Fully funded multidisciplinary 4 year ESRC PhD Studentship

Project: Nuclear futures and the politics of scale

Applications are invited for this fully funded four year multi-disciplinary studentship based in the Department of Geography at the University of Sheffield, beginning in September 2013. This is one of three studentships making the ‘Nuclear Societies’ group, arising from an Economic and Social Research Council investment to create a multi-disciplinary cohort of students, trained and supervised between the ESRC White Rose Social Sciences Doctoral Training Centre (WRSSDTC) and the EPSRC Nuclear First Centre for Doctoral Training. The vision for this initiative is to create a multi-disciplinary community of researchers capable of critically engaging with future research agendas around relating to nuclear energy in society.

Nuclear energy is at a critical point in its long history as climate change, peak oil, and the implications of the Fukushima play out unevenly across different countries. It confronts researchers with problems which are both multi-layered and multi-disciplinary. Whether considering extensions to the lifetime of current reactors, replacement reactor options, expansion policies or a strategy of retreat from nuclear, the need for social scientists capable of communicating with the technical research base grows ever more pressing.

For details of each of the Nuclear Societies studentships, please see http://wrdtc.ac.uk/postgraduate-programme/multidisciplinary-awards/. The one project detailed below is based in the Department of Geography.

Project 1: Nuclear futures and the politics of scale

Supervisors: Dr Matt Watson (Geography) and Professor John Provis (Materials Science and Engineering).

This project will engage theories of socio-technical change and contemporary geographical theorisations of scale to explore how commitment to nuclear power will contribute to path dependencies in energy system innovation and development. For example, through historical analysis of nuclear power development in the twentieth century energy arena, the project will identify key features of the technology that have consequences for future energy system change, whether through displacing other energy technologies or reshaping governance. This will guide forward looking analysis of the implications of nuclear development, informed by current energy projections and scenario models.

Applications are invited from strong graduates, with either a relevant background in social sciences and ready to engage with materials science and engineering; or those from an engineering or materials science background ready to develop skills and understanding as social science researcher.

For more information on the project, contact lead supervisor, Dr Matt Watson, m.watson@sheffield.ac.uk. For more details of the Nuclear Societies initiative and details of the application process please see http://wrdtc.ac.uk/postgraduate-programme/multidisciplinary-awards/