PhD Scholarship: “Assembling a Circular Economy: A Mixed-methods Approach to Social Processes of Transition”

Alliance Manchester Business School is committed to recruiting the highest calibre Ph.D. students from across the globe. With an excellent international reputation, we strive to produce graduates and researchers of distinction who attain the highest standards of academic excellence, contribute to their disciplines and typify Original Thinking Applied.

This PhD scholarship offers three years’ funding, including doctoral programme tuition fees and a stipend of approximately £15,000 per year for candidates wishing to commence their studies in September 2018. The successful candidate will also receive a generous research support and conference allowance. You will also have access to a robust doctoral research training programme, dedicated research resources, training in transferable skills, visiting speaker seminar programme, and associate with existing research centres and groups. In addition, all students are encouraged to undertake training and development in teaching and deliver teaching and/or research assistantship duties on a paid basis to further enhance their experience in preparation for their future careers.

The Project

This project takes a mixed-methods approach to gain an understanding of the processes through which the transition towards a circular economy is taking place. New business models (decentralised production, product-service systems, sharing platforms) are emerging alongside alternative ways of organizing production and consumption (such as commoning). Examples are bikesharing and caresharing, decentralised energy production, and initiatives like Repair Cafe’s.

Often, these business models involve a redrawing of the boundary between social practices of consumption and production, as evidenced by new terms like ‘prosumption’. The roles of consumers as well as those of firms are redefined, which results in contestation visible in traditional and social media.

The PhD project will involve the analysis of the ways in which the roles of firms and consumers are being redefined, in two in-depth case studies as well as through a systemic analysis. The latter will be facilitated through text-mining methods based on natural language processing (NLP) and machine-learning as a way to construct event-based datasets. The successful applicant will have a chance to work in a research team that works on related issues in a collaborative way.

Entry Requirements

Applications for this project are sought from exceptional UK, EU and international students with an outstanding academic background.

We are looking for an ambitious student who combines a strong methodological ability with an interest in business model innovation.

Applicants must have a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent) and hold or expect to obtain a Masters qualification with Distinction. English Language requirements (where required) are IELTS 7.0, TOEFL 623 (100 ibt), PTE 66.

How to apply

Candidates should submit a PhD application for the PhD Business & Management and indicate that they wish to be considered for this project.

Your application must contain a letter of interest outlining your background, interest and research skills related to the topic, understanding of the project, and how you satisfy the requirements described above.

Candidates are strongly advised to submit their application as early as possible. Candidates who do not submit the required supporting documents by the deadline will not be considered.

Enquiries

For further details about the project, please contact Prof. Frank Boons at frank.boons@manchester.ac.uk.

For questions related to making your application, please contact Lynne Barlow-Cheetham: mbs-pgresearch@manchester.ac.uk