Deadline 6 April for PhD and taught Master's funding in history and philosophy of science, technology and medicine, Aberdeen


DEADLINE 6 APRIL 2012 for funded PhD studentships and taught Master’s studentships at the Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Aberdeen

For information on this funding scheme, entitled ‘The Emergence of a Scientific Culture’, please see http://www.abdn.ac.uk/cass/graduate/funding/research/scientific-culture/.  For the application form itself and information on the application process, please visit http://www.abdn.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply.php.

Do not be misled by the former webpage’s description of this funding scheme as a single ‘project’: this is a series of projects under an umbrella theme, and each participant will shape their own project in discussion with their supervisors. The sub-themes highlighted for this scheme are ‘Technology in Culture’ and ‘Mechanism, Metaphysics and the Culture of Modern Science’, but please note that we interpret these themes very broadly in the interests of attracting good students with interesting research projects. Projects based in neighbouring disciplines, especially literary studies, anthropology and museology, are welcomed, and applicants are encouraged to consult the list of the Centre’s current staff and their research interests on http://www.abdn.ac.uk/chpstm/people/ and contact potential supervisors directly. Some examples of possible PhD topics under this scheme include, but are not limited to:
  • Imaginative literature and technical innovation
  • The role of print technology in communicating science
  • Literary engineers: engineers and scientific practitioners as readers and authors from the eighteenth century
  • The adoption of the language of energy in engineering practice
  • Historiographic analysis of the undeveloped field of 'technology and religion'
  • Ethical analysis of developing medical technologies
  • Railways and/or naval architecture in Scotland
  • The first full-scale study of the unique institutional Natural Philosophy Collection currently in Marischal Museum
  • The intersection between physics and metaphysics in the Enlightenment
  • Mechanisms and their significance with respect to scientific explanation and reduction
  • The scientific study of vision and its philosophical significance
  • The concept of 'the Organism' in the history of the life sciences
If the webpages listed above do not provide you with the information you need, or for further discussion, please contact the Centre Director, Ralph O’Connor (r.oconnor@abdn.ac.uk).