Listed below is an ESRC-funded supervisor-led Doctoral Studentships currently available within the College of Social Sciences, i.e. a supervisor has been awarded a funded Doctoral studentship for a PhD research project of their design, for which eligible potential PhD candidates can apply (see individual studentship advert for project details, eligibility and application procedures). 

ERC LawAtWork PhD Scholarship - Testing the impace of novel workplace technologies on employment law enforcement and compliance.

Information on the School/Research Group 

The LawAtWork research group is led by Professor Ruth Dukes and funded by the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant No. 101198387). Ruth is Professor of Labour Law at the University of Glasgow. The LawAtWork research group is engaged in an ambitious programme of research on employment law enforcement and compliance across the European Union. The group uses state of the art interdisciplinary methods to understand why breach of employment law occurs and to test the hypothesis that widespread bre4ach may erode public faith in the rule of law. In addition to the PI, the group comrpises on senior researcher, Dr Eleanor Kirk, three postdoctoral researchers and two phd students. The group is embedded in the School of Law, where it enjoys close contacts with other labour law and LPR researchers. Group members also have the opportunity to join the cross-College interdisciplinary research network, GLEW (Glasgow Labour, Employment and Work).

Supervisory Team

Prinicipal Supervisor: Professor Ruth Dukes

Project details

This project tests the hypothesis that breach of employment law may be more difficult to detect, remedy, and guard against where AI and other novel technologies are used to recruit, manage and monitor workers. It also aims to identify ways of addressing such difficulties. Methodologically, the project begins by mapping existing and emergent practices in ‘people analytics’, ‘management by algorithm’ and other uses of new technologies at work, drawing on the fast-moving scholarly and industry literature. It then employs a combination of doctrinal legal research and in-depth interviews with managers and workers to identify situations where AI and tech encourage or even mandate compliance with the law, or alternatively legal breach, and to clarify the extent of the ‘accountability gap’ that can arise when tech and not a human being is deemed, and understood, to have ‘made’ the decision to comply with or breach a legal rule.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Applicants will have a good Undergraduate or Masters degree (or overseas equivalent) in law, sociology, industrial relations or human resource management.
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in employment law and work relations

Please note that all applicants must also meet the entry requirements for the Law, PhD. 

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +4 (4 year) PhD programme only. The programme will commence in October 2026. The full funding package includes:

• An annual maintenance grant (stipend) at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home or international tuition fee rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year 

Additional information

The four-year term reflects the fact that the student will be expected to participate in the joint work of the LawAtWork research group.

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information).The funding opportunity is under 'College of Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Funding > COSS-26-003') uploading the following documentation:

• ERC LawAtWork PhD Scholarship (Workplace technologies) application form (in Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*. Note that no member of this project's supervisory team can act as your referee. Please see CoSS PGR Funding Reference request guide for further guidance
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is strongly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Application Closing Date: 16 March 2026

References due no later than 23 March 2026

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. Shortlisted applicants may be requested to attend an Interview.

All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programme in the School of Law. Successful applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme after they are selected for funding.

Key contact

Professor Ruth Dukes

ERC LawAtWork PhD Scholarship - The Rule of Law at Work: Breach of Workers' Rights and Public Faith in the Rule of Law

Information on the School/Research Group 

The LawAtWork research group is led by Professor Ruth Dukes and funded by the European Research Council (ERC Advanced Grant No. 101198387). Ruth is Professor of Labour Law at the University of Glasgow. The LawAtWork research group is engaged in an ambitious programme of research on employment law enforcement and compliance across the European Union. The group uses state of the art interdisciplinary methods to understand why breach of employment law occurs and to test the hypothesis that widespread bre4ach may erode public faith in the rule of law. In addition to the PI, the group comrpises on senior researcher, Dr Eleanor Kirk, three postdoctoral researchers and two phd students. The group is embedded in the School of Law, where it enjoys close contacts with other labour law and LPR researchers. Group members also have the opportunity to join the cross-College interdisciplinary research network, GLEW (Glasgow Labour, Employment and Work).

Supervisory Team

Prinicipal Supervisor: Professor Ruth Dukes

Secondary Supervisor: Dr Eleanor Kirk

Project details

This project assesses the damage done to people’s faith in the rule of law when employment rights are frequently or routinely breached. It combines library-based study of the rule of law, private power and public perception, with empirical study of workers’ experiences and attitudes in three countries: Germany, Italy and the UK. A key point of focus lies with identifying dominant understandings of the meaning of the rule of law and how these have changed over time. While the precise methodology remains to be decided, the empirical part of the study will likely comprise both focus groups with workers in sectors where breach is known to be widespread (at least one sector each in Germany, Italy and the UK) and surveys of workers in a wider variety of sectors.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Applicants will have a good Undergraduate or Masters degree (or overseas equivalent) in law, sociology, industrial relations or human resource management.
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in employment law, work relations and the principle of the rule of law

Please note that all applicants must also meet the entry requirements for the Law, PhD. 

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +4 (4 year) PhD programme only. The programme will commence in October 2026. The full funding package includes:

• An annual maintenance grant (stipend) at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home or international tuition fee rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year 

Additional information

Fluency in either Italian or German, in addition to English, is desirable but not essential. The four-year term reflects the fact that the student will be expected to participate in the joint work of the LawAtWork research group.

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information).The funding opportunity is under 'College of Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Funding > COSS-26-004') uploading the following documentation:

• ERC LawAtWork PhD Scholarship (Rule of Law at Work) application form (in Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*. Note that no member of this project's supervisory team can act as your referee. Please see CoSS PGR Funding Reference request guide for further guidance
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is strongly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Application Closing Date: 16 March 2026

References due no later than 23 March 2026

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. Shortlisted applicants may be requested to attend an Interview.

