Ph.D. Scholarship at the University of Glasgow

The prospective PhD candidate will be part of a vibrant PhD community within the School of Social and Political Sciences, which hosts about 60 PhD students in political science and international relations.  

The PhD researcher will benefit from a strong research environment. The project falls within the “comparative politics” cluster, which has a lively research culture, including a paper review series which meets fortnightly and attracts more than 20 participants from research staff and PGRs. The politics and IR subject area moreover has notable strength in the subfield of political behaviour and public opinion, with around half a dozen staff and a similar number of PGRs already in residence.

Furthermore, the PhD will be affiliated to the ERC-funded project “Democracy under Threat: How Education can save it” (DEMED), which is directed by Professor Anja Neundorf. As part of this project, the PhD will be integrated in a research cluster of several researchers and will have opportunities to interact with leading international scholars in democracy and autocracy research who will visit the University of Glasgow.

Project details

This PhD project will tackle a topic of tremendous current relevance, which has sparked considerable scientific and public interest: whether and why young people in established democracies are losing faith in a democratic form of government. In this project, a PhD student will use the large trove of existing cross-national survey data to investigate whether generational decline in democratic support is evident in the long-established Western democracies, and – if so – what the drivers of this decline are. The project will help resolve scholarly debate around generational decline in Western attachment to democracy, and will therefore feed into timely public discussions around democracy and its discontents. There will be a particular focus on testing the roles played by increasing inequality, growing polarisation, and declining civic education in generational erosion of public support.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria

• A good first degree (at least 2:1) in a social science discipline such as political science, international relations, sociology, or economics.
• A demonstratable interest in democratisation or comparative public opinion
• Basic knowledge of the principles and methods of quantitative social science research
• Basic knowledge of R or Stata, or willingness to learn
• Award details

The scholarship is available as a three year '+3' (PhD only). The programme will commence in October 2020.  It includes

A stipend indexed to the RCUK rate (2020-21 rate £15,285 Full-Time).
100% Tuition Fee Waiver at the standard Home/EU or International rate.
Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) of up to £2,250 over 3 years (usually up to a maximum of £750 per year).
Further information

The PhD candidate will be supervised by Professor Anja Neundorf and Dr Christopher Claassen

Application process

All applicants should complete and collate the following documentation, and then attach to a single email and send to socsci-scholarships@glasgow.ac.uk with the subject line 'CoSS PhD Scholarship - Are young people losing faith in democracy?'

• College of Social Sciences funding application cover sheet
• Academic transcript(s): Final and current degree transcripts including grades and degree certificates (and an official translation, if needed) - scanned copy in colour of the original document/s
• Degree Certificate(s) and an official translation, if needed - scanned copy in colour of the original document/s
• References: 2 references on headed paper (academic and/or professional) - one must be academic, the other can be academic or professional. If required, these can be sent from your referees directly to socsci-scholarships@glasgow.ac.uk, with your full name and the CoSS scholarship title to which you are applying as the subject
• Curiculum Vitae (CV)

Cover letter detailing the following:

• Your research interests.
• A detailed course description of your Master's research training
• Details of any other relevant training and skills you have.
• Your long-term career goals.
• A short statement (max 1,000 words) explaining how the above fit with, and can add to, the research project.

The cover letter should be a single document with the file named as follows *Yourname_Neundorf_CoSSPhDScholarship_Date*

Applicants lodge their application via email: socsci-scholarships@glasgow.ac.uk

Closing Date: 08 May 2020

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by a selection panel and will be notified if they have been shortlisted for interview by 15 May 2020. Interviews will take place on/by 22 May 2020.

All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programme within the School of Social and Political Sciences. Successful scholarship applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme after they are selected for funding.

Key contact

Professor Anja Neundorf: Anja.Neundorf@glasgow.ac.uk