Newcastle University

Sociology

We welcome applications or enquiries from prospective research students to study for the degrees of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in any of our areas of research expertise.

We are proud of our interdisciplinary research tradition covering sociology, social policy and social anthropology. This is represented by established strengths in family studies, health studies, and political economy, and newer strengths in sexuality, citizenship, and youth and student lives. The same emphasis on interdisciplinary social science is found in the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre, where some of our PhD students are based.

Sociology also plays a major role in the cross-faculty Centre for Gender and Women's Studies ; the directorship and the MAs of the Centre are based in Sociology and a number of staff are active in associated research and teaching activities. Cross-school research synergies are also being promoted by newly established Research Institutes including Newcastle Institute for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (NIASSH) and the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability (NIReS).

We have numerous international links in our research activities: these include Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, South Korea and Taiwan. A number of our postgraduates are engaged in research abroad, currently including Taiwan, Korea, Germany and India.

Over recent years the number of PhD students registered with us has grown substantially. We aim to maintain our sizeable postgraduate body and provide high-quality postgraduate education. We are recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as an outlet to receive full-time doctoral students.

Three research groupings act as the intellectual focus for the development and exchange of ideas. All postgraduate students join one or more of these research groupings.

• The key contribution of the Identities/ Cultures/ Narratives research cluster has been to theoretically and empirically explore the changing nature of cultures, identities and narratives in contemporary society in relations to a range of social relationships and issues.
• There has been a longstanding strand of research concerning the Sociology of Health and Life Sciences . The most significant development here was the formation of Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences (PEALS) in 1999. Specific expertise in PEALS is evident in interdisciplinary research on social, ethical and legal aspects of the life sciences.
• The Social Transformations cluster has emerged out of a longstanding body of work concerned with social justice, political economy and regional and cultural change.

Current research postgraduates are conducting research into issues such as sexuality, youth transitions, student lives, domestic violence, inter-country adoption, child-care, lone parenthood and consumption, social assistance and health care for older people, and environmentalism and gender.
Some recent and current projects include:

• Young People's Participation in Community Music Activities in the North East
• Human Trafficking, Asylum and Immigration
• Pathways to Youth Crime Reduction
• A Silenced Violence? Rethinking Violence in Lesbian Relationships
• The Lowest Common Denominator? A Newcastle Case Study on the Nature of Co-operation in Nanobiotechnologies
• Spatial Mobility and Changing Gender Roles among the Women of VideoSEWA in Ahmedabad
• The Dynamics of Americanization: the Hip Hop Encounter in South Africa

To discuss your ideas and plans, do contact the relevant staff member or the Sociology Postgraduate Director, Professor Esteban Castro (esteban.castro@ncl.ac.uk ; 0191 222 7494).

Further Information

• How to apply
• Postgraduate funding
• Research training
• Research supervision

For any further general information, please contact:

Postgraduate Secretary
School of Geography, Politics and Sociology
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)191 222 5200
Fax: +44 (0)191 222 5421
Email: gps@ncl.ac.uk