Postgraduate Funding and Scholarships

Research Opportunities at Exeter

The School of Psychology is pleased to be able to offer the following funded Postgraduate positions to students pursuing postgraduate programmes.

PhD Scholarship in Social Psychology and Climate Change

Exeter Graduate Fellowships

The School of Psychology is seeking to appoint an Exeter Graduate Fellowship (EGF) to support PhD study on the topic of Social Psychology and Climate Change, starting in October 2010. The stipend will be approximately £13,000 p.a plus full payment of tuition fees at Home/EU rates (for non-EU citizens, there is an additional tuition charge of £8,500 pa). These positions are available to applicants intending to register for an MPhil/PhD in October 2010. As part of their stipend the appointee will support teaching-related activities in the School.

The School of Psychology is an exciting and vibrant place to study, consistently rated in the top 10 Psychology departments in the UK. The School has a particular research strength in social psychology (e.g., social identity and group processes, social cognition, organizational, environmental and health behaviour). The strength of the environmental area within the group has recently been further bolstered by the appointment of Dr Tim Kurz, as part of the University’s interdisciplinary research focus on the theme of Climate Change and Sustainable Futures. The successful applicant will be working under the supervision of Dr Kurz on a project investigating social psychological aspects of the issue of climate change. The exact nature of the project would be negotiated collaboratively with the student and would be somewhat influenced by their particular interests and abilities. The area of investigation pursued by the successful application would, however, be anticipated to fall broadly within one of the following potential areas:

Understanding the links between carbon emission reduction behaviour, attitudes and policy acceptance
Discursive analyses of climate change rhetoric amongst politicians and the public
The relevance of attachment to place and place identity in the face of changing landscapes in a changing climate
Social influence processes in relation to climate change mitigation and/or adaptation behaviour

The successful applicant will be expected to undertake 180 hours of undergraduate teaching-related duties per year (including leading small group tutorials, demonstrating, running the statistical helpdesk and marking) The award will be made for 3 years initially, subject to satisfactory performance, but will be renewable thereafter for a further 12 months, thus providing 'guaranteed' financial support in the final year in which the PhD will have to be completed.

To apply for this position, please send a CV, covering letter, and a separate proposed research statement of 500-750 words. Your research statement should provide a summary of the nature of your research interests in the area of social psychology and climate change and the potential research questions that you would like to pursue as part of a program of PhD research.

Please send your application to:

Fiona Neligan, Postgraduate Secretary, School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Washington Singer Laboratories, Exeter, EX4 4GQ, United Kingdom, or email to f.c.neligan@ex.ac.uk (please put ‘Climate Change EGF Application’ in the subject field). Applications must be received by Friday the 19th of March 2010 at 4pm (GMT).

Presentations and Interviews will be held for shortlisted applicants on Tuesday the 30th of March 2010 in the School of Psychology.

Informal enquires regarding the position should be directed to Dr Tim Kurz via email at t.r.kurz@ex.ac.uk

ESRC studentships now closed for 2009-10 but applications will open again for the 2010-11 cohort in early 2010

The School expects to put forward at least one candidate for a 1+3 award or for a +3 award.

A successful applicant would receive an award to cover fees and living expenses. These awards are available to candidates working in any area of Psychology represented by our Research Groups and recognised by the ESRC.

The School's recognition status means that it is authorised to host ESRC-funded 1+3 studentships with Research Training foundation year provided by graduation from any of the following three MSc programmes: The MSc in Psychological Research Methods, the MSc in Economic & Consumer Psychology and the MSc in Social & Organisational Psychology.
Successful candidates for 1+3 awards are funded initially for a one year MSc to provide appropriate Research Training (RT) and then for a further three years of PhD work (subject to satisfactory student progress). This pattern of funding is referred to as "1+3" funding, for both full-time and part-time registrations.
In order to be considered for any of the 1+3 studentships, candidates should have a good academic record and be qualified for a place on one of the School's ESRC-recognised MSc programmes with continutation into PhD study (ie they must have a potential supervisor willing (in principle) to take them on for a PhD).
+3 Competition awards; Applicants who have graduated (or are about to do so) from any ESRC-recognised RT-programmes (from Exeter or other institutions) may apply for "+3" awards to pursue PhD work in the School of Psychology. Candidates should be be qualified for a place on the PhD programme, with a supervisor willing to take them on if successful.
Applicants interested in being nominated for either a 1+3 or a +3 award should send a outline research proposal plus CV and covering letter either by email to psy-pgsec@exeter.ac.uk or by mail to School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Washington Singer Laboratories, Perry Road, Exeter, EX4 4G, United Kingdom, marking it for the attention of the Postgraduate Secretary. Applications should be received by March 20th 2008. The School will then nominate an applicant to be put forward for the ESRC competition. The applicant will need to be available to work closely with the supervisor to complete the ESRC applicant form. Applications must include a draft research proposal. The successful nominee(s) will be helped to prepare the formal ESRC application during April. Further details of the ESRC studentships are available online.

The ESRC web site has eligibility criteria

Other Sources of Funding

Psychology Alumni Scholarships . The School is pleased to be able to offer a scholarship for all Exeter Psychology graduates. A 50% discount on UK/EU fees will be available for all alumni students achieving a 1^st in Psychology and a 25% discount for students achieving a 2.1.
School of Psychology MSc Scholarships. There are several scholarships available for our MSc programmes. These are open to UK and Overseas applicants and cover either half or the full cost of UK/EU fees - or, in the case of overseas candidates, reduce the fee by the same amount. Like the University Scholarship (above) these are intended for students likely to progress following the MSc to doctoral study in the School. Applications should be accompanied by a short research proposal. At least one of these awards will be offered in the first instance to the best candidates who have applied by 31 March 2010. The others will be held over for award to the best remaining candidates who have applied by 11th June 2010 - see below for how to apply.
Exeter Alumni Award For Overseas Graduates: Scholarships of £500 are available for any overseas student who has already graduated from Exeter and subsequently registers for a Masters, MPhil or PhD degree. There are no strict deadlines for these awards. To apply for this award please write to Prof Thomas Kessler, Director of Postgraduate Research (psy-dpgs@ex.ac.uk) with details of the degree you have completed at Exeter.

In addition we regularly have paid part-time Research Assistantship positions in which people are expected to register part-time for one of the MSc programmes. Details of any that become available will be posted here.

How to apply for Scholarships

If you are interested in applying for any of the School's awards, please make it clear on page 1 of your application form, under Proposed Finance, that you would like to be considered for a scholarship, indicate which award you would like to be considered for, and include a 1-2 page (A4) statement of your research interests. If you are eligible for the award and your application is received on time, we will ensure that you are considered.

A meeting will be held in April to allocate the first set of MSc Scholarships. The remaining MSc awards will be allocated in late June.

If you are applying for one of the MSc Scholarships, please also provide an indication of how likely you are to stay on and do further research after the MSc. If the top-rated candidates are closely matched in terms of academic performance, the Committee is likely to favour students whose research interests are closely related to those of School Staff, and will prefer candidates who have indicated an interest in staying on to do an MPhil or PhD at Exeter. We need to receive this research description and your application by the deadline dates given above. It is advisable to have some contact with potential PhD supervisors prior to submitting an application of this kind.

If you are not applying for any University scholarships, applications will be considered until the start of September, provided there are places available on the programme of your choice.

Application forms may be obtained from the Graduate School website or from Fiona Neligan, the Postgraduate Secretary. For more general enquiries, please write to:

Prof Thomas Kessler, Director of Postgraduate Studies, School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4QG, U.K. e-mail: psy-dpgs@exeter.ac.uk