CASE Studentship Award (PhD)

In recent years, understanding why spatial and social disparities are increasing in contemporary economies has become an important theme in several academic disciplines. More academic research is required to help shed light on the socio-economic, institutional and policy processes at play in order to develop innovative ways of tackling such widening disparities, in different places. In this context, the European Union’s (EU) Cohesion Policy (CP), is of considerable academic and policy interest. Initially developed in the late 1970s to help less developed regions and Member States, EU CP has evolved over time and currently focuses on ‘place-based’ interventions to try to tackle increasing social and spatial disparities across Europe. From its inception, the UK has been a recipient of EU CP and it has played a key role in regional economic development ever since. Between 1975 and 2020, the UK received around £66bn from Brussels, which amounted to over £100bn with additional domestic ‘match funding’. This funding was targeted mainly at supporting the UK’s poorest cities and regions to boost jobs, (small) firms and growth, in different places. Given that the UK left the EU in 2021, it no longer participates in EU CP and funding will cease after 2023. Prior to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, the spatial and social inequalities in the UK were already greater than in other ‘rich’ countries but the ‘gap’ is now widening.  In response, UK government (HMG) policy promotes ‘place-based’ interventions to level up productivity and growth in the whole country, particularly tackling disparities in lagging behind places (not only) in northern England and the devolved nations. Recently, HMG published its Levelling Up White Paper which outlines domestic approaches to tackling economic development across the UK, replacing EU funding.

This project, joint with HMG’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC), provides a unique and timely opportunity to research a strategic national policy issue. The aim of the PhD is to explore the lessons from several decades of EU CP implementation in the UK in order to inform ongoing academic and policy debates related to levelling up.  A combination of complementary

methods will be used to carry out this interdisciplinary research involving to gain a ‘holistic’ picture of the underlying processes at work. These are: 1) in-depth ‘meta-analysis’ of relevant academic and policy documents; 2) quantitative analysis of various secondary databases and ERDF archival data; and 3) intensive, semi-structured interviews in several case-study locations across the UK.

Successful completion of this PhD has the potential to lead to various avenues of employment including academia, consultancy and policymaking.  The topical nature of the PhD means that the knowledge and skills gained from carrying out this research will be highly sought after.

Academic Entry Requirements:

1+3 Programme

For the 1+3 studentships, you should have an appropriate first degree of class 2:1 or above; International qualifications will be evaluated in line with the National Recognition Information Centre (NARIC) guidelines. You will be required to initially register on the MRes in Research programme.

+3 Programme

In addition to the above, for the +3 studentships you should also typically have a first class or 2:1 Master’s degree in Business Management, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, Economics or a related discipline. You will be required to complete taught modules in Research Methods during the first year.

Residency Entry Requirements:

NWSSDTP Studentships are open to both Home and International (including EU and EEA) candidates. Please note that NWSSDTP Studentships will only fund tuition fees up to the Home rate. This is £4,682 in for 2023/24. International tuition fees are usually substantially higher than this sum. However, all institutions within the NWSSDTP have committed to waiving increased tuition fees for international NWSSDTP students. International students recruited to NWSSDTP Studentship will not be expected to pay any additional tuition fees themselves.

To be classed as a home student, candidates must meet the following criteria:

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
• Have settled status, or
• Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
• Have indefinite leave to remain or enter

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student. You must refer to the UKRI Terms and Conditions for Training Grants for full details https://www.ukri.org/funding/information-for-award-holders/grant-terms-and-conditions/

Personal Qualities:

These include the ability to work independently and a high degree of motivation necessary to complete a PhD in three years.

Method of Application:

Applicants must complete all sections of the University Postgraduate Study Application Form. Applications to be made via the University of Liverpool Apply Online, system, selecting programme of study Management Studies.

In the Finance section select funding source Sponsor and insert ‘PHD-ULMS-DLUHC-CASE’ in the box below. Also include this as the first line of your Personal Statement. 

Alongside the completed application form and Personal Statement, applicants should submit the following supporting documents:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Two academic reference letters, signed and on letter headed paper
• University transcripts
• English Language qualifications

All applicants are expected to demonstrate that they have reached a minimum required standard of English language (IELTS 7.0 overall and a minimum of 6.5 in each component), and, where relevant, are required to provide evidence of this. Qualifications accepted by the University include GCSE English; GCE O level English; AS Level English; A Level English Language; IELTS; Cambridge Proficiency etc. Please refer to the full list here. If you are unsure if your English qualification meets requirements then please check with the Research team before applying.

• Degree certificates
• Personal statement highlighting the direct relevance of your skills, expertise and experience to the topic, how this makes you ideally suited to undertaking the research specified, and what added value you will bring.

Incomplete and/or late applications will not be considered. Please ensure you submit all of the above documents with your application.

Short-listed candidates will be interviewed.

Further enquiries:

If you would like to discuss the studentship further please contact Prof Rob Blackburn (robertb@liverpool.ac.uk)

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