PhD Studentships 2012/2013 University of Strathclyde Business School

Strathclyde Business School, in the heart of Glasgow, supports a vibrant and innovative research culture, with a specialist programme of training and support for research students. Strathclyde Business School was rated as st th 'world leading in its research, 1 in Scotland and 7 in the UK by the most recent Research Assessment Exercise in 2008. The Business School invites applications for the following fully-funded PhD studentships tenable for 3 years fulltime study from October 2012:

Co-funded Scottish Government & ESRC Doctoral Training Centre Studentships

Closing date: Friday 27 April 2012
Applications should be made online at http://pgr.strath.ac.uk/ Informal enquiries: Prof Peter McGregor and Prof Kim Swales, Dept of Economics, p.g.mcgregor@strath.ac.uk and j.k.swales@strath.ac.uk

The analysis of devolved tax policies using Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling techniques A more detailed treatment of the labour market within the Scottish Governments Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the Scottish Economy

Project Studentships
Closing date: Monday 14 May 2012
Applications should be sent directly to the contact indicated in the Project Descriptors (see also www.strath.ac.uk/business/research/studentships/)

Modelling of network reliability to support management decisions about resilience (Informal enquiries: Prof Lesley Walls and Prof John Quigley, Management Science) Using open innovation to leverage opportunity in Scotlands priority areas (Informal enquiries: Dr Jill MacBryde, Management Science) Reimagining tourist communities for future societies role of dwelling (Informal enquiries: Dr Paul Lynch, Management) Offshoring in the global economy: Causes consequences and policy implications (Informal enquiries: Dr Rodolphe Desbordes, Economics)

How to Apply:
Students are strongly advised to make informal enquiries before submitting applications. Applications should include all of the following materials: A cover letter identifying your project of interest and explaining your research interests, relevant training and skills, and long-term career goals. This should include a short statement (max 800 words) explaining how these fit with and can add to the research programme A curriculum vitae (CV) If available, a substantial piece of writing (5,000-10,000 words) such as a literature review or previous research findings Official transcript(s) of your undergraduate/postgraduate degrees Two academic references from an institution at which you have studied English qualifications obtained, if English is not your first language

All studentships are competitive and cover fees at Home/EU or non-EU international rates, plus an annual stipend of approximately 13,800. The ideal candidate is expected to hold a First Class Honours undergraduate degree or a Masters degree with distinction in a relevant business and management or related social science discipline. See Project Descriptors for further requirements.

Project Descriptors
Co-funded Scottish Government & ESRC Doctoral Training Centre Studentships
Closing date: Friday 27 April 2012
Applications should be made online at http://pgr.strath.ac.uk/

The analysis of devolved tax policies using Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling techniques A more detailed treatment of the labour market within the Scottish Governments Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the Scottish Economy
Informal enquiries: Prof. Peter McGregor and Prof. Kim Swales, p.g.mcgregor@strath.ac.uk and j.k.swales@strath.ac.uk. Dept of Economics,

Peter McGregor and Kim Swales are seeking two PhD candidates to extend the existing policy modelling of the Scottish economy. The work will expand the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling capacity that has been built up over the past two decades in the Economics Department and, more recently, within the Scottish Government. The studentships are funded jointly by the ESRC and the Scottish Government. The successful candidates will be working closely with the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser, the central analytical unit within the Scottish Government. This work is particularly timely: constitutional change will certainly give the Scottish Government more responsibility for economic policy in the future. The primary role of the PhDs will be to augment the existing CGE model of the Scottish economy and this will require the successful candidates to acquire a good practical knowledge of programming in GAMS. The augmented models will then be used for extensive policy simulation. Examples would include detailed simulation of the impact of tax policies and training initiatives. Results will focus on both the effects on the Scottish economy as a whole and on more specific issues, such as the impact on particular sectors and the distribution of income. The primary purpose of the work is to take forward new and original economic research that will be of interest to the academic community and to produce publications in high ranking international peer-reviewed Journals. The successful candidate requires a strong background in Economics with a Masters degree in Economics or a related discipline.

Project Studentships Closing date: Monday 14 May 2012

Applications should be sent directly to the contact indicated in the Project Descriptors (see also www.strath.ac.uk/business/research/studentships )

Modelling network reliability to support management decisions about resilience

Informal enquiries: Prof Lesley Walls, lesley.walls@strath.ac.uk, Prof John Quigley j.quigley@strath.ac.uk Dept of Management Science Applications should be submitted to: Alison Kerr, alison.kerr@strath.ac.uk Dept of Management Science There exists considerable theory for modelling network reliability and a practical need to design and manage networks that are resilient to perturbations arising from natural and intended hazards. This research project aims to develop reliability models that support key decisions by network designers and operators. For example, by extending reliability network probability theory to model selected network structures typical of emerging system designs, such as smart grids; by developing statistical inference for the theoretical stochastic network models; and evaluating models theoretically and practically. Applicants should: 1. 2. 3. 4. Possess a Masters degree in Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Probability or equivalent Have a keen, analytical mind Be independent, resourceful and tenacious Willing to work with engineers and managers to structure and evaluate models

Using open innovation to leverage opportunity in Scotlands priority areas

Informal enquiries: Dr Jill MacBryde, Dept of Management Science, jillian.macbryde@strath.ac.uk Applications should be submitted to: Alison Kerr, alison.kerr@strath.ac.uk Dept of Management Science Applications are sought for a PhD candidate to join a growing group of innovation researchers at Strathclyde Business School. The project will complement two already established research projects one utilising Technology Road Mapping (TRM) to support technology management and planning in Scotland and one looking at open innovation in sectors key to Scotlands economy (energy and food and drink). The multi-disciplinary team are now seeking a PhD candidate to link these two activities and knowledge areas and explore how open innovation can be used to fill some of the gaps (identified by the technology road mapping exercises) needed to exploit Scotlands potential in priority areas. Building on the existing work on TRM and Open Innovation this PhD candidate will use techniques from the disciplines of operations management, management science and marketing to identify how and where open innovation can be used alongside TRM approaches. One of the academic contributions may be to critique and develop models for open innovation in a time of austerity and rapid technological change. This will build on existing insights that are often derived from limited sectoral and organisation exposure. This project will give the student a great opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team and to make linkages across Strathclyde and numerous industry sectors. We are particularly keen to receive applications from candidates from a marketing, operations management or technology management background.

