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Dr A Beresford
Dr M Hoare
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
This PhD project will explore the relationship between STI investment and development in Africa.
The studentship will be funded as part of the wider Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) initiatives being led by the University of Leeds. The project will contribute to scrutinising existing initiatives as well as potentially identifying areas for successful policy interventions and innovations in the future.
We welcome ambitious applications for this PhD studentship to take forward a study of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project (http://www.ska.ac.za/) and, in particular, associated projects that have sought to enhance its developmental potential in terms of skills, education, and wider economic development.
We invite candidates to submit proposals that will critically evaluate the developmental impact of the SKA project, including how and to what extent projects like SKA and DARA can contribute to sustainable economic development and the expansion of African scientific expertise. While we appreciate that such proposals will be speculative in nature, they should offer some indication as to how a proposed project could combine a focus on some or all of the following areas:
• To critically evaluate the relationship between technology and development in Africa
• To assess the extent to which large scale STI projects can contribute to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
• To critically evaluate the extent to which such projects contribute to enhancing African scientific expertise and wider campaigns to ‘decolonise’ global knowledge production
• To identify the core challenges to driving such innovations and ensuring positive developmental outcomes (e.g. resource constraints, capacity, and governance)
The studentship will be funded as part of the wider Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) initiatives being led by the University of Leeds. The project will contribute to scrutinising existing initiatives as well as potentially identifying areas for successful policy interventions and innovations in the future.
We welcome ambitious applications for this PhD studentship to take forward a study of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project (http://www.ska.ac.za/) and, in particular, associated projects that have sought to enhance its developmental potential in terms of skills, education, and wider economic development.
We invite candidates to submit proposals that will critically evaluate the developmental impact of the SKA project, including how and to what extent projects like SKA and DARA can contribute to sustainable economic development and the expansion of African scientific expertise. While we appreciate that such proposals will be speculative in nature, they should offer some indication as to how a proposed project could combine a focus on some or all of the following areas:
• To critically evaluate the relationship between technology and development in Africa
• To assess the extent to which large scale STI projects can contribute to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
• To critically evaluate the extent to which such projects contribute to enhancing African scientific expertise and wider campaigns to ‘decolonise’ global knowledge production
• To identify the core challenges to driving such innovations and ensuring positive developmental outcomes (e.g. resource constraints, capacity, and governance)
Funding Notes
The award is only available for NEW research students undertaking full time (3 years) study for the degree of PhD.
• The award will cover standard UK/ EU fees or international fees.
• In addition this studentship will include a £14,777 per year maintenance award for full time study for the three years of the project.
• There are some additional allowances for travel, research or training costs.
Minimum academic requirements: 2.1 first degree or equivalent and a good Masters degree in a relevant Social Science discipline.
• The award will cover standard UK/ EU fees or international fees.
• In addition this studentship will include a £14,777 per year maintenance award for full time study for the three years of the project.
• There are some additional allowances for travel, research or training costs.
Minimum academic requirements: 2.1 first degree or equivalent and a good Masters degree in a relevant Social Science discipline.
Project supervisors
Career overview
Dr Alex Beresford is an Associate Professor in African Politics at the University of Leeds, where he has been a faculty member since 2011. He completed his doctorate at the Centre of African Studies in Edinburgh. In addition to his role at Leeds, Dr Beresford serves as a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg. He is also a member of the Leeds University Business School’s Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC), collaborating on projects related to just transition and climate change in South Africa. His research interests encompass African politics, with a focus on political struggles over inequality, power, and corruption, as well as South Africa''s role in global diplomatic issues such as vaccine access and climate change. Dr Beresford has been involved in significant international projects, including one funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, which explores the challenges of transitioning to net-zero industries in South Africa. He has published extensively, contributed to various editorial boards, and has received multiple awards for his teaching excellence. Dr Beresford holds a PhD and MSc in African Studies from Edinburgh and a BA in Politics with International Studies from Lancaster. He is an active member of several professional organisations, including the Royal African Society and the African Studies Association of the UK (ASAUK).
Research interests
Dr Beresford''s research provides a multi-layered insight into how global normative order is mediated and contested within and between two interwoven spaces: political struggles over inequality, power, and corruption in South Africa, and the global diplomatic contestation of vaccine access, conflict resolution, and climate change led by South Africa as an emerging power. He is currently involved in a major international project exploring Just Transition, funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, which aims to deliver 12 country case studies on the political, social, legal, and economic challenges of transitioning from carbon-emitting to net-zero industries. This project highlights the necessary local and international social interventions, labour policies, and governance institutions to secure workers'' rights and livelihoods during this economic shift. Dr Beresford''s work also examines South Africa''s vaccine diplomacy, particularly how it has challenged international property norms to enhance African access to COVID-19 vaccines. He has developed the concept of ''gatekeeper politics'' to understand the dynamics of power relations and corruption in South Africa, focusing on how struggles for power and influence affect governance. He has contributed to interdisciplinary literature on ''bricolage'' in normative contestation in international relations, shedding light on African agency in the global normative order. Dr Beresford has served on the editorial boards of several journals and has previously edited the Review of African Political Economy and Critical African Studies, producing significant editorials and special issues on topics such as the politics of patronage and the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
African Politics
South Africa
Climate Change
Just Transition
Labour
Work
Corruption
Foreign Policy
Vaccine Diplomacy
Political Struggles
Inequality
Power
Governance
Social Interventions
Labour Policies
International Relations
Normative Contestation
Global Normative Order
Agency
Corruption Dynamics
Gatekeeper Politics
Political Economy
Sustainable Production
International Projects
Research Innovation
Teaching
Digital Learning.
Career overview
Professor Melvin Hoare holds a PhD in Astrophysics and a BSc in Physics and Astronomy, both from London. He is currently a Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds. His research primarily focuses on the formation of massive stars, which play a crucial role in galaxy evolution. Professor Hoare conducts high-resolution observations in the radio and millimetre regimes to explore how material accretes via discs and how feedback mechanisms, such as jets and winds, influence this process. He is involved with the Science Working Group for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a next-generation radio observatory that aims to investigate planet formation and the origins of life. Additionally, he chairs the Consortium of Universities for Goonhilly Astronomy (CUGA), which collaborates with Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd to transform their 30 m class dishes into radio telescopes. He also leads the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) initiative, which aims to provide training and entrepreneurial skills to a new generation of radio astronomers in Africa.
Research interests
Professor Hoare''s research focuses on the formation of massive stars, which play a crucial role in galaxy evolution. He conducts high-resolution observations in the radio and millimetre regimes to explore how material accretes through discs and how feedback from jets and winds can halt this infall. He is involved with the Science Working Group for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a next-generation radio observatory that aims to investigate planet formation and the origins of life. Additionally, he chairs the Consortium of Universities for Goonhilly Astronomy (CUGA), collaborating with Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd to convert their 30 m class dishes into radio telescopes. Professor Hoare leads the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) initiative, which focuses on providing training and entrepreneurial skills to a new generation of radio astronomers in Africa. His research projects include the e-MERLIN radio array and Legacy Surveys, the Red MSX Survey aimed at identifying massive young stars in the Galaxy, and the CORNISH Survey, a high-resolution radio survey of the Galactic plane.
Astrophysics
Star Formation
Radio Astronomy
Infrared Astronomy
Massive Stars
Galaxy Evolution
High Resolution Observations
Material Accretion
Feedback Mechanisms
Square Kilometre Array
Planet Formation
Goonhilly Astronomy
Radio Telescopes
Development in Africa
Radio Astronomy Training
e-MERLIN
Legacy Surveys
Red MSX Survey
CORNISH Survey
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