PEALS PhD Studentships 2005-2008

Two PhD studentships are available in the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences
Research Centre (PEALS) from 1st October 2005 for three years. PEALS is a
collaboration between the Wolfson Research Institute at the University of
Durham, the Institute of Policy and Practice at the University of Newcastle
and the ‘International Centre for Life’ (www.peals.ncl.ac.uk). PEALS has an
internationally renowned agenda of research at the interface of the social
sciences and the life sciences. The studentships will be awarded to support
work in two particular areas of that agenda.

The first area, supervised by Robin Williams, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
in Durham, will be related to current work funded by the Wellcome Trust
concerning the developing uses of the life sciences in support of crime
control and public security. These include: the police use of ‘forensic
intelligence’ in criminal investigations; the development of forensic DNA
databases in the UK and elsewhere; the establishment and use of other
biometric databases (including fingerprint, iris and facial databases) for
the control of movement and service entitlement; the ethical, legal and
social consequences of recent innovations in forensic genetics (e.g. the
analysis of ‘bio-genetic ancestry’, phenotypical profiling and ‘familial
searching’).

The second studentship, supervised by Erica Haimes, Professor of Sociology
in Newcastle, will be in the broad area of social and ethical aspects of
reproductive and genetic technologies. This could be on one of several
topics including: choices in reproduction and the use of reproductive
technologies and assisted conception; issues around genetic and other forms
of kinship identity and identification; issues in fertility and infertility,
including male sub-fertility; embryonic stem cell research; questions around
the prolongation of life in foetuses and the new born; preimplantation
genetic diagnosis; reproduction, screening, birth and disability.  However,
we would also be interested in receiving applications looking at the social,
ethical and legal aspects of genetics and ageing, and of nanobiotechnology.

Both students will be registered for a higher degree (initially an MPhil
with the expectation of progression onto a PhD, subject to satisfactory
progress), one in Durham and one in Newcastle. Each will be supervised
jointly by Robin Williams and Erica Haimes. Both will have access to the
extensive PEALS research networks across both universities and throughout
the region. Both students will receive financial support to cover
maintenance (£12,000 pa each), research expenses (£1,000 pa each) and fees.

Applicants should have a good honours degree (2.1 or above) in Sociology or
a related discipline, and have a Masters degree in social science research,
including research methodology (or possess relevant research experience).

Applications (4 hard copies) should be submitted to either Erica Haimes (c/o
PEALS Research Institute, Bioscience Centre, Times Square, Newcastle NE1
4EP) or Robin Williams (Department of Sociology, University of Durham, 32
Old Elvet, Durham City DH1 3HN), depending on which studentship you would
like to be considered for. Candidates should include with their applications
a cv and a 500 word paper outlining their initial research ideas within one
of the two areas outlined above. Deadline for applications is May 20th. We
hope to hold interviews in early June. Informal inquiries can be made to
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Both Universities are committed to equal opportunities.