European Network for Political Ecology (ENTITLE) Scholarships, Spain

Deadline: 20 April 2012
Open to: Candidates with studies in the social sciences (sociology, anthropology, political science, economics), environmental sciences, planning, ecology, geography, architecture and contemporary history or other area if justifed by heir curriculum; able to communicate in English
Scholarship: Living allowance (38000 € annually -/+  correction factor for each country) and a mobility allowance

Description

The European Network for Political Ecology (ENTITLE) offers 11 generously-funded three-year PhD scholarships available to candidates from anywhere in the world.
ENTITLE is an EU-funded Initial Training Network under the Marie Curie actions of FP7, coordinated by ICTA at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (icta.uab.es and www.eco2bcn.es) and with the collaboration of 11 research and NGO partners (Grant Agreement: 289374).
ENTITLE will train 17 researchers in the emerging field of Political Ecology, giving them the theoretical, analytical and complementary skills that will make them employable in jobs related to environmental policy analysis and advocacy. Research and training are framed around five key clusters concerned with the analysis of: environmental conflicts; environmental movements; natural disasters; changes in co-production and the commons; and environmental justice and democracy.
Researchers selected for the program will be trained through an integrated curriculum of local and intensive network courses on related topics, summer schools with teachers of international calibre, secondments to EJOs (environmental justice organizations) and the public and private sector and training through work. ENTITLE builds on an on-going collaboration in training between the participating institutions, manifested in a series of summer schools (www.environmentalconflicts.com). It brings together some of the world ́s top scholars in political ecology and related approaches, and overcomes the fragmentation of existing political ecological research in Europe, offering a critical mass of research and training. The researchers trained in the network will be employable in academia, public administration and EJOs.

Eligibility

The fellowships are open to truly outstanding candidates with distinguished curricula and proven ability to communicate fluently in English. We expect candidates with studies in the social sciences (sociology, anthropology, political science, economics), environmental sciences, planning, ecology, geography, architecture and contemporary history. Candidates from other disciplines might apply if adequately justified by their curriculum and motivation letter. Interdisciplinary experience and previous work on political ecology and related approaches are highly appreciated, as is civic engagement with the social issues dealt by the network. As the PhD must be completed within the 3 years of the fellowships we anticipate that successful candidates will already hold a Masters degree and have some experience with social science research methods.
Eligibility Criteria (From The EC Marie Curie Program)
The following requirements must be met:
1) Applicant must not have a PhD.
2) Applicant should not have more than 4 years of research experience. The years that count are the ones after obtaining the degree (e.g. a masters) which would formally entitle one to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the research training is provided.
3) Applicant must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the country of the host institution for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment (i.e. you should not have lived in the country you are applying for more than a year in the period September 2009 – September 2012).

Scholarship

Successful applicants will be given a 3-year contract with a salary, mobility allowance and additional funds for research-related costs. The salary includes a living allowance (38000 € annually -/+ a correction factor for each country that can be checked at the Marie Curie website). This is a gross salary; net salary will be derived after deductions that will apply in the host country, such as taxes and social security. In addition, recruited researchers will receive a mobility allowance (700 – 1000 euros per month, depending on country correction factor and family situation); in some countries this is subject to taxes, in others not.

Application

Applicants should submit the following by email:
(1) A cover letter declaring their interest for the position and identifying the host institute of their choice. A maximum of two institutes can be selected. The first choice needs to be clearly identified. (Note that for the Harokopion University post at Athens, knowledge of Greek is desirable. PhD candidates at Bogazici Universitesi in Istanbul are required to undertake and qualify through a first year of graduate courses in economics.)
(2) A  500 word motivation letter explaining the reasons for wanting to do research in the field of political ecology.
(3) A 1000 word research proposal, positioned with respect to at least one of the five key thematic areas of the network (environmental conflicts; environmental movements; natural disasters; changes in co-production and the commons; and environmental justice and democracy).
To get an idea of the research themes interesting the prospective host institutes, applicants should visit their websites and look at the research work of the contact persons who are likely to act as supervisors. Applicants should not contact the institutes or the supervisors individually. The capacity to develop a political-ecological research proposal independently is part of the criteria used to evaluate the applicants. Note that the research proposal of the application stage is not binding, and supervisors will work with the recruited researchers to elaborate a new research proposal during the first year of the fellowship.
4) A curriculum vitae. Please make visible the countries of your main activity during the last three years.
(5) The names, email addresses and telephone numbers of two confidential referees whom we might contact within May 2012. The referees should have been informed and consent to be contacted.
Application should be sent to:
The application should be sent via email to entitle2012@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .All documents must be merged into a single pdf document with the following title <”Application” Name Surname> (e.g. “Application John Smith”) .
The subject of the email message should have the following structure <”Entitle Application”> (e.g. Entitle Application, John Smith, Barcelona [Manchester])
Deadline:
The deadline for applications is April 20, 2012, 6pm Central European Time. Decisions will be communicated to applicants by the end of May. Short-listed applicants may be contacted for an interview by the host University in early May and they may be asked to submit additional material related to their application, such as a sample of their work.
Equal Opportunity:
ENTITLE is an equal opportunity network. We particularly encourage applications from women.
For more information, please visit The Official Website.