PHD STUDENTSHIP / RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT

Applications are invited for a PhD Studentship/Research Assistantship in the area of natural resource development, knowledge and globalization. The successful candidate will pursue a PhD in the School of Environment and Development while working as a research assistant on in EU-funded project that addresses Europe's role in the globalization of resource development at the end of the 19th century. The project - To the Ends of the Earth: the global expansion of mining investment in the late 19th century - is funded by a Marie-Curie International Reintegration Grant from the European Commission awarded to Dr Gavin Bridge, with additional support from the School of Environment and Development. The period 1870-1910 was a formative moment in the evolution of the contemporary global economy and a high-water mark for overseas mining investment. European geologists and engineers fanned out across the globe to probe its remotest corners, the embodiment of a series of exchanges - of knowledge, capital, and material - between core and periphery. The project will identify the scientific, political-economic and ideological networks through which European mining interests were able expand their global reach during the 19th century, and contrast these with the networks that sustain strategies of geographical expansion in the contemporary period. Applicants should note that their PhD research is expected to complement the focus of the Marie-Curie funded project. The Studentship is for three years, and pays a tax-free stipend that averages 12.5k per year and fees of 3160 (based on the figure for 2006/7). Applicants must hold a Masters Degree (or equivalent) in Geography, History, or other relevant subject. Deadline for Applications is August 3 2006. Applicants must satisfy the School of Environment and Development's English-language requirement. Applications from outside the EU are welcome, although non-EU applicants should note that they will need to pay full fees.