Psychology Doctoral Research Studentship - Individual differences in colour experience (2022)

What you get

• A stipend for 3 years (tied to the UKRI studentship rates, currently £15,609 p.a.) to cover living costs
• UK Home fees and research/training costs are also covered.
• International students may apply for this Home/UK studentship but must fund the difference between UK Home fees and International fees (approximately £18,500 per year). One option is self-funding.
• The School has one Scholarship available for an International student which covers a 3 year stipend AND Overseas fees. It will be very competitive and you will be considered alongside applicants from across Psychology. If you wish to be considered for funding for overseas fees then please indicate this in your application.  
• You will also be expected to take up Doctoral Tutoring during your 6 semesters (3 years) of funding. This work is paid at Grade 5.1 (currently £13.88 per hour), and covers contact time, preparation and marking. You will be expected to work approximately 165 hours per year, dependent on modules selected and availability.

 

Type of award

Postgraduate Research

PhD project

A PhD studentship is available as part of the ERC-funded project COLOURCODE’, investigating the neural basis of subjective colour experience. The PhD student will use individual differences in colour perception to explore the constraints placed on subjective colour experience by neural hardware and environment. For instance, does the presence of an extra receptor type (e.g. in women carrying a gene for anomalous trichromacy) confer an extra dimension of subjective colour experience? Can dichromats (with only two receptor types) experience the same colours subjectively as normal trichromats (with three)? Do the environments that different observers inhabit calibrate their subjective colour experience? The project will use psychophysical methods, and for interested students there is also the possibility of using EEG and/or fMRI.

The PhD student will become part of the COLOURCODE team supervised by Dr. Jenny Bosten. There is a thriving vision science community at the University of Sussex studying vision and colour perception at all levels from retinal processes in animals (e.g. Professor Tom Baden and Professor Daniel Osorio), to the many facets of human colour perception (Bosten and Professor Anna Franklin), to high level cognition and consciousness (e.g. Professor Jamie Ward and Professor Anil Seth). The PhD student would become part of the Sussex Vision lab and the Sussex Colour Group, benefitting from the expertise and collaboration of all researchers involved.

Doctoral Tutor role: 

Doctoral Tutors will begin teaching in the second term of their studies. You will be encouraged to study for a formal teaching accreditation (Associate of the Higher Education Academy), including enrolling on a ‘starting to teach’ module in the first term before you begin teaching. Candidates who demonstrate suitability for, and express interest in, the additional Doctoral Tutor role will be preferred. 

 

Eligibility

• This award will only pay fees at the Home/UK rate. International students may apply but must fund the difference between the Home fees and International Fees (this fee difference is currently £18,500 per year). International students are also welcome to apply for the Psychology Doctoral Research Studentship (International) naming Jenny Bosten as the potential supervisor. 
• Candidates must have, or expect to obtain, a First or a high Upper Second Class Honours undergraduate degree, or equivalent qualification, and/or a Merit (an average of 60% overall) in a Master's degree, in Psychology or a related discipline. The project requires strong technical skills, experience in programming (e.g. Matlab) is desirable.
• The University of Sussex believes that the diversity of its staff and student community is fundamental to creative thinking, pedagogic innovation, intellectual challenge, and the interdisciplinary approach to research and learning. We celebrate and promote diversity, equality and inclusion amongst our staff and students. As such, we welcome applications from all, regardless of personal characteristics or background. 

Number of scholarships available

one

Deadline

18 January 2022 23:59

How to apply

• Please read our Psychology PhD FAQS before you start your application.
• Please submit your application online for 'PhD in Psychology' for entry in September 2022.

• In the 'Supervisor suggested by applicant' section of your application, put 'Jenny Bosten'.
• In the 'Proposed source of funding' section of your application, please put 'Joint funded Psychology and the European Research Council Doctoral Studentship. If you are an International student liable for overseas fees, please also indicate whether you wish to be considered for the Psychology Doctoral Research Studentship (International). 

Candidates should provide: 

• A research proposal that outlines your knowledge of the research area, hypotheses that could be addressed in your PhD, and an outline of potential methods. The research proposal should be approximately 1,000 to 1,500 words in length and not exceed 3 pages, including references. It should be set at a minimum of 10 font type with margins a minimum of 1cm.
• Current degree transcript(s) with full details of performance on all completed courses. 
• Two academic references.
• An up-to-date CV.
• A document summarising any teaching experience you have and illustrating your suitability for a Doctoral Tutor role. 
• International students who are liable to pay overseas fees should also upload a document explaining how you will cover the difference between home and overseas fees if you are not awarded the Psychology Doctoral Research Studentship (International). 

Contact us

For queries with respect to the application process: psychologyphd-enquiries@sussex.ac.uk 

To discuss the details of your research interests further, please contact Jenny Bosten.

 

Timetable

Deadline: Tuesday 18 January 2022 (23:59)

Interviews (in person or on Zoom): early February 2022

Decisions: before end of February 2022