PhD Studentship - The Ethics of Climate Services

The IDEA Centre is pleased to announce a new interdisciplinary PhD studentship in the ethics of climate services, to start in 2018.

The studentship is a joint scholarship with the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment. The successful applicant will join an existing cohort of nine Priestley Centre PhD researchers, and an additional four joining in October 2018, who work across disciplines to deliver research to underpin robust and timely climate solutions. The PhD will be jointly supervised by staff from the IDEA centre and the SRI. The aim is to support PhD research that is truly interdisciplinary.

Funding covers the cost of tuition fees (£4,400 for 2018/19) and a tax-free stipend (£14,777 for 2018/19) for 3 years, a research training and support grant of £750 per annum.  This award is available to UK/EU applicants only. 

Supervisors

• Dr Rob Lawlor (Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre),
• Dr Marta Bruno Soares (School of Earth & Environment and Met Office),
• Professor Suraje Dessai (School of Earth & Environment)

The closing date for receipt of applications for the studentship is 8 May 2018. The award is conditional on successful application for admission to study for a PhD in Sustainability Research Institute.

About the Priestley International Centre for Climate

The Priestley International Centre for Climate based at the University of Leeds promotes interdisciplinary research of the highest standard on climate and its impact on nature and society. The Centre, which launched in June 2016, brings together researchers cross-campus to deliver excellent research to underpin robust and timely climate solutions. Leeds has outstanding reputation for climate related research with more than 170 experts and 110 PhD researchers and an active research grant portfolio of over £70m.

The Priestley Centre supports a range of events, activities and opportunities to foster exciting interdisciplinary collaborations including our Climate Exchange seminar series, Piers Sellers Prizes, pump-prime fund, PhD training and public engagement. The Priestley Society, a self-organising group lead by PhD and early career researcher, plays a key role in encouraging cross-departmental collaborations by organising social events, bespoke training courses and Society meetings for research discussion and support. The Priestley Climate Scholars is a postgraduate-focused group which provides a platform for engagement across disciplinary backgrounds by offering opportunities for interaction on areas of climate research to which postgraduate researchers otherwise may not be exposed. The Priestley Centre will move to the newly refurbished Priestley Building in late 2018 providing a new space to bring together academics, postgraduates and visiting researchers to collaborate on cutting-edge, interdisciplinary climate research.  http://climate.leeds.ac.uk/

About the Sustainability Research Institute

The Sustainability Research Institute is home to a team of over 30 academic staff, 25 research staff and 45 postgraduate researchers conducting inter-disciplinary research on the different dimensions of sustainability. Research within SRI is based largely on the environmental social sciences and draws upon aspects of geography, sociology, politics, planning, economics, management, development studies and science and technology studies. Our broader activities combine social and natural sciences in leading-edge, interdisciplinary research through a series of major international projects and centres. SRI has received significant research funding from various sources, including £5.5 million from the ESRC to establish the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (in partnership with the LSE). As well as being a centre of excellence for inter-disciplinary research, SRI runs a range of postgraduate and undergraduate programmes on the different dimensions of sustainability.  http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/research/sri

About the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre

Founded in 2005 with an initial injection of nearly £3million from HEFCE, the Centre is now self-sustaining, working in partnership with host disciplines across the University to develop UG and PG teaching in applied ethics.

Since its inception it has developed significant Research and Professional Ethics Consultancy activity and has a lively programme of research seminars, research workshops and conferences to which its postgraduate researchers are expected to contribute. It has attracted charitable, professional body and learned society support for these events.

The IDEA centre currently teaches in the following areas: Medical Ethics, Engineering Ethics, Business Ethics, Ethics and Nanotechnology, Media Ethics, Ethics in Geography, Environmental Ethics, Computing Ethics, Ethics in Dentistry, Professional Ethics and Research Ethics. The centre has also worked in collaboration with organisations such as The Royal Academy of Engineering and Engineers Without Borders UK.

Background

Climate services involve the generation, provision, and contextualization of information and knowledge derived from climate research for decision making at all levels of society. These services, which provide timely, tailored information and knowledge to decision makers (generally in the form of tools, products, websites, or bulletins), are mainly targeted at informing adaptation to climate variability and change, widely recognized as an important challenge for sustainable development (Vaughan and Dessai 2014). Climate service providers include public (eg, Met Office) and private (eg, consultancies) organisations providing services for a wide range of different consumers and organisations, across the private, public and third sector. For example, farmers in the Southwest of the UK who have used seasonal climate forecasts perceived it as useful and usable as it helped them change and adapt their decision-making and thus, avoid unnecessary costs (Bruno Soares 2017, Falloon, Soares et al. 2018). At a larger scale, governments have produced national long-term climate scenarios/projections to help organisations (both public and private) assess the risk of a changing climate and plan accordingly (Skelton, Porter et al. 2017).

