Category: Studentships

Erasmus U Rotterdam: PhD Studentship in Doing Diversity (Netherlands)

“Studentships“Doing Diversity: Street-level decisions in super diverse neighborhoods Ph.D. Studentship, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. Deadline: 31 July 2025.

New levels of migration and mobility have changed the face of European cities, such as Malmö. This had led to changing ‘superdiverse’ social realities, especially in ‘majority-minority’ neighbourhoods. The novelty of this emerging situation creates challenging circumstances particularly for ‘street-level workers’ such as teachers, police officers and healthcare professionals. This demands renewed understanding of the decision-making process of street-level workers.

This PhD project ‘ICONIC’ (‘International Comparative research Of street-level decisions in superdiverse Neighbourhoods In Context’) funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO Vidi grant) and led by dr. Mark van Ostaijen, will comparatively study street-level decisions in superdiverse neighbourhoods and investigate whether and why these decisions differ between Malmö, Aarhus, Bilbao, Marseille, Rotterdam and Antwerp.

This 4-year PhD project is grounded in Rotterdam, but in strong collaboration with Malmö University. Therefore, you will be based at Erasmus University Rotterdam but for the fieldwork phase, collaboration is ensured with Malmö Institute for Migration Studies (MIM) which provides with the support base to conduct qualitative fieldwork in Malmö and Aarhus. As such, this PhD project does not require additional funding, nor means to conduct fieldwork, which is all covered by project funding.

Next to qualitative and ethnographic research skills it is important that the PhD candidate holds Swedish, English (and Danish) language skills.

A second studentship is available for the same project, but with fieldwork in Bilbao and Marseille. In that case, it is important that the PhD candidate holds Spanish (Basque), English (and French) language skills.

U Limerick PhD Studentship: ID Compression (Ireland)

“Studentships“PhD studentship in Psychology to work with the project ID-Compression, University of Limerick, Ireland. Deadline: 10 July 2025.

There are 2 studentships available for this project; the one that is most likely of interest to followers of this Center is for a PhD in Social Sciences with an interest in Social Identity.

The ERC-funded ID-COMPRESSION project explores the idea that issue-based polarization is information compressibility, where attitudes provide redundant (i.e. compressible) information about groups and identity. This framework conceptualizes people holding attitudes as a social information system where people are located by their own attitudes and can easily locate each-other in the social system from a few expressed attitudes. The more compressible the social information system, the fewer bits of information are required to locate people within it. These ideas flow from the social identity and social representations approaches to attitudes. Team members are particularly excited to explore conversion pathways where, they hypothesize, people’s willingness to adopt an idea will depend on their current location in the social information system. The PhD candidates will work as part of this team testing these ideas with secondary data, social experiments and simulations. They will particularly explore whether and how information becomes compressible when it is passed through simple social networks, whether social information compression maps to polarization (e.g. that people compress social information more in highly polarized contexts), and will experimentally test the concept of conversion pathways. Applied mathematicians in the group will develop metrics and methods for estimating compressibility, and for mapping it to other measures of polarization

NTNU PhD Studentship: Social Work, International Migration, Refugee Studies (Norway)

“Studentships“PhD Candidate in Social work, with a focus on international migration and refugee studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Deadline: 29 June 2025.

This three-years position is a part of the ANCHOR: Advancing Neighborhood, Community, and HOusing for the integration of Refugee families, an inter-disciplinary project funded under the NTNU’s strategic research area: Community. ANCHOR focuses on how housing and neighborhood environments can support refugee families’ wellbeing, social integration, and sense of belonging. This position will focus on Norwegian municipal contexts, examining how physical and social aspects of housing intersect with the everyday lives of refugee families with children.

ANCHOR investigates how entangled social, political, and environmental processes shape the housing experiences, wellbeing, and sense of belonging among refugee families in Norway. By focusing on non-linear and sometimes unexpected outcomes of policy, planning, and community design, the project aims to reveal how conventional approaches can inadvertently deepen uncertainties or, conversely, foster more inclusive forms of community life.

Challenging the traditional separation of social from material and environmental factors, ANCHOR takes a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, drawing on social and architectural anthropology, urban planning, social work, childhood studies, and public health. Central to this endeavor is an emphasis on intersectionality, which recognizes that factors such age, gender, cultural background, and generational dynamics can shape different layers of vulnerability or resilience within refugee families. Methodologically, the project combines creative, participatory methods with established qualitative techniques. This multi-method strategy seeks to co-create knowledge with refugee families, local communities, NGOs, and municipal authorities.

