills related to this area and your work experience. This should be submitted as part of your application in place of a research proposal. 

What we are looking for above all else is a sense of interests, skills and what you might contribute as a PhD candidate in relation to the research brief.

Generally applicants must be UK or EU citizens and be ordinarily resident in the UK.  In order to be eligible for one of these studentship awards, a student must meet certain conditions relating to residence. 

To apply please complete the online application form and submit attachments: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/how-to-apply-for-postgraduate-study/ Please clearly state in your application that you are applying for a Funded PhD Studentship on Liveable Cities in either Design or Sociology.

For any enquiries please contact Claire Coulton, Liveable Cities Project Administrator, 01524 510818, c [dot] coulton2 [at] lancaster [dot] ac [dot] uk.

The closing date for applications is 24th February 2013 and it is anticipated that interviews will take place from mid-March 2013 with the PhD commencing on 1st May 2013.

Essential Information

For Entry: 2013

Duration: 3 years full time, in the first instance

Entry Requirements: An upper second class honours degree, or its equivalent, in a relevant discipline.

English Language Requirement: IELTS 7.0 (Sociology) IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6.0 in each criteria for Design)

Department: Lancaster Institute of Contemporary Arts (ImaginationLancaster), Tel: 01524 510818, email: c [dot] coulton2 [at] lancaster [dot] ac [dot] uk