Two 3-year PhD studentships on “Innovation and Policy Acceleration” at SPRU, University of Sussex Business School. (2024)

What you get

The PhD studentships are offered for a maximum of three years, renewable on a yearly basis, subject to satisfactory performance on the doctoral degree. The successful candidate will receive a full fee waiver plus a stipend equivalent to the UKRI doctoral stipend, currently £18,622 per annum, paid each year in three termly instalments (typically in October, January and April). In order to prepare students for academic careers, individuals receiving a studentship will be offered the possibility to undertake some teaching and/or marking activities in the School, of up to a maximum of six hours per week during term time, or to apply for any part-time Research Assistant roles that may become available. Any teaching undertaken will be paid at grade 6 of the University’s Doctoral Tutor salary scale in addition to the stipend.

Type of award

Postgraduate Research Studentships

PhD project

The department:

The PhD will be based in the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex Business School. Established in 1966, SPRU conducts research, consultancy and postgraduate teaching in the area of science, technology, and innovation policy. SPRU comprises over 70 faculty and 40 doctoral students and is ranked third in the world and the highest in the UK in a global list of think tanks in science and technology. SPRU has a track record of mentoring researchers from different backgrounds and training them to produce interdisciplinary social science research that is highly relevant to policymakers and other stakeholders.

The Bennett Centre for Innovation and Policy Acceleration aims to be a world-leading research centre focused on bringing about societal impact for the betterment of humanity. Its mission is to accelerate the development of urgently needed policies and practices to tackle society’s greatest challenges.The successful students will be invited to take part in Bennett Centre meetings and related research and engagement activities.

The research area:

This PhD studentships will explore accelerating policies or other interventions to halt and reverse climate change by bringing together academic research, insights from corporate executives, entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers, and engaging directly with policymakers.  The Bennett Centre’s innovative approach thus represents a paradigm shift which will:

• set a new pace for policy change that is based on scientific evidence gathered, synthesised and provided to policymakers;
• proactively address the climate crisis with unparalleled speed, whilst retaining scientific rigour;
• operate with great agility to respond to unforeseen geosocial and political crises arising from climate change, including new patterns of migration and food scarcity;
• transcend short-term political agendas and party-political boundaries;
• collaborate with governments and NGOs internationally, to ensure policy change on the global scale required to effectively address these grand challenges.
• Climate change has major implications for global health, innovations, population health outcomes, in particular and more broader disease conditions and one studentship would likely focus on these issues.

Research excellence will be coupled with shaping policy and impact, with clear and actionable reports directly delivered to policymakers while meetings will be held regularly with key stakeholders. An annual Policy Acceleration Summit will provide a critical platform for the exploration and recommendation of evidence-driven targets, and a review of progress against those targets.

Possible topics for research projects include:

• changes in sustainability behaviour and practice, both locally and globally;
• net-zero industry policies in heavy industry, production and manufacturing processes;
• policies that bring about energy and climate justice, at all scales;
• conceptualizing “acceleration” and generating a framework for rapid, deep, sustained sociotechnical change;
• identification of other areas of social importance (food security, poverty, migration, national security) in need of innovation and policy acceleration and techniques to address them.

Eligibility

The studentship is available for UK/EU and overseas applicants. Applicants should have a minimum upper second class honours degree, and already have, or currently be studying for, a Master’s degree in a related subject, or equivalent qualification if a non-UK applicant. A good level pass is usually required for the Master’s degree. Proof of proficiency in English is also required, i.e., an IELTS certificate taken within the last two years showing at least 6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in each of the four sections.

Number of scholarships available

Two.

Deadline

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for a studentship, you need to first apply for a PhD place in Science and Technology Policy Studies at the University of Sussex Business School, including a research proposal addressing one of the research topics above or a closely related topic. Details of the application process are available here: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply but you can also address questions relating to the application process to business-researchstudents@sussex.ac.uk.

We welcome applications from suitably qualified people, regardless of ethnicity, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, and working patterns.

Contact us

For general questions relating to the application process, contact business-researchstudents@sussex.ac.uk. Informal enquiries in relation to ideas for research topics may be made to the Director of the Bennett Institute for Innovation and Policy Acceleration, Benjamin Sovacool (B.Sovacool@sussex.ac.uk).