This project is a collaboration among the Departments of Architecture and Planning, Social Work and Public Health and Nursing, and it includes two PhD positions. The successful PhD candidate will work closely with their counterpart in the Department of Architecture and Planning. Norwegian and English are the main languages in use at the Department.

U Hamburg: 3 PHD Studentships in Linguistic Diversity and Social Participation Across the Lifespan (Germany)

“Studentships“3 Ph.D. Research Associates for the project Linguistic Diversity and Social Participation Across the Lifespan, University of Hamburg, Germany. Deadline: 15 June 2025.

The Faculty of Education at the University of Hamburg is a leader in conducting innovative and future-oriented research related to the educational and social consequences of diversity resulting from migration and globalization. This strength is now further expanded through the award of a Humboldt Professorship to Distinguished Professor Ingrid Piller as part of the faculty research center “Literacy in Diversity Settings (LiDS).”

The Humboldt Professorship is devoted to “Linguistic Diversity and Social Participation across the Lifespan” and is closely integrated with the activities of the Language on the Move platform. The research focus will be on migrant language socialization, language learning, and settlement across the lifespan and outside of institutions of formal education. This includes digital spaces as well as language brokering and other forms of informal language assistance that often undergird institutional communications in linguistically diverse societies.

Your responsibilities: Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue independent research and further academic qualifications. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties. This is a unique opportunity to become part of an education-focused research center that aims to make major contributions to social cohesion in linguistically diverse societies.

U Groningen: PHD Studentship in Mediatizing the Homeland (Netherlands)

“Studentships“Mediatizing the Homeland: Diasporic Imaginaries of Palestine Ph.D. Studentship, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands. Deadline: 30 April 2025.

Fully funded four-year PhD position for the project Mediatizing the Homeland, positioned at the intersection of digital media, decolonial and diaspora studies. As a candidate, you will part of the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen, engaging with a thriving community of scholars at the forefront of critical media research. This PhD project offers a unique opportunity to work in an international environment and to acquire valuable research experience at a top-ranked European university. As a PhD student, you will develop your own research project in consultation with the associated supervisors. You will conduct independent and original academic research and report results via peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and ultimately a PhD dissertation. The PhD thesis has to be completed within four years. You will also have the opportunity to (further) develop your teaching skills.

This PhD project explores how diasporic identity and belonging are shaped through mediated imaginaries of the homeland. Focusing on the Palestinian diaspora as a case study, it examines how the homeland is discursively and visually constructed across various media forms, particularly as a space that remains largely inaccessible due to geopolitical constraints. More specifically, it investigates how Palestinian diasporic media production, content, and consumption contribute to identity formation and a sense of belonging in response to contemporary regional developments.

The project is guided by the central research question “How do Palestinian participatory media producers, content, and consumers construct diasporic identities and imaginaries of the homeland?” Instead of focusing on traditional media such as literature and cinema, this study looks at participatory media, such as social media, music and videogames. The aim is to inquire into how these media provide diasporic voices with new modes of expression, engagement, and identity negotiation, facilitated by their accessibility, platformization, and the blurring of production and consumption.

U London: Migrant Futures PhD Studentships (England)

“Studentships“Two Migrant Futures Goldsmiths Ph.D. Studentships, Goldsmiths University of London, London, UK.Deadline: 25 April 2025.

Two doctoral studentships are available for entry in 2025-26. These are fully-funded studentship that may be held on a full-time or part-time  basis, pro-rata, over three years and six years and are at an equivalent rate to fully-funded UKRI studentships. They cover tuition fees and an annual stipend at the yearly UKRI rate, together with a small annual research training and support fund.

One of the two awards for entry 2025-26 will be open to eligible home applicants who identify as migrants or refugees and from racialised ethnic minority backgrounds in any field of research and practice for which supervision is available at Goldsmiths, University of London. To be clear, applicants considered for this award need not be working on a migration related topic, but they should be able to describe how their work will enhance their own economic, creative and intellectual lives and that of others.

The second of these two awards will be open to all eligible home or international applicants – irrespective of background and experience – whose proposed PhD is focused on a topic related to migration, broadly conceived, including in relation to processes of race and racialisation. Proposals must be informed by the co-production of knowledge with people and groups from migrant and refugee backgrounds, and demonstrate potential for social and cultural impact.

Migrant Futures Doctoral Studentship holders will, upon award, be designated as Fellows of the Migrant Futures Institute and will be expected to contribute to developing and enhancing the research culture of the institute through their research, creative practice and participation in MFI activities and events. Successful applicants from racialised backgrounds will also be invited to participate in the activities of Generation Delta Goldsmiths.

