A few weeks ago I gave preliminary notice of our success in obtaining an ESRC Phd Studentship to study Scotland’s Town Centres. This is a three year collaborative award with myself and Anne Findlay as the Academic Supervisors and Matthew Hopkinson and the Local Data Company as the collaborators and advisors.

I am now delighted to formally announce that applications are open – as detailed below and in the attachments. The advert can be found here.

Applications are invited for an ESRC Collaborative PhD studentship on “Scotland’s Town Centres: New Understandings of Retail Structure, Vacancy, Churn and Resilience” in the Marketing and Retail Division of Stirling Management School, University of Stirling.

Full details of the project, which is an ESRC funded three year studentship in collaboration between Professor Leigh Sparks of the Institute for Retail Studies, University of Stirling and the Local Data Company, can be found here

I welcome informal conversations with potential applicants (and indeed encourage and advise this), and can be contacted at leigh.sparks@stir.ac.uk or on 01786 467384.

The Studentship

The studentship attracts the following funding (2015/16 and 2016/17 increases on this are yet to be confirmed)

2014/15
Standard maintenance grant £13,863
Fees £3,996
Research Training Support Grant £750
Overseas fieldwork support £450

Requirements and Application process
Candidates must have a good upper second class honours degree or equivalent in a subject relevant to the field of study and a relevant and have completed or be in the final stages of an ESRC accepted Master’s degree. An MRes or equivalent degree with a high level of research training content would be an advantage. English language requirements are IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6 in each skill), TOEFL 577/233, or equivalent. ESRC eligibility criteria can be found at here.

Prospective students should formally apply through e-mail to Mrs Lisa Reid (lisa.reid@stir.ac.uk) with the subject line: “PhD Studentship on Scotland’s Towns”. The application must include a full CV, documenting qualifications and any relevant previous experience and existing skill sets. Applicants should further provide a covering letter of approximately 1,000 words. This letter should refer in detail to the research proposal provided and demonstrate a strong interest in the proposed research, as well as the candidate’s aptitude/skills that make her or him particularly suitable for conducting this research.

The CV and covering letter will be used to shortlist candidates for interview. The successful candidate must then subsequently formally apply for a place on the university’s PhD programme; the studentship offer will be conditional on the student being accepted for this. The selected candidate will also need to be approved by the Scottish Graduate School-Doctoral Training Centre.

Closing date: 23rd May 2014
Proposed start date: 1st October 2014