PhD scholarships at the University of Edinburgh

Applications are invited for up to 10 funded PhD studentships in Politics and International Relations (PIR) at the University of Edinburgh.  We seek PhD candidates in all subfields of politics, international relations and political theory with a proven track record of academic excellence.  Candidates will be judged on past academic performance, the quality of the research proposal and fit with departmental research expertise.

In addition to the funding opportunities listed below, awards made for studies commencing in 2016/17 will include PIR Career Development PhD Scholarships, which will include training and development focussing, usually, on one career development area – contributions in teaching, for example, involving c. 180 hours per academic session.

There is no separate application process for these – all PIR applicants applying via the route for Graduate School of Social and Political Science PhD Scholarships will also be considered for PIR Career Development PhD Scholarships.

PIR at Edinburgh is one of the leading departments in the UK and was rated top for research environment in the last Research Excellent Framework 2014 and 6th in the UK overall.  PhD students form a vital part of this research environment and participate in research, undergraduate teaching and PIR research groups. PIR offers a range of training opportunities for PhD students. Incoming students take courses in Theory and Practice, as well as a range of research design and methods courses.  We employ double supervision arrangements, so that each student has two supervisors to gain access to a wide range of substantive and methodological expertise.  Our students go on to pursue successful careers in academia and in other fields and have recently won both BISA and PSA dissertation prizes.

Students interested to apply for funding could first consult our PhD application pages for general guidance on the application process. They must submit two separate applications, one for admission to the PhD and another for funding.  When preparing an application for admission students are strongly encouraged to make initial contact with a potential supervisor and/or the Director of Admissions (shaun.bevan@ed.ac.uk).

Information on the application procedure can be found at:

http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/prospective/phd_programmes/phd_politics_and_international_relations

A list of potential supervisors may be found here:

http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/prospective/phd_programmes/phd_politics_and_international_relations/supervisors_and_topics

In addition to submitting an application for admission students will also need to apply for one or more of the following funding awards (General funding information is http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/prospective/phd_programmes/phd_politics_and_international_relations/funding)

For further information please contact the PhD Admissions contact in PIR, Dr Shaun Bevan shaun.bevan@ed.ac.uk