5 PhD studentships in interdisciplinary infancy research for entry in October 2015
Deadline for applications: 10 April, 2015
The Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme in Interdisciplinary Research on Infant Development is one of 14 Doctoral Programmes funded by the Leverhulme Trust over the next 5 years. The programme is based in the Psychology Department of Lancaster University (UK) which houses one of the largest infancy research groups in Europe, with researchers addressing infants’ cognitive, social and language development employing a large range of methods (eye tracking, EEG, computational modelling, NIRS). Links with other departments (Linguistics, Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics) are anticipated.
Applications are now open for five fully funded PhD studentships for entry in October 2015. Four of the scholarships will cover UK/EU fees, and the fifth will additionally cover the higher overseas (international) fees. All scholarships provide a living stipend (currently £13,863) and a training allowance for three years.
Studentships will have a strong interdisciplinary focus with the expectation to employ multiple methodologies. Awards will be made on the basis of academic excellence and potential for future achievement as demonstrated by your application and supporting references. In addition, you should consider how the research project you propose is aligned with the research interests of current academic staff involved in the Programme (see www.lancaster.ac.uk/leverhulme-dsp).
You are strongly encouraged to informally contact individual staff members to discuss your specific interests and to develop a research proposal.
PhD students will become part of the vibrant environment of the infancy research group and beyond with excellent research facilities and a first class supervision record. You will be encouraged to participate fully, targeting and presenting your work at international conferences, and you will have excellent opportunities to travel to our national and international partner laboratories, receive training in a range of psychological and neurophysiological techniques, participate in research and public engagement meetings, and meet with leading international scientists during an annual conference organized at Lancaster.
Lancaster University is in the top 10 under-50-year-old universities internationally (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2014/one-hundred-under-fifty), and consistently ranks in the top 10 in the UK. The Psychology Department has a very strong and supportive research atmosphere with a large and active group of graduate students. Students receive their own research support budgets, which can be used to attend national and international conferences.
We expect applicants to have excellent undergraduate and Masters degrees in Psychology or a related discipline.
You should apply online here: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/ for a PhD in Psychology by the deadline of 10 April 2015. In the application, please state that you are applying for the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme. We ask for a research proposal of up to 1000 words – note that this is different from standard applications because of the selection process involved. The application should identify an appropriate supervisor(s) and you must ensure that references have been provided by the deadline (otherwise the application may not be considered). After the deadline, applications will be reviewed and shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview, before award decisions are made.
For further information concerning the studentships, please contact Prof. Gert Westermann (g.westermann@lancaster.ac.uk), and about postgraduate study more generally, please contact the Department of Psychology postgraduate office (postgraduate.psychology@lancaster.ac.uk). See the Lancaster Leverhulme Scholarship Programme website http://www.lancs.ac.uk/leverhulme-dsp for more information. Further information about PhD study at Lancaster can be found here www.psych.lancs.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/.