ESRC CASE PhD Studentship (fully funded): Returning C. Wright Mills to the Study of Military Power: An Investigative Methods Approach for Analysing Military Elite Influence in UK Parliamentary Processes

The Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Liverpool in collaboration with ForcesWatch invites applications for this fully-funded ESRC CASE PhD Studentship from the North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP).

This will commence October 2025.

This CASE project investigates the involvement of non-governmental military entities - advocating on behalf of the British defence estate - within UK Parliament. Framed by the sociological theorising of C.Wright Mills, modelled on NCRM Investigative Methods, and building on research by the collaborative partner to this CASE application (ForcesWatch), this project will:

(i) assemble open source ‘trace data’ to pursue an investigative analysis of non-governmental military entities;

(ii) connect found ‘trace data’ to ‘evidentiary evidence’ scrutinising their obscure involvement in UK Parliament;

(iii) realise and reveal - for the first time - the impacts and influences of non-governmental military entities on political advocacy and policy support for the UK Armed Forces and defence estate;

(iv) share its findings as a unique investigative ‘intervention’ into the role of ‘military elites’ in British democracy; and

(v) contribute new and impactful knowledge to make an original contribution to ESRC strategy and priorities.

Person specification

As per the ESRC CASE Studentship guidelines, we welcome applications from candidates who have a First Class or upper 2:1 undergraduate degree and a postgraduate degree awarded with a Distinction or Merit in social science (i.e. sociology, social policy, or criminology) or cognate discipline (i.e. politics, critical military studies, international relations). In line with core skills training requirements of the ESRC Postgraduate Training and Development Guidelines we are seeking to appoint a candidate with a strong profile of relevant qualitative research interests and training (i.e. preferably relating to elements of investigative methods), ideally with some quantitative and/or data visualisation skills (but not essential). The candidate should also have interests and/or expertise in the project’s subject matter (i.e. military elites, military power, UK Armed Forces, critical military studies, lobbying, defence spending, etc.).

This PhD studentship is only available to UK/Home students.

Details of the post

This studentship will commence in October 2025 and provide funding for between 3.5 and 4 years, depending on the background and previous training of the successful candidate. Funding will be provided for this period (dependent on successful progression) including academic tuition fees up to the Home rate (£5,006 in 2025/26) and a maintenance stipend fixed at the UKRI level (£20,780 in 2025/26). Additionally, the successful candidate will also have access to an NWSSDTP Research Training Support Grant for eligible research expenses.

Application process

Applications for this ESRC CASE PhD Studentship should be sent by email to the School of Law and Social Justice’s PGR Team slsjpgr@liverpool.ac.uk with the subject line ‘NWSSDTP CASE Award: Military Elites’. To apply, please submit:

• Up-to-date academic CV
• Two academic referees (one of whom should be your most recent academic tutor/supervisor)
• A letter of application (maximum 500 words) outlining clearly how your previous qualifications and experience demonstrate the person specification outlined above, what previous skills/experience you might bring to the project, and how you anticipate your background/expertise related to the topics addressed in this project would help inform your approach to the research.
• Copies/confirmation of your University qualifications.

For queries or further information about the project, please contact Dr. Ross McGarry (S.R.Mcgarry@liverpool.ac.uk) or Dr Joe Greener (jgreener@liverpool.ac.uk).

The deadline for applications is 5pm (GMT+1) on Monday 16^th June 2025.

We will look to invite shortlisted candidates for a virtual interview, via Microsoft Teams on w/c 7^th July 2025. If you have not received any contact from the University by Monday 30^th June 2025, you can assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.