To date, however, there has been little discussion (for an exception see Adams, Eitland et al. 2015) of the ethical issues relating to climate services. The aim of this PhD project will be to further develop an understanding of the ethical issues relating to climate services, developing in depth ethical understanding of the full range of ethical considerations, considering climate services in numerous contexts, and not limited to the private client model, or business-to-business-services, and including for example bigger questions relating to climate services within the political sphere. For example, this could include ethical issues relating to:

• Integrity, transparency and conflicts of interest.
• Communication: how do you convey complex information to a non-expert audience without confusing them or misleading them? What is the best way to communicate issues relating to risk and uncertainty?
• Moral duty to act in the public interest, particularly in relation to the interests of those who cannot afford the services, and therefore would not be potential customers if businesses are only interested in selling a service for profit?
• To what extent – and how – should climate services be regulated?
• Should climate services be seen as a service to be provided primarily by private companies, or by the public sector?
• If the provision of climate services to some and not others will contribute significantly to inequality (between those who can afford it and those who cannot) should efforts be made to limit the inequalities that would result? For example: Should climate services be provided only by the state? Should there at least be a minimal provision of climate services?
• Should some essential climate services (for example those most crucial to people’s well-being, health and safety, or their livelihoods) be treated more like the emergency services, rather than being seen as appropriate areas of business?

References

Adams, P., E. Eitland, B. Hewitson, C. Vaughan, R. Wilby and S. Zebiak (2015). Toward an ethical framework for climate services: A White Paper of the Climate Services Partnership Working Group on Climate Services Ethics. http://www.climate-services.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CS-Ethics-White-Paper-Oct-2015.pdf

Bruno Soares, M. (2017). "Assessing the usability and potential value of seasonal climate forecasts in land management decisions in the southwest UK: challenges and reflections." Adv. Sci. Res. 14: 175-180.

Falloon, P., M. B. Soares, R. Manzanas, D. San-Martin, F. Liggins, I. Taylor, R. Kahana, J. Wilding, C. Jones, R. Comer, E. de Vreede, W. Som de Cerff, C. Buontempo, A. Brookshaw, S. Stanley, R. Middleham, D. Pittams, E. Lawrence, E. Bate, H. Peter, K. Uzell and M. Richards (2018). "The land management tool: Developing a climate service in Southwest UK." Climate Services.

Skelton, M., J. J. Porter, S. Dessai, D. N. Bresch and R. Knutti (2017). "The social and scientific values that shape national climate scenarios: a comparison of the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK." Regional Environmental Change 17(8): 2325-2338.

Vaughan, C. and S. Dessai (2014). "Climate services for society: origins, institutional arrangements, and design elements for an evaluation framework." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 5(5): 587-603.

PhD Proposals

We are open to a range of proposals in the area of ethics and climate services, but proposals should include elements that would draw on the expertise of both SRI and the IDEA centre, preferably in a way that draws different disciplines together, and makes use of the different areas of expertise.

The candidate should submit their own proposals (up to 1,000 words), explaining how the project would draw on the expertise and different disciplines of the two host centres.

There is no requirement to have a precisely even split of supervisions with the IDEA centre and SRI however the project should allow for a significant contribution from each centre.

Informal enquiries about PhD proposals may be made to Dr Elizabeth Ellis from IDEA, email E.A.Ellis(at)leeds.ac.ukand Professor Suraje Dessai from SRI, email s.dessai(at)leeds.ac.uk

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Applicants should provide with their application:

• PhD proposal of 1,000 words
• a sample of written work
• 300 word statement setting out the ways in which they see themselves contributing to the life and broader success of the Priestley International Centre for Climate, IDEA centre and SRI.

Entry requirements

• Applicants must hold at least a good first degree in a discipline relevant to the project (eg, environmental social science or philosophy).
• It is desirable that applicants have a relevant Master’s level qualification (eg, in environmental social science or philosophy).
• It is desirable that applicants can demonstrate a clear aptitude for the study of applied ethics – though this need not be in the form a qualification in ethics or philosophy.
• It is desirable that applicants can demonstrate an interest in, and knowledge of, a wide range of disciplines (though, again, this need not be in the form of formal qualifications).
• Applicants whose first language is not English must meet the English Language requirements. IELTS: 6.5 overall with not less than 6.0 in any individual skill.