New funded PhD studentship available for 2019

We invite applications to do a PhD in any area of O3C’s research foci.

O3C: Improving the Health of Our Online Civic Culture
Established in 2018 with an award from Loughborough University's Adventure Research Programme, the Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C) applies concepts and methods from social science and information science to understand the role of social media in shaping our civic culture. Led by Professor Andrew Chadwick, it includes a doctoral training programme consisting of a team of ten academic supervisors drawn from the disciplines of communication, information science, social psychology, and sociology. The CDT enables interdisciplinary teams of researchers and PhD students to work together on issues of misinformation, disinformation, and the rise of hate speech and intolerance online. It develops evidence-based knowledge to mitigate the democratically-dysfunctional aspects of social media. It also identifies the positive civic engagement benefits of social media.

For this studentship, we invite applications to do a PhD in any area of O3C’s research foci.

Applicants must prepare a 1500-word research proposal outlining their project.

Entry requirements: At least a 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) by start of project. A Master's degree will be an advantage.

Funding information:
Open to UK/EU and International graduates with backgrounds in relevant disciplines. For UK/EU students the studentship provides a tax free stipend of £15,009 per year for three years and covers tuition fees at the UK/EU rate. International students may apply: in this case the studentship will cover only the International tuition fee only. You will register for 1 October 2019 or 1 January 2020.

Contact details:
Deirdre Lombard, Postgraduate Administrator
Email address: D.Lombard@lboro.ac.uk
Telephone number: +44 (0)1509 223879

How to apply:
Online at www.lboro.ac.uk/study/apply/research. Under programme name, select Social Sciences. Clearly mark your application "Online Civic Culture CDT." Please quote reference number: OCC19-P3X

Deadline: July 3, 2019.