Funding opportunities

Public sector wage determination in the age of austerity: a study of employer and union responses to changes in public expenditure budgets in four local authorities in conjunction with UNISON

Supervisors: Professor Jill Rubery, Professor Damian Grimshaw and Heather Wakefield (UNISON)
Funded by: ESRC in collaboration with UNISON
Duration: 3 years full-time

Applications are invited for an ESRC CASE Studentship to undertake postgraduate research (PhD) studies at Manchester Business School under the supervision of Professors Rubery and Grimshaw, commencing September 2012.
The project forms collaboration between researchers at MBS in the Fairness at Work Research group and the European Work and Employment Research Centre with the leading trade union in local government, UNISON.

The project will involve a range of case studies of local authorities to explore how both local government employers and local government trade unions are responding to the current economic and political conditions in order to develop a more in-depth understanding of the changes taking place and their intended and unintended consequences. The diversity of approaches to pay, coupled with the severity of the expenditure cuts, presents a significant challenge to trade unions representing public sector employees. Several issues are at stake, including: how resilient is the national framework of collective bargaining to these developments?; can (and should) trade unions negotiate with employers to provide increased flexibility around common agreed national standards?; what are the range of strategies unions can deploy to bolster their wage bargaining strength?; and to what extent can positive (or negative) experience at one local authority be used to inform developments in other situations? The students will be facilitated in the undertaking of the case studies by support from UNISON and from access to existing materials on changes taking place.

Value: The award covers Home tuition fees, £13,590 stipend plus £2,000 bursary from UNISON per year.

Eligibility: Applicants should have a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree in a related discipline, and have obtained, or expect to complete by September 2012, a Masters qualification which includes a substantial research element or equivalent professional research experience. To meet ESRC residential eligibility, the candidate must be classified as a Home student for tuition fee purpose. For full details of eligibility criteria please refer to ESRC Postgraduate Funding Guide.

How to apply: Please submit a completed application for the PhD programme and indicate ESRC CASE UNISON Studentship' in the research title and funding sections of the application form.

Supporting documents required are:

• All previous degree certificates and transcripts
• Two academic references
• A CV
• A statement outlining why you are interested in researching this topic and how you would expect it to provide the basis for a doctoral thesis (maximum of 1,000 words). A 3,000-word research proposal is not required.
• A valid TOEFL or IELTS test result if applicable

Applications closing date: 14 March 2012

Enquiries about the application process:
Anusarin Lowe, Postgraduate Research Programmes, Room 9.24 Harold Hankins Building
Email: anusarin.lowe@mbs.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)161 275 0784

Enquiries about the project:
Professor Jill Rubery
Email: jill.rubery@mbs.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0)161 306 8795

Manchester Business School will be offering fully-funded PhD studentships to outstanding candidates wishing to commence their PhD studies at Manchester Business School in September 2012.
The MBS PhD studentships offer up to four years funding, including doctoral programme tuition fees and a stipend of approximately £13,000 per year. Successful candidates will benefit from gaining experience from teaching and research responsibilities associated with the post. They will have access to robust doctoral research training programme, dedicated research resources and training in transferable skills. The competition is open to home, EU and international students.

Application closing date: 1 February 2012

Criteria
Applicants must have obtained a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent) and hold or expect to obtain a Masters-level qualification with Merit or Distinction.

How to apply 
To be considered for the above awards, candidates should submit a PhD application and indicate the funding opportunities you wish to be considered for.

Enquiries
Please contact Anusarin Lowe, Programme Administrator, Postgraduate Research Office at anusarin.lowe@mbs.ac.uk

Manchester Business School is recruiting outstanding candidates for ESRC studentships commencing September 2012.

ESRC awards are open to candidates who are classified as Home student for tuition fee purposes. Subject to residential eligibility status, the award covers tuition fees and an annual stipend of approximately £13,590.

Application closing date:: 1 February 2012

Criteria
Applicants must have obtained a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent) and hold or expect to obtain a Masters-level qualification with Merit or Distinction.

How to apply
To be considered for the above awards, candidates should submit a PhD application and indicate the funding opportunities you wish to be considered for.

Enquiries
Please contact Anusarin Lowe, Programme Administrator, Postgraduate Research Office at anusarin.lowe@mbs.ac.uk

The University of Manchester has recently launched £2.5m investment in PhD training with the President's Doctoral Scholar Awards (PDS Awards). In addition to standard awards which include tuition fee and stipend, successful PDS Award candidates are entitled to an additional £1,000 p.a. enhancement to their funded stipend/living allowance.

They will also have the opportunity to:

• Be invited to attend a series of exclusive events where you'll have the opportunity to meet the University of Manchester President and Vice Chancellor, interact closely with our academic community and network with other PDS Award students
• Benefit from international research leadership under distinguished scholars
• Become a PDS Award ambassador for the University
• Receive a President's Doctoral Scholar medal at graduation
• Benefit from our extensive postgraduate researcher development and training
• The prestigious PDS Awards are open to all nationalities and research areas. Consideration will be based on academic track record and evidence of research potential.