Reimagining tourist communities for future societies - role of dwelling

Informal enquiries: Dr Paul Lynch, Dept of Management, paul.lynch@strath.ac.uk Applications should be submitted to: Dr Paul Lynch, paul.lynch@strath.ac.uk Paul Lynch (Dept of Management) and Sara Davies (European Policies Research Centre) are seeking a high calibre PhD candidate to investigate how tourism and hospitality will be organised in the future from a social, spatial and temporal perspective. The project will adopt a cross-disciplinary approach to inform tourism and hospitality theory. It will investigate the importance of future forms of tourism dwelling, especially the possibilities for sustainable ways of living with difference, emerging from informal, semi-formal and alternative economies of hospitality such as the ethical or sharing economy. The successful applicant will benefit from interactions with a vibrant multidisciplinary international research network in the areas of architecture, cultural innovation, social theory and social change. It is expected that candidates will probably have an academic background in a social science or business subject. Applicants should demonstrate their capacity to engage with the project topic.

Offshoring in the global economy: causes, consequences & policy implications

Informal enquiries: Dr Rodolphe Desbordes, Dept of Economics, rodolphe.desboordes@strath.ac.uk Applications should be submitted to: Dr Rodolphe Desbordes, rodolphe.desboordes@strath.ac.uk Globalisation is frequently blamed for increasing the dispersion of earnings between highly skilled and relatively unskilled workers. The basic idea is that material offshoring of the less skilled-intensive stages of production, through foreign direct investment or foreign outsourcing, led to a rise in the demand for skilled workers relative to unskilled workers, with an associated rise in their relative remuneration. The emergence of India on the world stage, and the rapid growth of service offshoring, has generally been seen as having the same effects, with the key difference being that it is now the medium-skilled workers engaged in routine and easily tradable tasks who are believed to have experienced a fall in their relative wage or job losses. These issues are hotly debated, both in the press and in the economic literature, and frequently generate public calls for protectionism. However, the empirical evidence on the effects of offshoring is extremely scarce, with most work focusing on the impact of material offshoring on the U.S. labour market before the start of the current century. Rodolphe Desbordes (Economics) and Ron Davies (UCD) are seeking a PhD candidate to conduct a project which will: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Investigate the determinants and impacts of offshoring in other rich countries. Make a distinction between material offshoring and service offshoring. Make a distinction between offshoring through in-house foreign direct investment or through outsourcing to an external firm. Evaluate the relative contribution of offshoring to rising inequality. Assess the long-run impacts of offshoring in the labour market.

Strathclyde Business School

Strathclyde Business School's innovative research programme utilises both single discipline specialisms and multidisciplinary teams to generate and disseminate international thought leadership. In keeping with the University's mission as 'The Place of Useful Learning', our research operates at the front end of new theory development whilst practically impacting on policy and practice. The Business School supports a vibrant research culture, with a specialist programme of training and support for research students and early career researchers. Opportunities to share ideas with researchers in other disciplines, to develop expertise in new areas of research methodology and to collaborate with researchers in other institutions around the world help our students to develop and grow in a competitive but supportive environment. Our research students are an integral part of the Business School community. We attract top students from around the world, both recent graduates looking to pursue a career in academia and those with decades of experience in industry who wish to take their career to a new level. In addition, the University is part of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science and Scottish Doctoral Training Centre (DTC). This consortium was awarded funding by the Economic and Social Research Council to provide enhanced training opportunities for PhD students in the social sciences.

Strathclydes research excellence

The Universitys research and its continuing growth in areas of strategic importance were confirmed by the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Strathclyde Business School was affirmed as 'world leading and internationally excellent', and rated 1st in Scotland and in the UK top 10. Strathclyde achieved the highest research power rating for engineering in Scotland and our performance was impressive in areas across the sciences and social sciences.

The postgraduate student experience

The University of Strathclyde is made up of a vibrant, international, community of 16,000 full-time students from 100 countries, and over 3,500 full-time equivalent staff. We are the third largest university in Scotland with a distinctive reputation for innovation and enterprise. Glasgow is Scotlands largest and most cosmopolitan city. The city boasts world-famous art collections, the best shopping in the United Kingdom outside London and consistently tops surveys of preferred places to live and work in the UK. For more information on postgraduate life at Strathclyde visit www.strath.ac.uk/postgrad.

Our research agenda

Collaboration and cross-disciplinary research are integral to our success. We have created a culture of collaboration, fostering partnerships with other leading universities across the globe and the major players in industry. Research pooling the joining of research strategies, expertise and resources across Scotland ensures that Scottish research remains of an internationally-leading standard and gives you access to top academics and facilities across a number of institutions. The University has committed to developing its campus to ensure facilities fully support an institution that is dynamic, internationally-focused and successful. Major developments include the Advanced Forming Research Centre in partnership with global industrial manufacturing firms (www.strath.ac.uk/afrc/); the Technology and Innovation Centre (www.strath.ac.uk/tic/) and the recently completed pharmacy and biomedical sciences building (www.strath.ac.uk/sipbs/). For more information on Strathclydes research visit www.strath.ac.uk/research.