Migration policy, mental health and standards in public life are just some of the research topics in this year's award of CASE PhD studentships to The University of Nottingham by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
The University of Nottingham is top of the award list for the second year running, with seven studentships involving public and private sector organisations in the students' research and training. Two further awards have been received to fund PhD projects in collaboration with government departments - HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Studentships awarded under the CASE scheme - which stands for Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering - provide PhD students with the chance to gain experience of work outside the academic environment. The student receives financial support from both ESRC and a collaborating organisation, which can be from industry, government or the public sector.
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The three-year PhD studentship allows the student to enhance their research by spending between three and 18 months with the co-operating body, in a workplace outside the academic environment.
This is an outstanding achievement for the faculty - a ringing endorsement of our research and its importance for UK society.
Professor Sara O'Hara
Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education
Dr Davide Pero joined the University in 2006 as a Lecturer in the School of Sociology and Social Policy where he also convenes the Identity, Citizenship and Migration Centre. He looks forward to his CASE project on the role of public and civic organisations on migration policy and practice.
Dr Pero said: "By collaborating with the Migrants Rights Network on this project, we can make a significant step towards understanding how organisations facilitate the incorporation of migrants and the development of inclusionary policies."
A project to study the perceptions of standards in public life has been awarded to Professor Cees van der Eijk, Director of the University's Methods and Data Institute and a leading political scientist.
He said: "Our CASE project with the Committee on Standards in Public Life will analyse what people think about holders of public office and their standards of behaviour. Questions of how this behaviour has changed, its effect on public trust in politics, and citizens' own political behaviour are important issues for the operation of representative democracy in the UK."
Professor Sarah O'Hara is Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education, where the students will be based. She said: "This is an outstanding achievement for the faculty - a ringing endorsement of our research and its importance for UK society."
Over the next few months, some of the best students from across the social sciences will be recruited onto these highly sought-after scholarships. They will join a thriving and supportive research environment, with the active involvement of the CASE partner organisations.
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 70 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and Times Higher (THE) World University Rankings.
It provides innovative and top quality teaching, undertakes world-changing research, and attracts talented staff and students from 150 nations. Described by The Times as Britain's "only truly global university", it has invested continuously in award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. Twice since 2003 its research and teaching academics have won Nobel Prizes. The University has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in both 2006 (International Trade) and 2007 (Innovation - School of Pharmacy).
Its students are much in demand from 'blue-chip' employers. Winners of Students in Free Enterprise for four years in succession, and current holder of UK Graduate of the Year, they are accomplished artists, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators and fundraisers. Nottingham graduates consistently excel in business, the media, the arts and sport. Undergraduate and postgraduate degree completion rates are amongst the highest in the United Kingdom.
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More information is available from Steven Hardy, Graduate School, University of Nottingham, +44 (0)115 846 8582, steven.hardy@nottingham.ac.uk; Paula Gurteen in the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Centre, University of Nottingham, on +44 (0)115 951 4881, paula.gurteen@nottingham.ac.u