School of Society, Enterprise and Environment

Bath Spa University is offering up to ten full-time PhD / MPhil fee waiver studentships starting in the academic year 2013/14. Up to 5 studentships are available for practice based and practice led PhD / MPhil awards and up to 5 studentships are available for interdisciplinary PhD / MPhil awards across more than one subject area. These are all linked to the university's areas of research strength in creativity, culture and enterprise.

A fee-waiver studentship provides:

A full tuition and registration fee waiver
An allowance of £1,800, which may be used across the period of the studentship, to support research needs such as specialist training, equipment or conference attendance
Opportunities to develop teaching skills by participating in Bath Spa's CPLHE course, leading to HEA accreditation

The application deadline is 1 July, 2013, with interviews conducted on 24 July, 2013, for an enrolment date of 1 October, 2013.

Management of Offenders via Creative Practice Interventions (Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice)

You will investigate the changing climate of management of offenders serving sentences in the criminal justice system. This is an interdisciplinary project in the areas of forensic psychology and criminal justice, between the Department of Social Sciences and the Department of Science.

The focus of research would be on the partnerships between statutory agencies and the private and voluntary sector to deliver interventions, including the provision of non-traditional, creative interventions for offenders. A central element of current UK criminal justice policy is to introduce greater competition into justice services and enhance the role for private and voluntary sector providers to deliver community sentences and contribute to custodial interventions.

Supervisors: Laura Caulfield and Nicola Weston from the Department of Science, and Catherine Morgan from the Department of Social Sciences.
Contact: Laura Caulfield.

Community Organisations and Sustainability (Geography and Sociology)
The South West has many local community-based movements working towards social and environmental sustainability. This relatively new aspect of civil society is having an important impact on:

• local understanding of the ways that local organisation can impact on global issues
• local community economic and political organisation (through links with local third sector and charity organisations, and through the focus on local produce, minimising transport, recycling etc.)
• local community cohesion.

There is growing academic interest in all of these areas, but as yet very little good quality empirical research.

The CittaSlow movement is an attempt to retain community identity and distinctiveness through building prosperity and community cohesion. There are currently 147 Cittaslow towns in 24 countries with Sturminster Newton in North Dorset the only one in the south of England. This research would involve in-depth study of the local CittaSlow movement and its impact on a small town's community, environment and economy.

Supervisors: Mike McBeth, Rosemary McKechnie, Mark McGuinness
Contact: Mike McBeth

Professionalisation and Partnership Working in International Development (Geography & Sociology)
The aim of this studentship is to investigate patterns of professionalization and partnership working in International NGOs. Much existing research in the field of Development Studies analyses development as a process yet neglects the workers and organisations engaged in it. This study will bridge a gap in existing research through its focus on the staff working for international NGOs. You will conduct fieldwork in a number of international NGOs and stakeholder organisations in order to explore the following questions:

• Do processes of partnership working and professionalization in the sector make NGOs more effective at the grassroots? (with reference to the Millennium Development goals, for example)
• Or do these procedures constrain workers in the activities and tasks that they are able to undertake for their jobs?

Supervisors: Dr Rebecca Schaaf and Dr Ranji Devadason
Contact: Rebecca Schaaf