Understanding the role of social capital for climate resilience at University of Southampton on FindAPhD.com

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Prof J Sheffield, Prof C Hutton No more applications being accepted Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

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Southampton United Kingdom Climate Science Development Studies Environmental Geography Geographical Information Systems Gis Human Geography

About the Project

We would expect the candidate to develop a research proposal around the following topic:

This project will aim to improve the understanding of the role of social capital (SC) for climate resilience of smallholder farming communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Social capital describes the connections that individuals possess at different levels with other individuals, groups and institutions, which may provide increased resilience to climate shocks and other external factors. Social capital may become increasingly important with climate change as resilience needs to be strengthened to adapt to changing hydroclimate extremes and facilitate development.

The project builds on recent work that has identified the importance of different types of social capital (bonding, bridging and linking) and highlighted the potential significance of changes in social capital over space and time. The project will explore how SC changes across spatial scales, between and within countries, drawing from proxy data from existing household survey data, to understand how SC is related to socio-economic factors, including poverty, livelihood and spatial context. The temporal dynamics of SC will be explored by examining how different types of SC change over time and how they transition from one type to another, using proxies derived from available multi-year survey data. The data analysis will be validated by fieldwork and to understand local contexts, likely focusing on communities in Malawi, Kenya and/or Ghana. This project will be interdisciplinary, with both qualitative and quantitative research being undertaken. The research will link to collaborators in the three countries, who will provide invaluable local knowledge and contextualise the potential impact of the research findings

Funding Notes

The South Coast DTP fund students undertaking Masters + PhD programmes (1+3 funding) and stand-alone PhD programmes (+3 funding). In addition to covering the cost of programme fees, those in receipt of a South Coast DTP studentship award will also receive an annual maintenance grant of £17,668 (2022/23 UKRI rate). South Coast DTP PhD students will also have access to additional funding for things such as carrying out fieldwork, purchasing essential equipment and attending relevant conferences

References

Academic Qualifications: For all studentships, students must have qualifications of the standard of a good honours degree at first- or upper second-class level, from a UK academic higher education institution. Degree qualifications gained from outside the UK, or a combination of qualifications and/or experience that is equivalent to a relevant UK degree, may be accepted. If you have completed a master's degree, you should have achieved a merit or above including 60% for the dissertation. If you have not completed a master's, you'll need to show you can produce high quality writing and analysis.
English language requirements: If English isn't your first language, you'll need to complete an English Language test to demonstrate your competence in English. You'll need all of the following IELTS (or equivalent) scores as a minimum: overall score 6.5, writing 6.0, reading 6.0, speaking 6.0, listening 6.0. Your awarded certificate needs to be dated within the last 2 years.
Residential Eligibility: The South Coast DTP is able to accept applications from UK and International applicants to all of our accredited disciplines/pathways, however due to UKRI funding conditions, awards to non-UK residents are capped at 30% of our overall allocation.
THE FIRST APPLICATION FORM YOU NEED TO COMPLETE IS FOR YOUR CHOSEN PROGRAMME OF STUDY (PhD Geography and Environmental Science at University of Southampton): https://www.southampton.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research . You'll need to send us: your CV with details of your academic record and research interests; your academic transcript; details of 2 current academic referees, with their institutional email addresses; a short statement of your research interests and reasons for choosing the projects you're applying for; IELTS or TOEFL certificate if English is not your first language. THE SECOND APPLICATION FORM WHICH REQUIRES COMPLETION IS THE SOUTH COAST DTP FUNDING APPLICATION FORM ON THE DTP WEBSITE: https://southcoastdtp.ac.uk/