Project Description
This full time 3 year PhD studentship, starting in September 2019, is fully funded by The University of Manchester and based at Global Development Institute.
As a doctoral candidate, you will be part of the Migration, Refugees and Asylum research group and the Migration Lab. There will also be opportunities to contribute to current teaching programmes by working as a Teaching Assistant on migration-related modules.
You will be supervised by Dr Tanja Bastia and Dr Oliver Bakewell.
The studentship project
The majority of international migration from the global South is towards other countries of the global South. However, research on global migration has been skewed towards the analysis of migration towards the global North. The UKRI GCRF South-South Migration, Inequality and Development Hub has been established to help redress this balance with a programme of research to explore how the movement of people in the Global South is affecting inequality and development in less developed regions. The Global Development Institute (GDI) in the School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) is involved in this project and researchers at GDI are focusing on changing relationships of gender, poverty and inequality in five South-South migration ‘corridors’: Burkina Faso – Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana – China, Ethiopia –South Africa, Nepal – Malaysia, Haiti – Brazil. The full time 3 year PhD studentship is fully funded (Home-fee status) by The University of Manchester and is associated with this research hub.
Below are examples of research questions that will be relevant to the work on the Hub. We would expect your doctoral project to focus on one of these or a closely related theme:
- How do gender and income inequalities shape peoples’ aspirations and abilities to migrate?
- What are the different ways in which migration affects poverty and gender inequality?
- What consequences does migration have for gender and/or income inequalities in countries of origin and/or destination?
- What is the nature of gendered social networks and what consequences does this have for gender inequalities?
Person specification
We are looking for an outstanding PhD candidate who will develop an independent research project broadly related to gender, poverty and/or inequality in one or more of these corridors mentioned above.
Eligibility criteria
Academic:
- Bachelor degree with First Class or Upper Second Class Honours (or international equivalent)
- Master degree at Merit minimum with a minimum grade of 65% in the dissertation and a minimum taught average grade of 65% (or international equivalent)
We would also welcome previous experience of working in a development context and any relevant language skills.
Residential:
Candidates must satisfy residential eligibility requirements and be eligible for Home-fee status.
English language:
Candidates whose first language is not English require one of the following certificates:
- IELTS test minimum scores – 7 overall, 7 writing, 6 other sections
- TOEFL (internet based) test minimum scores – 100 overall, 25 writing, 22 other sections
- Pearson Test of English (PTE) minimum scores – 66 overall, 66 writing, 59 other sections
Application process
The application deadline for this studentship will be Monday 25th March at 5pm. All supporting documents must be received by the deadline and sent as a zip file to SEED PGR Funding using ‘South-South Migration’ as the email subject.
Essential requirements:
- Full CV
- Personal statement of no more than 700 words indicating why you would like to undertake this studentship award and explaining how your particular focus links to the Hub’s research agenda. Please include information of your relevant work or research experience and any language skills.
- Example of a piece of academic writing produced by the applicant of up to 5,000 words. (Applicants may consider submitting two shorter pieces if these deal separately with conceptual and empirical analyses). This may be an academic essay or a chapter(s) from a master’s dissertation or, in which case, an abstract or introduction outlining the context/aims/research questions of the study must also be included.
- Names and contact details of two academic referees who are able to comment on the applicant’s suitability for PhD study and to undertake the advertised project
Desirable requirements:
- Outline PhD proposal that gives an indication of your theoretical and/or practical interests and particular research focus (max 2,500 words).
Financial support
The studentship covers academic fees, provides an annual Maintenance Stipend (£15,009) and access to a Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) for reimbursement of research related expenses including, but not limited to: conference attendance, training courses and UK fieldwork.
Interviews
Interviews will take place on Thursday 4th April 2019
Further information
If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please get in touch with Dr Tanja Bastia or Dr Oliver Bakewell