BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE DOCTORAL SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION 2013
BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE DOCTORAL
SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION 2013
The Society announces that it will be offering a
scholarship for doctoral work in the philosophy of science at a UK university,
subject to a candidate of sufficient merit presenting themselves. The level of
the award will be the same as that of AHRC funding and will cover fees and
maintenance. Scholarships will be awarded for a period equal to the
institutional norm for PhD study at the student's institution minus any time
already spent on the PhD (i.e., up to 3 years at most UK institutions). The
BSPS award will not be made to anyone with another source of funding [though
see note 1]. Applicants must have applied for other sources of funding for
which they are eligible. The closing date for applications is midnight GMT
Wednesday 1 May 2013. (It is anticipated that applicants will be informed of
the outcome by early June.) Applicants are responsible for ensuring that
complete applications, including references, arrive by the deadline. Applicants
are therefore advised to give their referees and proposed supervisor clear
notice of the deadline by which materials are required.
>The competition is open both to Home/EU and to
international students,
provided that they will have been accepted onto an
appropriate doctoral programme in philosophy of science at a UK university in
time for the start of the 2013-14 academic year.
Incomplete applications, including those with missing
references or missing supervisors' statements, will not be considered.
How to Apply:
A) Applicants should send (as a single pdf file):
1. A covering letter; 2. A curriculum vitae (no more than
2 sides of A4); 3. An outline of the proposed research (no more than 500
words); 4. A statement that i) sets out whether or not they have any other
funding in place and what and how much if so; which ii) sets out what other
sources of funding they have applied for and the dates at which they will hear
whether these applications have been successful; and iii) explains the
institutional norm for PhD completion at their proposed institution (i.e.
whether their institution follows a 1+3 model or a 2+2
model for MA and PhD study, for example).
In addition:
5. If the applicant has already been accepted onto an
appropriate doctoral programme, they should provide evidence that this is so.
Otherwise, the award will be made to a successful candidate subject to
confirmation at a later date of their having been accepted onto an appropriate
programme.
B) The proposed supervisor should send a brief statement
no more than 500
words) explaining why they are happy to supervise the
applicant on the proposed project and how and why the supervisor's institution
is a good fit for the person and project. [See Note 2.]
C) Two academic referees (which could include the
supervisor) should write reference letters directly to the Honorary Secretary.
All documents should be sent by email to the Honorary
Secretary at christopher.timpson@bnc.ox.ac.uk<mailto:christopher.timpson@bnc.ox.ac.uk>
Any queries should also be directed to the Honorary
Secretary.
Notes
1. In cases where applicants have minimal funding from
other sources this will be made up to AHRC levels by the BSPS grant. (For
example, an applicant who has a fees-only award from elsewhere would be
eligible to apply for a maintenance grant from the BSPS.) 2. Applicants may be
in the position of considering a number of different departments for their
doctoral studies and thus have a range of possible supervisors in mind. In this
event, they should ask their currently preferred supervisor to write for them.
Should an applicant be successful in the BSPS doctoral scholarship competition,
but end up being accepted onto a PhD programme at a different institution from
that of the supervisor who initially wrote for them, it would still be possible
to hold the award at the new institution, subject to a suitable endorsement
from the new supervisor. It should be noted that where it is obvious that a
given applicant and project is a good fit to supervisor and institution,
supervisors' letters may be rather brief without thereby disadvantaging the
candidate.
Dr C.G. Timpson,
Honorary Secretary,
British Society for the Philosophy of Science; Brasenose
College, Oxford, OX1 4AJ, UK.