AHRC Collaborative PhD studentship, University of Edinburgh/ Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH/ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN EDINBURGH

‘BOTANICAL EDUCATION AND CIVIC SCIENCE: THE WORK OF JOHN HUTTON BALFOUR (1808–1874)’

FULLY-FUNDED AHRC PhD STUDENTSHIP

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Applications are invited for an AHRC-funded PhD, a Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA), supervised jointly by the University of Edinburgh (Geography, School of GeoSciences) and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The subject of this Studentship is ‘Botanical Education and Civic Science: The Work of John Hutton Balfour (1808–1874)’. The project will be co-supervised by Professor Charles W J Withers (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Henry Noltie (RBGE). The studentship, which is funded for three years full time equivalent, will begin in September 2013. Additional funds in support of the studentship will be provided by the RBGE.

The Studentship

The studentship will focus on the life and work of John Hutton Balfour (1808-1874) and the making of the modern botanical sciences as a form of civic science. John Hutton Balfour was an enormously influential figure and is under-studied by modern scholars. His work in promoting botany as a civic science through the RBGE, his foundation of the Edinburgh Botanical Society, his national and international correspondence, his innovative teaching and educational fieldwork and his pioneering research, together with his distinct views on religion and opposition to Darwinian thinking, all mark him as a remarkable botanist, and reveal the RBGE to be a key site for the making of botanical science as a form of civic culture. Balfour’s extensive correspondence is largely unexamined. Balfour’s teaching materials represent novel, yet under-studied, forms of instruction. The successful applicant will work on these and other materials to explore the promotion of botany as a civic science and a form of public education.   

How to Apply: Intending applicants should have a good undergraduate degree, or Masters, in geography, botany, history of science or history, and will need to satisfy AHRC eligibility requirements. Ideally, you will have experience of relevant research methods (advanced research training is a required element of the studentship). Applicants should submit a two-page curriculum vitae, with a brief letter outlining your qualification for the studentship, and the names and contact details of two academic referees to: Professor Charles W J Withers, Geography, School of GeoSciences, Drummond Street, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP (c.w.j.withers@ed.ac.uk) no later than 19 July 2013. Interviews, which will be held in Edinburgh (University and RBGE), are scheduled to take place on 26 July 2013.

For further information regarding the studentship, please contact Professor Charles W J Withers (c.w.j.withers@ed.ac.uk)/ 0131 650 2559,

or Dr Henry Noltie (H. Noltie@rbge.ac.uk)/  0131 248 2936.