1 x ESRC funded Centre for Care PhD studentship to be based in Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield: The Care Workforce in Re-Bordered Britain

The ESRC Centre for Care is pleased to offer a PhD studentship based in the Department of Sociological Studies. The Centre is led by investigators in five universities, three major charities and the Office for National Statistics, and works in close partnership with a large network of partners and leading international research teams.

We believe that a diverse and supportive environment, bringing varied perspectives to our work and allowing people to blossom, is the best platform for excellent research. We actively encourage applications from those who share these values, and we especially welcome applications from disabled people and individuals with Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic and Refugee backgrounds.

The PhD will be situated within the Care Trajectories & Constraints Research Group.  It will be embedded within a research study exploring how changes to the UK’s migration regime since Brexit are impacting the social care workforce, including its super-diversification in terms of migration categories and statuses, and the implications of this for workers and employers. The PhD will have a particular focus on understanding how the recent decision to limit migrant care workers’ rights to bring family members is impacting the lived experience of migrant care workers and their families, and in situating that decision and people’s experiences of it within wider discussion of the (post)colonial logic of the post-Brexit migration regime. Methods will include policy analysis and qualitative interviews.

The successful student will be supervised by Professor Majella Kilkey and
Professor Sundari Anitha.

Interested candidates should contact Professor Majella Kilkey (M.Kilkey@sheffield.ac.uk).

This studentship is available on a 1+3 (which includes an integrated Masters year) or +3 basis, either full time or part-time.

Admission Criteria

• A strong first degree (2.1 or a first class honours) ideally in a relevant social science subject.
• Candidates applying on a +3 basis must have obtained at least a Merit (or equivalent) at Master’s level and have at least 60 credits at Master’s level of core social sciences research methods training.
• For those candidates for whom English is not their first language or who do not possess a degree from an educational institution using the English language for instruction, candidates must meet the minimum IELTS requirement of an IELTS average of 6.5 or above (with not less than 6.0 in any component), or equivalent.

How to Apply

Please apply through the University of Sheffield Postgraduate Application System; select CFC001 as the programme for which you are applying. For further information and resources on the application process, please click here.

Your application should include:

• 1,000-2,000-word research proposal- for guidance on how to write a proposal, please click here
• Supporting statement / cover letter
• Transcripts (previous qualifications)
• Two academic references
• CV
• Example of your written work.

The deadline is Wednesday 22 May. Interviews will be online on Monday 10 June.

The studentship covers:

• Full tuition fees at the Home rate (minimum £4,786 per year)
• An annual maintenance grant for each year of the award, at the standard RCUK rate (minimum £19,237 for 2024-25 per year for your living costs, paid in regular instalments), pro rata for a part-time student
• A Research and Training Support Grant worth £750 per year.

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