New PhD studentship in environmental humanities

The Priestley International Centre for Climate is pleased to announce a new interdisciplinary PhD studentship: 'Public Perceptions of Volcanism and Atmospheric Changes, 1783-2010'.

The 1783 eruption of Mt Laki in Iceland lasted for eight months and caused a toxic smog that spread throughout Europe and led to thousands of deaths, as well as affecting global weather patterns. The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption was much smaller and briefer, but became notorious for its disruptive effects on European air traffic.

This studentship is being offered to support research that explores representations of these and similar phenomena in contemporaneous publications (e.g. newspapers), as well as how present-day public audiences perceive and respond to the common and divergent themes emerging from these sources. The research will be truly interdisciplinary, combining approaches from the humanities and behavioural sciences. It will be jointly supervised by Dr David Higgins from the School of English and Dr Andrea Taylor from Leeds University Business School.

The Priestley International Centre for Climate brings together researchers from across the University of Leeds to engage in interdisciplinary research of the highest standard on climate and its impact on nature and society, with the aim of providing robust and timely climate solutions. Leeds has more than 170 experts and 110 PhD researchers engaged in climate-related research, and an active research grant portfolio of over £70m.

The School of English is a vibrant research environment community that is fully committed to interdisciplinary research, playing a central role in the Institute for Medieval Studies, the Institute of Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, the Centre for Medical Humanities, and more. It has particular strength in the environmental humanities and hosts Europe’s first doctoral training programme in the field - a landmark €3m EU initiative.

Leeds University Business School is a leading, full-service business school, and one of a small number of its kind worldwide to be triple accredited by AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. It is a top ten business and management research institution (REF 2014) and its interdisciplinary research centres allows it to engage in research activity that spans not only subject areas but also academic institutions and international borders.

The studentship is open to UK/EU applicants beginning their studies in the academic year 2018/19, and is worth the full cost of tuition fees, a tax-free stipend (£14,777 for 2018/19), and a research training and support grant (£750 per year). The application deadline is 3 July 2018.

For more information and to apply, please visit the School of English scholarships page.