United Kingdom: Water as a Contested Space: Developing a Framework for Conflict Resolution in the Regulation and Governance of Water in Wales - PhD

May 9, 2023 | Swansea University
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This PhD will explore law, policy and governance in the context of the water environment in Wales, which is under rapidly increasing threat on a number of fronts, not least climate change. Water, whether in the context of rivers or coastal waters is also a contested space, involving multiple stakeholders with conflicting interests. Despite many years of regulatory activity water quality in Wales is very poor and its regulation is an area where there is an urgent need to make significant improvements to improve its sustainability.

The overriding aim of this project is to provide a better understanding of the nature and relative significance of the roles of different stakeholders in the governance of water. This includes Dŵr Cymru (the water authority responsible for water supply and sewerage), Natural Resources Wales (the regulator for water pollution and also responsible for drainage and flood prevention) and the many different environmental NGOs and other community groups that seek to protect water to their own ends. With a better understanding of the way conflicts between these stakeholders are played out in practice it will be possible to provide recommendations for changes to law, policy and governance structures to help reconcile these differences and assist these organisations work together to achieve better water quality. 

Swansea University is pleased to offer fully-funded Swansea University Research Excellence Scholarships (SURES) for full-time doctoral students to its fifth cohort, commencing in October 2023.

Each SURES scholarship includes tuition fees and a stipend – reviewed annually at the UKRI standard rate – and a £1,000 annual training allowance to support immersive training experiences, conference attendance, engagement with industry and international collaborative opportunities.

Each scholarship is offered for a maximum period of three years; SURES students are expected to submit their theses within this timescale.

Applicants should be aware that faculty-based shortlisting panels are expected to sit in July 2023. Please note that shortlisting panels may contact candidates within this period.  Interviews are expected to take place in the week commencing 24 July 2023. 

Informal scholarship enquiries from applicants to prospective supervisors – prior to the application deadline – are warmly encouraged; please direct these to the relevant member/s of faculty staff.

Applicants must be able to begin their course of study in October 2023. As a cohort-based programme, deferral to an alternative enrolment window within the academic year or to another academic year is not permissible.

Eligibility

Candidates must have attained, or must be expected to attain, a first-class honours degree and/or a distinction at master’s level.

  • Where applicants have multiple master’s degrees, a distinction must be held in the degree that is most relevant to the intended PhD study.
  • If an applicant is currently studying for a master’s level qualification with an expected award date that is later than 01/10/2023, the applicant should hold a minimum of an upper-second-class (2:1) honours degree.
  • An applicant should be able to demonstrate a pass with a minimum grade average of at least 70% for their part-one master’s degree modules (the taught aspect of their master’s course rather than a research-focused dissertation) and submit their dissertation by no later than 30/09/2023.

English Language requirements: If applicable – IELTS 6.5 overall (with a score of at least 6.5 in each individual component) or equivalent that is recognised by Swansea University. Details on the Swansea University English Language entry policy can be found here.

Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is – at this time – open solely to applicants who are eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK (United Kingdom) rate, as defined by UKCISA regulations.

Please note that both the degree and language-proficiency entry requirements for SURES are higher than the baseline standard for entry that is stipulated for most of the PhD programmes at Swansea University.

NB: If an applicant holds a non-UK degree, please see the Swansea University degree comparisons to find out if the applicant meets the eligibility criteria.

If an applicant has any questions regarding their academic or fee eligibility based on the above, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk with the web-link to the scholarship(s) they are interested in. 

Funding

This scholarship covers the full cost of UK tuition fees and an annual stipend of £17,668, reviewed annually at the UKRI standard rate. 

Additional research expenses will also be available.

How to Apply

To apply, please complete the application online with the following information:

  1. Course choice – please select Law / PhD / Full-time / 3 Year / October. In the event an applicant has already applied for the above programme previously, the application system may issue a warning notice and prevent application, in this event, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk where staff will be happy to assist the applicant in submitting their application.
  2. Start year – please select 2023
  3. Funding (page 8) –
  • ‘Are you funding your studies yourself?’ – please select No
  • ‘Name of Individual or organisation providing funds for study’ – please enter ‘RS352 – SURES10′

*It is the responsibility of the applicant to list the above information accurately when applying, please note that applications received without the above information listed will not be considered for the scholarship award.

One application is required per individual Swansea University led research scholarship award; applications cannot be considered listing multiple Swansea University led research scholarship awards.

Swansea University encourages applicants to complete the following to support the university commitment to providing an environment free of discrimination and celebrating diversity at Swansea University: 

As part of the online application, an applicant MUST upload the following documents (please do not send these via email):

  • CV
  • Degree certificates and transcripts (if the applicant are currently studying for a degree, screenshots of their grades to date are sufficient)
  • A cover letter including a ‘Supplementary Personal Statement’ to explain why the position particularly matches their skills and experience and how they choose to develop the project.
  • Two references (academic or previous employer) on headed paper or using the Swansea University reference form. Please note that Swansea University is not able to accept references received citing private email accounts, e.g. Hotmail. Referees should cite their employment email address for verification of reference.
  • Evidence of meeting English Language requirement (if applicable).
  • Copy of UK resident visa (if applicable)
  • Confirmation of EDI form submission (optional) 

Informal enquiries are welcome, please contact Dr Victoria Jenkins (v.a.jenkins@swansea.ac.uk).

*External Partner Application Data Sharing – Please note that as part of the scholarship application selection process, application data sharing may occur with external partners outside of the University, when joint/co- funding of a scholarship project is applicable.

Closing date: 14 July 2023 (23:59 BST)

Key Information

Fully Funded PhD Scholarship: Water as a Contested Space: developing a framework for conflict resolution in the regulation and governance of water in Wales

Funding provider: Swansea University

Subject areas: Law

  • 1 October 2023 (Enrolment open from mid-September)

Supervisors:

Aligned programme of study: PhD in Law

Mode of study: Full-time