Applications are invited for a PhD student to work with Dr. Sarah Shaw (Supervisor), Dr. Sushma Kumari and Prof. Graham Ferrier (Co-Supervisor) on using on-farm soil carbon and crop management technologies to understand farming knowledges and practices. This project is part of a PhD cluster on Sustainable Terrestrial and Maritime Food Systems: Environmental Technologies and their Implications. The project will examine how farmers incorporate tools developed using information technology and smart sensors into farm management practices. It will also consider how farmers use decision support tools to make improvements and informed decisions on their farms. The project will involve in-depth research with farmers focusing on potential use and understanding of, and possibly resistance towards, the technologies. To understand this, we will explore how such tools might be learned about, engaged with, challenged, or used in unexpected ways, by farmers. It will also investigate how such tools might change farm management practices and with what effects for the environmental impacts of farming and sustainable food production. The project will critically analyse the impacts and implications of technologies in complex on-farm environments.
The successful candidate will be based on the University of Hull campus and will be provided with physical workspace and the specific equipment and resources needed for their research. The successful student will benefit from joining a collaborative, multidisciplinary and nurturing environment, and will be provided with excellent opportunities for external networking. We will hold regular meetings with the entire cluster, with opportunities to present and discuss research, invite internal and external speakers and collaborators and foster networking.
For informal discussion, please contact Dr. Sarah Shaw ([Email Address Removed])
About the research cluster / about the research environment
Sustainable Terrestrial and Maritime Food Systems: Environmental Technologies and their Implications
This PhD project is part of a cluster of inter-related, inter-disciplinary projects, which between them focus on the implications of environmental technologies for the practices of people involved in primary food production on both land and sea. Our food and energy production systems contribute significantly to environmental problems, including climate change, and technological solutions are often proposed as ways of reducing their carbon footprints. Yet these can be challenging to implement and can have unanticipated effects on the practices of those engaged in farming and fishing. This cluster of projects involves a combination of scientific projects aiming to develop and test different environmental technologies, and social science projects aiming to look at the effects on the practices of primary food producers as society aims for a low carbon world. Specifically, the cluster will: 1. advance the development of two technologies for use in terrestrial food production and examine the implications of these for farmers, and 2. examine the effects on the small-scale fishing industry of high energy prices and large scale offshore wind deployment.
As part of a PhD cluster, in addition to becoming an expert in your own area you will join a collaborative, multidisciplinary and nurturing environment with other researchers around a common theme. You will be part of regular cluster meetings where you can present and discuss your research, as well as engaging with the wider community of postgraduate researchers in the university. You will have opportunities to build relationships with external stakeholders, and you will be supported in development towards your future career – whether that be within or without academia.
Supervisors
Dr. Sarah Shaw, Dr. Sushma Kumari and Prof. Graham Ferrier
Submission of thesis
Submission of your final thesis is expected within three years and three months from the start of your PhD scholarship for full-time and within five years and six months if studying part-time.
Eligibility and entry requirements
Applicants should have a minimum 2:1 degree in social science or any related subject. A taught Masters degree or Masters by Research in a relevant subject would be an advantage, but is not required.
International applicants
This opportunity comes with a Home fee waiver only, which will not cover the full International fee. You will therefore need to pay the difference between the Home fee and the International fee and will need to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds to cover this.
How to apply
Applications are via the University of Hull webpage
Closing date for applications
10 February 2022
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