MPhil/PhD Studentships, Including Specific Ring-fenced ones for BME Applicants, in the School of Social Sciences

MPhil/PhD Studentships, including specific ring-fenced ones for BME applicants, in the School of Social Sciences

The School of Social Sciences at the University of Westminster is pleased to offer up to six Studentships for prospective PhD researchers starting in September 2023. Out of these, we plan for three to be ring-fenced for BME applicants from under-represented backgrounds. Located in the heart of London, the School of Social Sciences has an active research culture to which our well-established doctoral research programme makes a vital contribution. The School is fully committed to enabling a supportive and safe learning and working environment which is equitable, diverse and inclusive, based on mutual respect and trust, and in which harassment and discrimination are neither tolerated nor acceptable.

The School is home to the Centre for Psychological Sciences, Centre for the Study of Democracy and the Centre for Social Justice Research. Research in the School across these fields has an international reputation for excellence, as was confirmed by the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

The successful candidates will have exceptional research potential in one or more Social Science disciplines: Criminology, International Relations, Politics, Psychology or Sociology. We encourage multi-disciplinarity.

The University of Westminster has one of the most diverse student bodies in the UK, with a high percentage of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students. Yet some UK BME students remain under-represented at the higher levels of research, including at doctoral level. In the spirit of positive action, out of these six, we expect three full PhD studentships for UK-permanent residents who are from one of the following BME groups:

• Black (Black or Black British African, Black or Black British Caribbean, Black or Black British other or Mixed Black or Black British)
• Pakistani (Pakistani or Pakistani British, or Pakistani Mixed or Pakistani Mixed British)
• Bangladeshi (Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi British, or Bangladeshi Mixed or Bangladeshi Mixed British)

The studentships will consist of:

A fee waiver and an annual stipend of £19,668 (22/23 rate, raising each year in line with UKRI increases) for three years.* This includes London weighting.

Please note that while overseas fee-paying students may apply, the fee waived would be at the home/EU rate and successful applicants will need to pay the difference in the tuition fee if assessed as overseas. For the ‘BME specific studentships’, only UK-permanent residents may apply.

RESEARCH AREAS

We are looking for high-quality prospective doctoral students who will contribute to at least one of the key areas of research within the School listed below. We recommend you discuss your proposal with potential supervisors before submitting.

Centre for Psychological Sciences

• Health, stress and wellbeing (includes the Psychophysiology and Stress Research Group (PSRG)and Supporting Patients with Long Term Conditions (SPOC) Research Group)
• Learning and development
• Brain, cognition and perception
• Identity, self and society and forensic
• Investigative psychology

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/groups-and-centres/centre-for-psychological-sciences

Centre for the Study of Democracy

• Contemporary democratic theory and practice

• Critical International relations theory and practice
• Energy security, energy transitions, political economy of resources
• Governance, public policy, neoliberalism, complexity, anthropocene
• Politics of identity, gender, misogyny, race, sexuality, technology
• Postcolonial politics, nationalism, small states, Asian geopolitics
• States, security, development, rights, diplomacy, violence

www.westminster.ac.uk/csd

CSJR

• Prisons, probation, criminal justice, convict criminology
• Gender studies, queer theory, sexuality, embodiment
• Race and racism, policing, religion, social class
• Leisure studies, public space, gentrification
• Media activism, social movements
• Migration and border regimes, terrorism studies, trafficking, organised crime
• Family studies, young people, juvenile justice
• Sex education and sexual harm
• Education, critical pedagogies, prisoner education

The studentships will include a comprehensive personal and professional development training and mentoring programme provided through the University of Westminster Graduate School. The researchers will join a School that is strongly committed to decolonising and diversifying policies, practices and cultures within, and beyond, Higher Education. 

Entry requirements and how to apply

Candidates should normally have a minimum classification of 2.1 in their Bachelor Degree or equivalent and preferably a Masters degree. Applicants whose secondary level education has not been conducted in the medium of English should also demonstrate evidence of appropriate English language proficiency normally defined as IELTS: 6.5 (overall score with not less than 6.0 in any of the individual elements).

You can read more about what should be in a PhD research proposal here:

https://www.westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/entry-requirements/how-to-write-your-research-proposal

You can read more about our entry requirements here:

http://westminster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/entry-requirements

To make an application, follow the link below to apply for the programme most appropriate to your research.

https://srs21live.wmin.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=D09FRGEN&code2=0003&_ga=2.8032690.1297560125.1679901947-1894483864.1676910296

Applications should be submitted via UCAS by 5pm on 19 May 2023. Interviews will take place in June, through online video communication.

It is essential you include the title of the studentship in your application header i.e. “SSS Studentship”.

Note that the programme appears as MPhil on UCAS, however there is an option on the form to request PhD via MPhil, which is the standard route:

For queries about any aspect of the application process, or informal enquiries about areas of research, please contact the relevant research centre:

Centre for Psychological Sciences: a.doering@westminster.ac.uk

Centre for the Study of Democracy: PoliticsIRPhDenquiries@westminster.ac.uk

Centre for Social Justice Research: SocCrimPhDenquiries@westminster.ac.uk

* Minimum full-time enrolment before submission is 33 months. Fee waivers and maintenance are in place for the three-year studentship.  Following that there is a six month no fee period for writing up.  Should a doctoral research student not have submitted by the end of the no fee period then a £1,500 fee is applicable.

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