PhD Study : Critical Epistemologies

Summary

The School of Applied Social and Policy Studies encourages applications that interrogate systems of knowing, including both methods of verification, and how the interpretations these methods produce are linked in complex ways to ideology, class, gender, and race. We also encourage proposals that experiment with alternative ways of knowing, that draw from the epistemologies developed by groups and areas that lie beyond the scientific orthodoxy, with a view to synthesising approaches so that social experience and social reality can be more richly captured from multiple vantage points, upon which critical social theory can be developed.

This year the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences invites PhD proposal across six thematic areas: Power, social rights and justice; Method, evidence and theory for practitioners; Community Transformation; Policy, practice and peacemaking in divided societies; Critical Epistemologies; and Devolution and Brexit. Whilst applications must be submitted to one of the six themes, proposals that bring together two or more of these themes are actively encouraged.

For projects in “Critical Epistemologies” applicants are asked to develop and submit a 2000 word proposal. Proposals aligned with one or more of the follow sub-themes are particularly welcome (but proposals may also come from outside these sub-themes, consistent with the overall theme):

*Social Work, including mental health and wellbeing, decision making, risk assessment and the use of evidence in practice and policy;

*Social Policy, including poverty and disadvantage, voluntary sector, adult social care, welfare pluralism, reproductive rights, migration, policy narratives;

*Criminology and Justice, including prisons, human rights and criminal justice, truth recovery, state crime, crime mapping, cybercrime and terrorism;

*Politics, including gender, memory studies, ethnonationalism;

*Public Policy, including social impact, attitudes, governance and performance in public services;

*Youth and Community Studies, including grassroots perspectives on post-conflict transition, critical pedagogy, reflective praxis, dialogical education, intersectionality, person-centred approaches;

*Sociology, including race/ethnicity, child abuse, capabilities, narratives

Proposals must be submitted as part of the online application and are expected to be approximately 2,000 words long, covering at a minimum the basic building blocks of: research question or outline of the main PhD focus; review of existing relevant scholarship (literature review); proposed methodology, and likely significance/ contribution to the field.

In the first instance, please contact the named supervisor for further information regarding the theme and the suitability of your research proposal. They will also be able to forward your query to relevant subject experts within the school for further advice. For general enquiries please contact the School Research Director Dr Markus Ketola (m.ketola@ulster.ac.uk) or the Postgraduate Tutor Dr Shane MacGiollabhui (s.macgiollabhui@ulster.ac.uk).

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

• Sound understanding of subject area as evidenced by a comprehensive research proposal
• A comprehensive and articulate personal statement

Desirable Criteria

If the University receives a large number of applicants for the project, the following desirable criteria may be applied to shortlist applicants for interview.

• First Class Honours (1st) Degree
• Practice-based research experience and/or dissemination
• Experience using research methods or other approaches relevant to the subject domain
• Use of personal initiative as evidenced by record of work above that normally expected at career stage.

Funding and eligibility

The University offers the following levels of support:

Vice Chancellors Research Studentship (VCRS)

The following scholarship options are available to applicants worldwide:

• Full Award: (full-time tuition fees + £19,000 (tbc))
• Part Award: (full-time tuition fees + £9,500)
• Fees Only Award: (full-time tuition fees)

These scholarships will cover full-time PhD tuition fees for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance) and will provide a £900 per annum research training support grant (RTSG) to help support the PhD researcher.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Please note: you will automatically be entered into the competition for the Full Award, unless you state otherwise in your application.

Department for the Economy (DFE)

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

• Candidates with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who also satisfy a three year residency requirement in the UK prior to the start of the course for which a Studentship is held MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance.
• Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals who satisfy three years’ residency in the UK prior to the start of the course MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance (ROI nationals don’t need to have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to qualify).
• Other non-ROI EU applicants are ‘International’ are not eligible for this source of funding.
• Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies. Further information on cost of living