Dear Zooarchers,

Please find below details of three PhD studentships currently on offer. Studentship 1 should be of particular interest to zooarchaeologists. I would be grateful if you could pass the information on to potential candidates.

Cheers,

Umberto

"We are delighted to announce that three fully-funded PhD studentships on ‘Faith in Food, Food in Faith: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Dietary Practice’ are available, starting in autumn 2014.

Each studentship will cover Home/EU tuition fees and provide a stipend paid at standard Research Council rates (£13,863 for 2014/15). 

Closing date for applications: 5pm, Friday 13^th June 2014.

The network

This network approaches the study of food and dietary practice in the past through molecular archaeology, nutritional epidemiology, zooarchaeology, history of medicine and artefactual archaeology. The studentships are aligned to different fields and time periods within the network but each explores the relationships between food, health, religion, social status, migration and identity. As part of a network the successful candidates will be expected to work together to enable inter-disciplinary engagement, for example, through a student-run conference. The network will create an invigorating environment for the production, exchange and dissemination of research on diet, drawing on strengths in both science and the arts & humanities.

The studentships focus on three regions of Europe where political, economic and technological change occurred at different times. In the medieval Iberian Peninsula and Sicily, Muslim rule across several centuries brought innovative animal husbandry techniques, irrigation technology, new technical vocabularies and new foods such as citrus fruits and sugar cane, with long-term nutritional impact. In 19^th-21^st century Sheffield, urbanization, industrialization and migration all affected diet, income, education and public health. In all these periods and places, certain food stuffs had a continuous history of use, leading to the creation of extensive beliefs and related health problems.

Each of the three successful applicants will be expected to participate fully in the activities of the network, including undergoing some training in the methodologies of the other disciplines. They will also have access to all the additional opportunities provided by the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities, including Research Training Mobility funds, Researcher Employablity projects, and Knowledge Exchange Projects. Further details about the doctoral training and opportunities offered by WRoCAH can be found at: www.arts-and-humanities.whiterose.ac.uk.

Queries about the network should be directed to the network co-ordinator, Dr Iona McCleery [log in to unmask]. Queries about individual projects should be directed to the project supervisors (listed below).

Studentship 1 (based at Sheffield): Animal Husbandry in Sicily during the Islamic-Christian Transition, 8^th-12^th Centuries.

Supervisors: Dr Umberto Albarella (Sheffield), [log in to unmask]; Professor Martin Carver (York), [log in to unmask].

This studentship focuses on zooarchaeological methods. The candidate will explore animal husbandry in medieval Sicily during periods of transition between Christian and Muslim rule (8^th-12^th centuries). This studentship links zooarchaeology in Sheffield and York with an international project studying economic and social transition in medieval Sicily, including new farming methods, which is led by York and Rome. Knowledge of Italian will be an advantage, but language training is available.

Studentship 2 (based at York): Food and Faith in Medieval Spain.

Supervisors: Dr Michelle Mundee (York), [log in to unmask]; Dr Iona McCleery (Leeds), [log in to unmask]

This studentship focuses on molecular archaeological methods. The candidate will explore stable isotope evidence for diet in the Iberian Peninsula during transitional periods between Muslim and Christian rule (11^th-13^th centuries, 15^th-16^th centuries). The aim is to investigate whether transfers of power affected diet in a measurable way. The candidate will be encouraged to research the political, medical and social context of the chosen populations. Knowledge of Spanish will be an advantage, but language training is available.

Studentship 3 (based at Leeds): Food and Nutrient Intake in Low Income Families: A Comparative Study.

Supervisors: Professor Janet Cade (Leeds), [log in to unmask]; Professor Dawn Hadley (Sheffield), d.m.hadley@sheffield.

This studentship focuses on nutritional epidemiological methods. The project will take a socio-statistical approach to food insecurity in modern and historical working-class populations (conducting interviews, making use of population surveys and historical/archaeological research). The emphasis will be on at-risk low income families, especially children. The project relates to existing projects at Leeds and Sheffield on the social determinants of modern nutritional health and the archaeology of working-class communities in the 19^th-20^th century.

The application process

Applicants should have an undergraduate degree (normally 2:1 or above, or equivalent) and be studying for, or have completed, a Masters degree (or have experience deemed to be equivalent to a Masters degree) in a subject relevant to the main discipline highlighted in each studentship. A willingness to undergo sufficient training when needed in the other disciplines is essential. Applicants whose first language is not English must meet the English Language requirements of the relevant university and department.

Studentship 1 (Sheffield): complete the PhD application form available at

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply/applying

Studentship 2 (York): complete the PhD application form available at

http://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/#tab-2

Studentship 3 (Leeds): complete the PhD application form available at https://studentservices.leeds.ac.uk/pls/banprod/bwskalog_uol.P_DispLoginNon as well as the studentship application form at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/rsa/postgraduate_scholarships/PGR-UKEUAppForm14 and return this to [log in to unmask]. 

IMPORTANT: In addition to submitting the form to the individual institutions, you must send a copy of your application to the network co-ordinator, [log in to unmask], by 5pm on Friday 13 June 2014.

On the application forms for each institution, you should state that you are applying for one of the studentships in the WRoCAH-funded network ‘Faith in Food, Food in Faith’. You should also indicate how you will develop your project within the areas outlined in the descriptions of the studentships (above) and detail how your previous academic experience has prepared you to undertake that project. Where relevant, indicate training needs (e.g. languages)."