Criminal Law & Criminalisation PhD Scholarship, University of Glasgow, UK

Criminal Law & Criminalisation PhD Scholarship - School of Law
Applications are invited for a scholarship offered by the College of Social Sciences, to be held in the School of Law, within the broad theme of criminalisation. The successful applicant will be supervised by Professor James Chalmers and another member of staff (probably Professor Lindsay Farmer or Dr Fiona Leverick, depending on the exact nature of the project).

It is expected that the successful candidate’s work will link in with an ongoing research project being conducted by Professor Chalmers and Dr Leverick on patterns of criminalisation, examining the creation and characteristics of new criminal offences in the United Kingdom. The first research papers from this project have been completed and should be published later in 2013. The project also involves the creation of a research assistant post (to be advertised shortly) from the autumn of 2013 onwards. This builds on the University of Glasgow having been at the forefront of research into criminalisation in recent years, with Professor Farmer being one of the investigators on a four-year AHRC-funded programme of research in this field.

The research proposal should concern itself with the practice of formal criminalisation: that is, the way in which governments or regulators use the criminal law as a legislative tool. This might include, for example, examination of (a) the criminalisation of specific activities; (b) aspects of criminalisation of a broader range of activities (that is, devices such as strict liability, reverse burdens of proof or extraterritorial jurisdiction which are used in defining criminal offences by legislation); (c) more wide-ranging examination of legislative practices over time; (d) alternatives to criminal law such as civil penalties; (e) the creation of criminal offences in regulatory contexts or by regulatory bodies. Research proposals should be concerned primarily with legislative practice (which includes the decision of governments to legislate) or mechanisms.

Potential applicants should interpret this guidance broadly and construct a research proposal which best suits their own interests and expertise. Informal enquiries about the scholarship are encouraged and should be directed to Professor Chalmers (james.chalmers@glasgow.ac.uk), who can supply copies of the forthcoming research papers mentioned above.

Eligibility and details of the award
Home/EU and international applicants are eligible to apply. Both full-time and part-time students are eligible. The scholarship will run for a maximum of three years full-time or 5 years part-time commencing on September/October 2013 and will provide:

  • an annual bursary equivalent to the RCUK rate – currently £13,590 (£6795 part-time) for 2012/13
  • fees at the standard Home/EU or International rate
  • a research support grant of £750 (£375 part-time) per annum

How to Apply
Applicants for this scholarship must first submit a complete application for admission to the PhD programme at the University of Glasgow School of Law. Details of how to do this can be found at http://www.gla.ac.uk/research/opportunities/howtoapplyforaresearchdegree/. After this complete application has been submitted, the applicant should send an email to james.chalmers@glasgow.ac.uk by 5pm on Thursday 28 March 2013 stating that they wish to be considered for the scholarship. This email should include as attachments:

  • copies of all documents which have been submitted as part of the PhD application. If you have not submitted references yourself, but have asked your referees to email them to the Graduate School directly, you should ask them also to email copies to Professor Chalmers by the deadline.
  • a writing sample. The sample should be a piece of assessed work from your legal studies to date, on any topic, and preferably in the region of 2,500-5,000 words long.

Selection Process
Applications will be evaluated by a School of Law selection panel. The selection panel will base its decision primarily on the student’s academic qualifications, the quality of the research proposal and its fit with the research project noted above, but may take into account any other factor which it considers relevant. Candidates will be notified of the outcome by the end of April 2013. The School reserves the right to make an offer of a scholarship subject to a research proposal being revised in such manner as it sees fit or to any other conditions, or to make no award.

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure the above information is current and correct. However, applicants should contact the appropriate administering body before making an application, as details do change frequently.