North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership

Studentship Competition for 2022 Open!

The NWSSDTP Standard Studentship Competition for October 2022 entry is now open! We welcome applications for 1+3/2+2/2+3 Study (Master’s + PhD) and for +3/+2 Study (PhD Only). We also welcome applications for part-time study.

Details of the award, eligibility criteria and how to apply can be found here: https://nwssdtp.ac.uk/how-to-apply/

Bittersweet: Falconry, behind the glove

Emma Randall, Health and Wellbeing, Keele University (2020 Cohort)

My love of birds of prey is unusually complex; I share a close bond with them. Resilience is the binding force we both share that connects me to them. It feels natural, then, that I am exploring animal, health and landscape geographies for my PhD: people’s encounters with birds of prey and the potential for eco-therapy. I was fortunate enough to experience falconry for the first time two months ago. NWSSDTP were very supportive preparing me for this visit, funding a piece of equipment and a specialist course, thus, I wanted to express my gratitude by writing a blog for their newsletter.

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The PhD journey so far

Sarah Garlick, Social Statistics, University of Liverpool (2016 Cohort)

24 August 2020: I’m sat with a small group of friends outside a café in Liverpool, drinking tea and eating cookies (made by one of the group, who is an excellent baker). It’s my last full day living in Liverpool. Waiting for me where I live are a large number of cardboard boxes, some packed (but many not – it’s going to be a long day). Having lived in the city since 2017, including during the first silent, confusing and lonely months of the pandemic when I felt as though I saw more seagulls than people, I am moving away from the University, away from Merseyside, with my thesis in the writing-up stage. I didn’t expect to leave Liverpool before submitting my thesis. I don’t know it yet, but this is the last time I’ll meet up with my University friends face-to-face. (Hopefully one day this will change)

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MAG Internship

Alex Holder, Socio-legal Studies, University of Liverpool (2017 Cohort)

Despite the ongoing disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, between June and January of this year I was fortunate enough to undertake a six-month internship with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a Manchester-based NGO which has been working in the mine action sector since 1989. For more than 30 years, MAG’s work has primarily involved the ‘clearance’ of landmines, cluster munitions and unexploded bombs from areas affected by conflict all over the world. In addition to its clearance activities, MAG also engages extensively in weapons and ammunition management, risk education, as well as advocacy and campaigning relating to a number of humanitarian issues.

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