Physics students’ attitudes, identity and sense of belonging

This is a joint Physics Education Research (PER) project of the Department of Physics and the Centre for Higher Education, Research and Scholarship (CHERS) at Imperial College London. The position is fully funded for 3.5 years, including a tax-free stipend of approximately £17,285 per year, fees, conference travel, and resources for research needs. The student will be located in the Department of Physics on the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College London. The project will be supervised by Dr. Camille Kandiko Howson (CHERS) and Dr. Vijay Tymms (Physics). The student will meet regularly with both supervisors.
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 30th September 2020 and the start date will be by mutual agreement.

The aim of the PhD project is to investigate the underlying causes of the phenomenon that demographic minorities and underrepresented groups often show a relatively low attainment, both in the Department of Physics and elsewhere, and to implement targeted interventions with the aim of alleviating such gaps. The work will focus on attitudes with respect to learning and sense of belonging to a community, alongside a stream of research exploring course delivery and assessment strategy.

This PhD position is part of a larger departmental project, Strengthening Learning Communities, with two additional posts: a Senior Teaching Fellow focusing on assessment and a Research Associate leading on quantitative analysis and modelling. The ultimate goal of this project is to contribute to a diverse and inclusive assessment strategy in The Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London and beyond, in conjunction with the ongoing Curriculum Review process. Further, the project aims to develop successful interventions to enhance a sense of belonging in all students from different gender, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds that can be rolled out across College to foster a strong and inclusive community.

For more information please see http://www.imperial.ac.uk/physics/students/current-students/strengthening-learning-communities/