PhD Studentship in Politics at the University of Leicester (United Kingdom)

The studentship is fully funded by the College of Social Sciences and both departments, and covers full UK/EU fees (currently £3,732 for UK/EU residents), a stipend at standard ESRC rates, and a Research Training Support Grant of £750 per annum. There are no restrictions on nationality, but applicants from outside the EU will need to secure additional funding to cover the remaining tuition fees (fees currently £10,250 for non-EU residents).

The student will be expected to devote a small amount of time — no more than 8 hours per quarter — to helping organise a quarterly interdisciplinary workshop on elections, public opinion and parties. There are no teaching or research assistance obligations linked to this studentship.

Research Areas

We seek to recruit a candidate with, ideally, some training both in economics and politics, and with an interest (as indicated by the specialisation in their Masters’ degree and dissertation) in the areas of elections, parties and public opinion. Applicants are expected to hold a first or upper second-class honours undergraduate degree, or international equivalent, in Politics or Economics (or Statistics); and a Masters (MA or MSc) degree, ideally, in the other discipline or in Political Economy with specialization (as indicated, for example, by the Masters’ dissertation) in the broad areas of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. We will also welcome candidates with other degrees with relevant training in Politics and/or an interest in rational choice/game theory. A solid background in research methods and quantitative analysis, as well as in the use of statistical analysis software (Stata or R), are essential.

We invite candidates to outline their own personal research proposal as long as it fits with one of the following lines of research:

1. elections and party competition
2. party/governmental ideology and policy formulation
3. citizens’ attitudes and policy preferences

Supervision

Depending on the specific topic of the dissertation proposed by the successful candidate, supervisors will be allocated from the Politics & International Relations and Economics departments. The first supervisor will be affiliated with Politics & International Relations, and the second supervisor with Economics. The student’s primary affiliation will be with the Department of Politics and International Relations. The student will get access to training (postgraduate modules) in both departments, and will be expected to attend the research seminar series of both departments.

In preparing their applications and dissertation proposals, we encourage prospective candidates to look at the information on the websites of both departments:

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/politics

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/economics

and examine the active research projects and areas of expertise of the following potential supervisors, and their areas of research:

Politics

Simona Guerra (Euroscepticism and populism, religion and politics, and governance and corruption), James Hamill (party politics and elections in South Africa), Karen Henderson (party politics and elections in East Central Europe), Stephen Hopkins (party politics and elections in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), Phil Lynch (British parties and elections), Laura Morales (political behaviour, public opinion, parties and elections in western Europe), Alex Waddan (American party politics and policies), and Richard Whitaker (European Parliament parties and elections, party politics in the EU, and public opinion about the EU).

Economics

James Rockey (Political Economics, Applied Econometrics), and Francisco Martínez-Mora (Local Public Economics, Fiscal Federalism, Political Economy).

Applications

Closing date is 23:59,  24 June 2012.

To apply, complete the online application process with reference « Politics & Economics PhD Studentship » in the Fees and Financial Support section of the application.

Your application should include:

1. A full list of courses and marks from your university (with a translation into English for foreign qualifications)
2. English language certificates where applicable
3. two academic references
4. an up-to-date CV
5. a 1-page cover letter stating your research interests and their fit within the existing areas of research in the field of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties of both departments
6. a 3,000-4,000 words research proposal outlining your plans for the dissertation (for guidance, see http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/politics/postgraduate/research-degrees/phd-guidance)

Informal Enquiries

Enquiries can be sent to: laura.morales@le.ac.uk

Postgraduate Research at the University of Leicester

The University of Leicester is one of the UK’s leading universities, committed to international excellence through the creation of world changing research and high quality, inspirational teaching. In 2008/2009 we were named the Times Higher Education’s University of the Year, with the judges describing us as « elite without being elitist ».