Sustainable Consumption Institute

Fully funded ESRC CASE Studentship University of Manchester/Unilever. Practices on the move: Investigating trajectories of water and energy consumption in China

Project Description

This full time, three year PhD studentship, starting in September 2016, is fully funded by the ESRC CASE studentship scheme (ESRC NWDTC), together with the University of Manchester and Unilever. CASE studentships involve a PhD student working in partnership with an organisation to undertake a study which is designed to be relevant to the organisation. This creates an invaluable opportunity for students to undertake a PhD which bridges academic and professional concerns, having a direct impact in a professional context whilst also producing a PhD thesis.

This PhD will explore the trajectories and transitions of everyday life, resource consumption, and sustainability in China. It will be supervised through Geography at University of Manchester (Drs Alison Browne, Saska Petrova) and Unilever (Dr Anna Thomas, Ilse Gortemaker) as well as being connected to the multidisciplinary Sustainable Consumption Institute, UoM.

The studentship project

The overall academic aim of the PhD is to develop critical understandings of how the everyday practices that underpin household water and energy consumption in China – for example laundry, personal washing, cooking and cleaning – are being influenced and changed by economic, political and socio-spatial transformations of cities and urban household infrastructures. This PhD will add to an increasing body of research from human and cultural geography (and associated disciplines such as sociology, design, architecture, innovation studies) exploring everyday geographies (de Certeau, 1984, 1998; Hitchings et al., 2014; Lefebvre, 1991), theories of practice (Shove et al., 2012; Watson, 2012), experimental methods for intervening with practices (eg., Davies & Doyle, 2015), and related accounts of infrastructural change (Petrova et al., 2013b). This PhD project reflects an opportunity for the PhD researcher to develop this conceptual, empirical and impact focused research to address the issues of sustainability and consumption in the Global South.

These academic aims support the policy/business aim to develop a conceptual framework that reflects how companies such as Unilever (and other coalitions of stakeholders in business and policy) can facilitate and support the development of more sustainable water and energy using practices in China.  

Reflecting the mechanisms that underpin these ‘Practices on the Move’ the PhD researcher - drawing on their own skills and research interests - will develop conceptual and empirical resources to explore approaches to sustainability interventions that more deeply reflect the complexities of everyday practices and the myriad of elements that shape their current and future trajectories. The project is likely to take place in four stages: i) literature review, documentary and policy review ii) policy interviews with key policy/NGO and academic actors in China iii) qualitative interviews and home tours and iv) co-producing an novel experimentation into energy and water consumption.

Person specification

• Applicants must hold a Bachelors degree equivalent to a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours UK degree.
• They must also have (or expect to gain) a Masters degree (or overseas equivalent) at minimum Merit level (with a coursework/examination average of 60% or more and a dissertation mark of 60% or more, with no mark below 50%) or above in a relevant social science discipline (geography, sociology, anthropology, etc). Preference will be given to candidates who performed at distinction level (70% or higher) or equivalent. The masters needs to be ESRC recognised or contain a substantial research methods (qualitative and quantitative) training component. In the absence of methods training within the Masters the candidate will need to demonstrate extensive research experience.
• Applicants will preferably have research or policy experience on everyday geographies of everyday practices, energy and water demand, theories of practice, and/or related accounts of infrastructural change; and hold knowledge of relevant academic debates in Geography, and associated disciplines (such as sociology, design, architecture or innovation studies) as they apply to the research topic.
• Candidates must satisfy the ESRC's academic and residential eligibility requirements and be UK (full award) or EU citizens (fees only). Find out more about eligibility here:
  http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/postgraduates/prospective-students/eligibility/
• Applicants should state in their CV if they have any proficiencies in Chinese language (or indicate a willingness to learn throughout the PhD award)

Financial support

The ESRC CASE studentship and the support from the University of Manchester covers academic fees (see above about residential eligibility); provides a stipend (£14,057 in 2015/16 – rate subject to confirmation from the RCUK for 2016/17); and a generous research allowance funded by Unilever to support international fieldwork and research related expenses (~£25K). Successful candidates may be able to apply to the ESRC NWDTC for Difficult Language Training to gain Chinese language skills.  Continuation of the award is subject to satisfactory performance.

Further information

• Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting, interviews should be directed to: Dr Alison Browne alison.browne@manchester.ac.uk and Dr Saska Petrova saska.petrova@manchester.ac.uk .
• Applicants should be aware that the nature of this project will involve periods of time away from the home base of Manchester (e.g., prolonged fieldwork in China; periods of working at Unilever offices in Port Sunlight /Liverpool -UK, China, Netherlands).
• The successful applicant will be required to submit a full application for a PhD in Geography, University of Manchester.
• Interviews are expected to take place in Manchester on Monday 8^th February or Tuesday 9^th February 2016. Candidates invited for interview are expected to cover their own travel expenses.

Application

Apply by Monday 25^th January 2016 5pm GMT by emailing alison.browne@manchester.ac.uk  the following:

• A full academic CV: including two named referees (one of whom should be your most recent academic tutor/supervisor)
• A copy of your first degree and Master’s degree transcripts (or anticipated grade if masters is ongoing)
• A letter of application (not exceeding two pages) outlining your suitability for the CASE studentship and how you would anticipate approaching the research