Birmingham City University is a new type of university that is seamlessly integrating research, innovation, knowledge exchange and regional engagement in a strategic fashion.
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in 2008 was an important milestone in the implementation of the University’s long term research strategy. It demonstrated that all of our areas of research concentration were operating at a level comparable with the best in the world. In the RAE 75% of our research was judged to be internationally excellent with 17% of world-leading quality. As a result we climbed 26 places in the THE RAE-2008 Table of Excellence for research, with a GPA of 2.31 putting us at the top of the new universities for research quality.
RAE-2008 showed that the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design is in the top 10 Art and Design departments in England and Wales with a 100% world-leading research environment. The Birmingham Conservatoire is in the top 3 conservatoires in the country and the highest rated outside London. We were also judged to be doing internationally excellent research in Business, Criminology, Education, English, and Town & Country Planning.
Building on these firm foundations results we are expanding our research base across many areas of the University. We have shown we can do very high quality research and we are planning to do much more of it. Over the next five years we will double the number of research-active staff and double the number of research students.
To support the new research strategy we plan to invest over £10M in the next three years in existing and new Centres of Excellence to develop further our research culture and environment, and to increase the impact and exploitation of our research. This strategic investment will create several new centres of Excellence including the Centre for Health and Social Care Research (led by the Faculty of Health), the Centre for Low Carbon Technologies (led by the Faculty of Technology, Engineering and the Environment) and create a new cross-university Institute for Digital Experience, with participation from most faculties.
What You Need: Candidates should hold a good UK honours degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline and be committed to studying for a Doctorate. Students with a relevant UK Masters (or equivalent) or significant research or professional experience may enter the PhD programme directly.
What We Offer: Successful applicants for a Research Bursary will receive a tax-free living allowance of £13,290 per year (paid monthly) and a fee-waiver for full-time home student PhD enrolment fees (current value £3,390),for three years subject to satisfactory performance being maintained. Research students will be supervised by a team of 2 or 3 academic staff, combining subject expertise and track-record of PhD completions.
AREAS OF RESEARCH WHERE BURSARIES ARE AVAILABLE
Centre for Business Innovation and Enterprise:
BIE01B: Modeling entrepreneurial capital in small and medium-sized organizations to capture development over time and international contexts.
Contact Prof. John Sparrow: john.sparrow@bcu.ac.uk
Centre for Applied Criminology
AC01B: Security studies, particularly related to current security issues and / or terrorism in the UK.
AC02B: Forensic psychology, especially within an applied prison therapeutic setting
AC03B: The development of black masculinity and/or urban gang culture
Contact Prof. David Wilson: david.wilson@bcu.ac.uk
ED01B: Secondary Music Education: teaching and learning of pupils aged 11-14.
ED02B: The sociology of higher education and improvement of processes of learning, teaching and/or research in UK HE.
ED03B: ‘Exploring effective approaches to incorporating sustainability in HE curricula’
ED04B: New approaches to curriculum design in HE with a particular focus on mechanisms for student engagement.
ED05B: Early years education and childhood studies
Contact Colin Hill: colin.hill@bcu.ac.uk or Dr. Celia Popovic: celia.popovic@bcu.ac.uk
Centre for Health and Social Care Research
HSCR01B: Exploring holistic approaches to defining well-being, supportive environments and well-being capital.
Contact Dr. R. Coles: richard.coles@bcu.ac.uk or Dr. M. Lintern: maxine.lintern@bcu.ac.uk
HSCR02B & HSCR02RF: (2 PhD Bursaries HSCR02B and 1 Research Fellowship HSCR02RF): Neurosensory evaluation of neuropathic pain states to better understand the mechanisms involved. Collaborative with Russells Hall Hospital).
HSCR03B: Equity, health and care needs of specific populations and client groups, including evidence based practice and the development of organisations.
HSCR04B: Innovative teaching practices for health and social care, including simulation and virtual worlds.
HSCR05B & HSCR05RF: (1 PhD Bursary HSCR05B and 1 Research Fellowship HSCR05RF): Working with health care professionals, engineers and information technologists to find new ways of helping technology to impact positively on professional practice and patient care.
Contact: Prof. R. Ashford: robert.ashford@bcu.ac.uk or Dr M. Lintern: maxine.lintern@bcu.ac.uk
Centre for Low-Carbon Technologies
LCT01: Investigating the influence of internal combustion engine exhaust composition on algal cultivation and its potential for CO2 sequestration.
LCT02: An investigation into anaerobic digestion or fermentation of algal biomass.
Contact Prof. Hastings McKenzie: hastings.mckenzie@bcu.ac.uk or Dr. Lynsey Mellville: lynsey.melville@bcu.ac.uk
SE01B: Candidates should be interested in PhD research in one of the following areas: Integrating infrastructure management; Financing sustainable developments; Transferring expertise-in-practice; Integrating communications in construction; Planning for sustainable communities; Planning for emergence in projects, Effective appraisal of areas and contexts for development and management, Impacts of suburban intensification, Post-catastrophe reconstruction, Landscape character and assessment, Conservation and sustainability
Contact: Prof. P. Larkham: peter.larkham@bcu.ac.uk or Prof. Hastings McKenzie: hastings.mckenzie@bcu.ac.uk
The Institute for Digital Experience integrates research expertise in the broad digital domain from across the university through four interlinked themes: Connectivity; Content & Creativity; Culture & Consumption and Citizens & Communities. These themes encompass technological, artistic and cultural aspects of the broad digital domain and link to multiple research groups across the university.
Four PhD bursaries are current available to support students wishing to undertake PhD research within the scope of the Institute for Digital Experience, ref. IDE. We are interested to receive applications and proposals for PhD research from students interested in this broad area.
Contact: Prof. Keith A. Osman: keith.osman@bcu.ac.uk
Please contact the nominated contact person for further information and informal discussion about the research bursaries on offer.
Please complete the Birmingham City University Research Degree Application form to provide base level information for the university.
You may also be required to complete additional forms as required by the Centre of Excellence which is offering the bursaries.
Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held in November and bursaries will be awarded to successful candidates to allow commencement of studies in January 2010.
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