PhD bursary call for social research into geological disposal

Blog 17 November 2020

The Radioactive Waste Management Research Support Office (RWM RSO), launched earlier this year, has announced its first PhD bursary call for proposals.

The 2020 PhD bursary call requests applications in six topic areas that have been identified as high priority for RWM, including applied social research. The scheme will provide up to £120,000 worth of funding to UK academic institutions for four year PhD projects.

The first RWM RSO PhD studentship marks the start of a significant investment by RWM: they intend to run this scheme annually for five years, starting four to six new projects each year. The aim is to develop a portfolio of research projects focused on key research priorities in line with RWM’s Science and Technology plan 2020.

The scheme seeks to encourage collaboration and communication between RWM and the academic community and aims to train a new generation of scholars with expertise in bringing social science perspectives to all aspects of the geological disposal research community throughout the UK.

Richard Taylor, co-founder of The Beam and discipline lead for the RSO’s applied social sciences research theme, has worked with RWM to identify specific areas of interest.

Applied social research brief

RWM will work in partnership with communities to find a suitable site with a consenting community to construct a GDF, and invites proposals for research that will support this aim.

Research should provide insight into the wider socio-economic, cultural, political and/or institutional framings that shape the GDF siting process.

In particular, research is sought that will support local involvement in decision making, encourage participation in the elaboration of the safety case, involve young people and create frameworks for local deliberation on how best to ensure that investments will benefit communities in sustainable ways.

Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to: