Dear all
I have received the following details from Kate Millar at Nottingham about a PhD she has available on antimicrobial resistance and farming. Somewhat unusually, the role is open to Bioscience graduates as well as those from social science and philosophy backgrounds. Please feel free to forward to any of your graduates you know who may be interested.
Thanks
Chris
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PhD Opportunity - University of Nottingham (CAB and MSP) - Antimicrobial resistance and animal health: Concepts of ethical responsibility in farm and companion animal medicine - Closing Date: 07/08/2015

SUMMARY: 
Overuse of antibiotics in both human and animal fields is widely associated with the rise of antibiotic resistance.  Relatively little is known about how antibiotics in farm and companion animal medicine are actually dispensed and the role of vets in this regard. As such this project will attempt to rectify this serious gap by investigating the extent to which the concept of responsibility is constructed by veterinarians, publics and policy-makers, with the intent that an ethical analysis will illuminate this issue. The project will draw on conceptualisation of responsibility (e.g. from responsible innovation work) and will deconstruct the idea of responsibility in relation to existing work on professionalism, expertise, veterinary ethics and human-animal relations. This is an interdisciplinary project that will apply qualitative methods and approaches from Applied Ethics and STS.

FUNDING DETAILS:
The successful candidate will be based at the Centre for Applied Bioethics (CAB) (www.nottingham.ac.uk/bioethics), Schools of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine and Science and will be a member of the Leverhulme ‘Making Science Public’ (MSP) Programme (www.nottingham.ac.uk/sociology/research/projects/making-science-public/index.aspx).  Supervisors are Dr Kate Millar (CAB; primary supervisor), Dr Sujatha Raman (Institute for Science and Society), and Dr Pru Hobson-West (CAB). 

Funding and Supervision:  This studentship, funded by The Levehulme Trust, covers the UK/EU tuition fee (£4,052 p.a.) and a tax free stipend (£14,057 p.a.). 
Field work will take place in the UK, but the successful candidate will be encouraged to participate in EU/international research networks 

QUALIFICATION REQUIRMENTS AND HOW TO APPLY:
Qualification Requirements: Minimum 2.1, in a relevant undergraduate degree, e.g. social sciences, philosophy, science and technology studies (STS), political science, veterinary medicine and sciences, biosciences, or equivalent.

Please email your CV and a covering letter, including the names and contact details of two academic referees, to Kate Millar ([log in to unmask]) 
Closing Date: 07/08/2015
Interviews w/c:  10 August 2015

On-line advert University of Nottingham: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~sazintra/public/studentship/studentship-2015-08-077.html
On-line advert Find a PhD: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ALP368/phd-antimicrobial-resistance-and-animal-health/ 

PROJECT DETAILS:  
Antimicrobial resistance and animal health: Exploring tensions in public/professional concepts of ethical responsibility in farm/companion animal medicine
Overuse of antibiotics in both human and animal fields is widely associated with the rise of antibiotic resistance.  In the early 2000s, the EU banned the use of key antibiotics used specifically as growth-promoters in farming. However, the prophylactic use of antibiotics for farm and companion animals has become controversial. Specifically, a key question focuses on how to draw the boundary between ‘acceptable prophylactic’ use and ‘unacceptable routine’ use. Indeed, some MEPs have called for research and policy responses to settle this controversy (European Parliament 2011). 

In this context, the role of the veterinary profession has recently come under the spotlight. For example, The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) has issued best practice guidelines for ‘responsible use’ and these have influenced quality assurance schemes such as Red Tractor. The issue of responsible prescribing is also raised for companion animals (Battersby, 2014). However, exploratory research conducted at the University of Nottingham shows that while the political profile of this issue has risen, relatively little is known about how antibiotics are actually dispensed and the role of vets in this regard. This project will attempt to rectify this serious gap by investigating the extent to which the concept of responsibility is constructed by veterinarians, publics and policy-makers, with the intent that an ethical analysis will illuminate this issue. The project will draw on conceptualisation of responsibility (e.g. from responsible innovation work) and will deconstruct the idea of responsibility in relation to existing work on professionalism, expertise, veterinary ethics and human-animal relations. 

Methods:  The research will utilise qualitative methods and approaches from Applied Ethics and STS. It will consist of three components:  Documentary analysis; Interviews with professionals and policy makers; and ethnographic fieldwork in a veterinary practice or on farm.