Application closing date:
Deadlines Candidates who wish to be considered for University of Manchester President's Doctoral Scholar Awards (PDS Awards) must submit their application with complete supporting documents by 1 December 2011 for the first round of allocation or by 1 February 2012 for the second round.

Please note that the number of awards allocated in each round varies according to the competition, therefore, candidates are advised to submit the application as early as possible. Candidates who do not submit the required supporting documents by specific deadlines will not be considered.

Criteria
Applicants must have obtained a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent) and hold (or expect to obtain) a Masters-level qualification with Merit or Distinction. They should have a track-record of research engagement (including relevant research experience and dissemination) and/ or potential for outstanding research, as demonstrated in the quality of the proposal submitted as part of the application.

How to apply
To be considered for the above awards, candidates should submit a PhD application following the guidelines.

Enquiries
Please contact Anusarin Lowe, Programme Administrator, Postgraduate Research Office at Anusarin.lowe@mbs.ac.uk

Applications are welcome across the breadth of the research and development management discipline. RADMA particularly encourages applications that explore important relevant issues or further understanding in the following areas:

• Management of scientific and technological activity
• Management of research & development, product design and innovation
• Strategy formulation and human resources
• Management of technology and policy.

The award provides up to three years funding to talented prospective or mid-study PhD students, offering an opportunity to concentrate on the studentship for the period of the award.  To be eligible for funding candidates must be accepted for PhD study at a UK university. Applications must be supported by the candidate's PhD supervisor. Awards will be granted to and administered through the institution, not individual candidates. The award will cover costs related to fees and specified living expenses up to a maximum of £17,500 per academic year (pro-rata for part time students) and conditional upon the receipt of acceptable annual progress reports.

Application closing date:: 29 February 2011

More information and to apply >>

The Manchester International Marketing and Purchasing Research Group (mIMP RG) at the Manchester Business School is delighted to announce one 4-year full-time PhD Research Assistantship in Business Marketing, for September 2012 entry. The PhD programme at MBS has been consistently placed in the top 3 worldwide by the recent Financial Times rankings. In the last three years, MBS came 1st twice, beating Wharton to the top spot.

The successful candidate will work with Professors Stephan Henneberg and Peter Naudé in the area of business-to-business marketing. This research will be undertaken in the tradition of the IMP Group (see www.impgroup.org). The IMP Group has developed a dynamic model of buyer-supplier relationships (the interaction model) and this is now embedded in a wide community of researchers concerned with issues of marketing, purchasing, and strategy in organisational networks.

It is envisaged that the candidate will work together with experienced members of the mIMP RG on wider research projects in the area of business marketing, which will allow for ample publication opportunities.

Eligibility criteria
The applicants should have a first class academic record and initial experience in either quantitative or qualitative methods. We are looking for a scholar with the potential to publish their research in major international journals.
The application is open to candidates from the area of marketing, supply chain management, general management, strategy and also from outside the management discipline. Home and overseas students are welcome to apply.

Award value
The 4-year PhD Research Assistantship will cover:

• Full-time PhD home or overseas tuition fees
• Fieldwork allowance for research projects
• Conference attendance support

How to apply
To be considered for this award, please submit a completed application for the PhD programme at application process. Please make sure that you mention ‘mIMP RG: PhD Scholarship and Research Assistantship in Business Marketing’ in your application in the research title section of the form. You also need to submit a 3,000-word research proposal of a specific project, a CV and a 500-word suitability statement.

Applications closing date
31 March 2012

Further information
Should you wish to discuss this position in more detail, please email Stephan.Henneberg@mbs.ac.uk or Peter.Naude@mbs.ac.uk

Applications are invited for SCI PhD studentships commencing September 2012.

The Sustainable Consumption Institute examines issues related to environmental sustainability through the lens of consumption. A key current focus is on climate change; it is imperative that international, national and company climate change strategies and targets are grounded in climate science. The challenge facing society means that we cannot rely only on technology based solutions to combat climate change and move to a low carbon based economy; it will be vital to also change patterns of consumption and production.

The SCI currently has three interrelated themes to guide and organise research activities: Sustainable Consumer Behaviours and Lifestyles, Stimulating Eco-Innovation for Sustainable Production and Distribution and Climate Change and Carbon: Mitigation, Adaptation and Vulnerability.

Applicants are welcome to apply for specific projects (details will be available on the SCI website at www.sci.manchester.ac.uk in early December 2011) or to submit their own project ideas.

Eligibility

Applicants are required to hold a first class honours degree or equivalent and distinction at Masters degree level.

Award value

Full fees and stipend equivalent to UK research councils.

How to apply and contact details

http://www.sci.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/applications-2012
sue.huzar@manchester.ac.uk

Application closing date:

31 January 2012