U Amsterdam: Studentship in Argumentation, Identity and the Public Sphere (Netherlands)

“Studentships“

PhD Studentship in Argumentation, Identity and the Public Sphere, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Deadline: 14 April 2025.

The Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC) currently has a vacant PhD position as part of the project Expressing Identity in Public Discourse through Argumentation led by principal investigator Dr. M.H. (Menno) Reijven. The ACLC prioritises diversity (taken in a holistic sense, e.g., ethnicity, social and/or linguistic background, gender, sexuality) and is committed to creating an inclusive research environment. They are seeking a talented colleague who can communicate well with the different ACLC research groups, develop interdisciplinary projects, and contribute to research-based teaching. The ACLC is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR). Researchers in the capacity group of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric at the ACLC investigate argumentative discourse across a wide variety of contexts, as well as the linguistic and cognitive processes behind argumentation and persuasion. The PhD student is expected to collaborate with other researchers on argumentation within the research school as well.

U Warwick: PHD Studentship in the Peaceful Return of Victims of Forced Displacement (UK)

“Studentships“

PhD Studentship in PEACERETURN: The Peaceful Return of Victims of Forced Displacement, University of Warwick, Warwick, England, UK. Deadline: 14 April 2025.

The Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, welcomes applications: (1) for an independent project focusing on the institutional trade-offs involving returnees in a future international mediation in Ukraine and/or the global impact of the Russian invasion on displacement; and (2) on the topic of Gender and Return in Post-Conflict Societies. Candidates will be considered for a full-time, 3.5-year PhD position plus a stipend at UKRI rates. Positions are open to both home and international students through a grant funded by the UKRI- Horizon Europe Guarantee (ERC) project PEACERETURN (PI: Professor Neophytos Loizides) at the University of Warwick.

(1) PhD theme: Displacement and Return in Ukraine

Supervisors: Professor Neophytos Loizides (University of Warwick)

(2) PhD theme: Gender and Return in Post-Conflict Societies

Supervisors: Professor Neophytos Loizides (University of Warwick) & Professor Betül Çelik (Sabanci University)

Bath Spa U: PHD Studentship in Developing Art-Based Interventions to Facilitate a Cross-cultural Dialogue on Forced Migration among Youth (UK)

“Studentships“

PhD Studentship in Developing art-based interventions to facilitate a cross-cultural dialogue on forced migration among youth, Bath Spa University, Bath, UK. Deadline: 20 January 2025.

This doctoral project explores the power of Art-Based Interventions (ABI) to facilitate a cross-cultural dialogue on forced migration among secondary school youth from refugee and non-refugee backgrounds.

This project involves a collaboration between the supervisory team, secondary schools in Bath, refugee youth, and the Holburne Museum. The Holburne will provide input in designing and hosting the ABI workshops, offer pop-up exhibitions based on outputs, and support youth to present their work to the public. The project will be co-designed by the doctoral student and the supervisory team.

Research question: How can participatory art-based interventions facilitate cross-cultural awareness and empathy on the effects of forced migration amongst youth?

Methods: A Participatory Research Approach will be adopted to allow young people to play a key role in the research via a cycle of action – reflection. The young people will be involved in choosing and developing the ABI and disseminating the research outputs via exhibits and community engagement events.

The doctoral student will be mentored in developing and leading the ABI by drawing on art-based methodologies such as storytelling, photovoice, and handling object boxes.

Royal Holloway U London: PHD Studentship in International Relations (UK)

“Studentships“

PhD Studentship in International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Deadline: 7 January 2025.

The Department of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy (PIRP) is an established centre of teaching and research excellence. Their research spans continents, covering all areas of the world and addressing current, pressing public policy problems. They house several research units and centres, including the Centre for International Public Policy, the Centre for Islamic and Western Asian Studies and the Democracy and Election Centre. Research units and networks emphasize Democracy, Elections and Campaigning; Public Policy; Contemporary Political Theory; New Political Communication; International Security; and Gender and Politics.

PIRP has an active PhD programme with several dozen students. Entering first-year students form a cohort and together take a professional development module that covers all aspects of progressing through the PhD programme alongside preparing for careers in academia and beyond.

PIRP offers a fully-funded studentship on a competitive basis, via the South East Doctoral Training Arc (SEDarc). They welcome applicants interested in proposing projects in politics and international relations that match one of five challenge themes: living sustainably; healthy, thriving communities; inclusive economic growth; secure, effective, and trusted organizations; and transformative technologies for society. The project is open to specific research focuses and may be co-developed between the student and the academic supervisor.