PhD self-funded projects in Social Science

Projects in the Department of Political Science and International Relations (PIR)

Comparative Public Opinion Research 

The successful candidate should demonstrate expertise in studying public attitudes or behaviour using secondary (survey) data collected by projects, such as the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems; the European Social Survey; the Global Barometer Surveys, including the Afro Barometer, Arab Barometer, Asia Barometer, Euro Barometer; Latin American Public Opinion Project; World Values Survey; International Social Survey Program; etc. The candidate should have experience in quantitative data analysis using SPSS, Stata, or R, or have the willingness to learn quantitative data analysis in any of these software packages. Proposals should focus on a wider public opinion topic with a clearly defined research question. Informal enquiries can be made to the supervisors who are Dr Kathrin Thomas(Lecturer in Politics) and Dr Anders Widfeldt (Senior Lecturer in Politics).

 UK Constitutional Politics  

The successful candidate should have a clearly defined research question which focuses on a contemporary issue or the institutional framework of the UK – possibilities include but are not limited to: Scottish independence; further autonomy in Wales; intergovernmentalism; referendums; multi-level governance and elections.  The methodology is open, though a qualitative approach is preferred. A comparative approach is possible. Informal inquiries can be made to  the supervisor, Dr Malcolm Harvey. He is also open to comparative research.He is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Aberdeen and an Associate Fellow of the Centre on Constitutional Change.

The Politics of Populism 

Populisms are defined in part as discourses that construct a struggle between ‘the people’ below and ‘the elite’ above. But do populists say what we say they do? This project will select politicians or movements to which populism has been ascribed. They might located anywhere in the world. It will analyse populist discourses and reflect on whether they differ from populism as defined in the literature. It will study how these discourses have been (mis)interpreted in the past, in academia, the media or beyond. It will critically analyse these (mis)interpretations and reflect on the ideas that have underpinned them.Informal inquiries can be made to the supervisor, Dr Daniel Paget. He is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Aberdeen

Projects in the Department of Anthropology

Moral history of trauma in contemporary UK

The notion of trauma, and associated ideas like PTSD has re-emerged in the UK and is particularly evident in three fields: awareness of the prevalence of gender based and sexual violence, as highlighted by the MeToo movement; awareness of the wide-reaching consequences of racism and the legacy of slavery as highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement; and the willingness to describe the general experience of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as ‘traumatic’. The project seeks to write this moral history of trauma through archival research, interviews and fieldwork with organisations that seek to address trauma. Informal inquiries can be made to the supervisor, Dr Arnar Arnason. He  is Senior Lecturer in Anthropology

Death and Grief in post-pandemic UK

 As a way of dying COVID-19 goes against most commonly referenced notions of the ‘good death’ in the UK. At the same time, the pandemic has served to bring death into the centre of public attention and debate in a novel way. This project aims to document, analyse and offer further understanding of, death and grief in post-pandemic UK. How is death and grief understood, experienced and managed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? The research will involve archival work, interviews and fieldwork with key organisations involved in the care and management of death, dying and grief. Informal inquiries can be made to the supervisor, Dr Arnar Arnason. He  is Senior Lecturer in Anthropology.

To submit an application to one of these programmes please visit our webpages either in the Department of Politics and International Relations or the Department of Anthropology (as relevant). You will need to state the name of the lead supervisor and the name of the project. Applicants are expected to hold a relevant master's degree from a UK university or overseas equivalent.