All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programme in the School of Law. Successful applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme after they are selected for funding.

Key contact

Professor Ruth Dukes

CoSS PhD Scholarship - Law in a complex world

Information on the School/Research Group 

The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers in the “Civic Finance” project. Civic Finance is an ambitious research project led by Professor Javier Solana and funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (Grant Agreement No.: 101165302). The overarching objective of Civic Finance is to develop a complexity-informed theory of law and finance that can underpin the foundations of a civic financial system; in particular, a financial system that refrains from enabling unsustainable levels of CO2 emissions. The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Prof. Javier Solana. They will also work closely with other members of the Civic Finance team and they will engage with a small interdisciplinary group of world-leading scholars who sit on the project’s Advisory Board.

The successful candidate will have ample opportunities to plan and develop their career during the PhD. Most notably, the successful candidate will be able to design a bespoke development programme with the guidance of Prof. Solana and the Research Support Office to identify the most relevant learning and development opportunities available at the University. Moreover, the successful candidate will be able to build a global professional network of academic researchers and practitioners, benefiting from the international networks of the Civic Finance team and the University of Glasgow more broadly. Lastly, the successful candidate will be invited to join relevant research clusters within the School of Law, such as the Corporate & Financial Law, the Just Transitions and the Glasgow Legal Theory research clusters, including their regular research seminars, as well as other relevant research clusters across the University. Where appropriate, the successful candidate will also have the opportunity to develop new projects and to engage in teaching opportunities to support their career planning.

Supervisory Team

Prinicipal Supervisor: Professor Javier Solana

Project details

Civic Finance aims to investigate the impact of law on the financial system; in particular, law’s potential to support a financial system that better serves people and planet. Importantly, Civic Finance draws from systems thinking and complex systems science to conceptualise the financial system as a complex adaptive system, i.e. a system comprised of interdependent actors whose interactions give rise to emergent phenomena. It also draws from socioecological systems research to conceptualise the financial system, the economy and the climate system as complex systems that are inextricably coupled and co-evolve. This conceptualisation challenges views of the regulatory impact of law being deployed top-down and calls for explorations of that regulatory impact from a bottom-up perspective.

The School of Law is inviting applications from highly motivated and ambitious candidates to develop a doctoral research project that will contribute to the overarching objective of Civic Finance. In particular, candidates are invited to submit a research proposal that explores how the complexity of the systems that law seeks to influence (e.g. the financial system, the economy, the climate system, or the close interaction between these systems) may impact the legal system itself. Some of the questions that candidates may want to consider for their projects include, for example: How does complexity affect legal institutions that underpin modern capitalist economies, such as contract, tort, property, or the corporation, and the concepts that underpin those institutions, such as rights, remedies or causation? Should judges and legislators rethink doctrine in light of such complexity? For instance, how might this complexity affect the interpretation and application of the principle of proportionality? How might this complexity inform the nature and scope of judicial review?

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Applicants will have a good Masters degree (or overseas equivalent)
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in the topic area under investigation
• Applicants can study part-time or full-time

Please note that all applicants must also meet the entry requirements for the Law, PhD. 

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +3 (3 year) PhD programme only. The programme will commence in October 2026. The full funding package includes:

• An annual maintenance grant (stipend) at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home or international tuition fee rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year 

Additional information

Prior knowledge of systems thinking and/or complex systems science would be considered an advantage but is not necessary. The successful candidate will be supported in the exploration of these research fields. Candidates are encouraged to think about knowledge of these fields, and an understanding of their relevance for legal scholarship and practice, as an outcome of their project, not a pre-requisite.

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information).The funding opportunity is under 'College of Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Funding > COSS-26-005') uploading the following documentation:

• CoSS PhD Scholarship - Law in a complex world application form (in Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
• Academic Prizes
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*. Note that no member of this project's supervisory team can act as your referee. Please see CoSS PGR Funding Reference request guide for further guidance
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is strongly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Application Closing Date: 23 March 2026

References due no later than 30 March 2026

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. Shortlisted applicants may be requested to attend an Interview.

All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programme in the School of Law. Successful applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme after they are selected for funding.

Key contact

Professor Javier Solana

ERC RaRiE PhD Scholarship - Rehabilitation and Reintegration: Technologies, practices and experiences.

Information on the School/Research Group 

Criminology at Glasgow sits within the Division of Sociological and Cultural Studies alongside 3 other subjects: Social Anthropology & Migration Studies; Media, Culture & Society; and Sociology. The Division is one of three in the University’s School of Social and Political Sciences.  

Criminology at Glasgow also hosts the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), which spans 5 Scottish universities.

Within these contexts, Criminology at Glasgow aims to better understand many kinds of harms and wrongs, and the consequences of attempts to regulate, criminalise and/or penalise these harms and wrongs. Our research seeks to expose, understand and challenge multiple forms of violence – including forms of violence which are environmental, structural, systemic, symbolic and inter-personal. We also try to develop new responses which could create fairer, safer and more sustainable societies, rather than exacerbating social inequalities. To these ends, as individuals and as a team (including staff, students and PhD researchers), we work in ways that are critical and reflective but also engaged. We seek to collaborate creatively with other activists, people with lived experience, practitioners, policymakers and wider publics to build movements for change. 

Our approach to Criminology is primarily sociological, although the staff within the team come from a variety of academic backgrounds and our research and teaching are most often interdisciplinary (for example, intersecting with geography, history, law, philosophy, psychology, social policy and social work).   

Supervisory Team

Prinicipal Supervisor: Professor Fergus McNeill

Secondary Supervisor(s): Professor Thomas Ugelvik (University of Oslo) and Professor Miranda Boone (Leiden University)

Project details

This PhD project is one of three within a European Research Council Advanced Grant project entitled Rehabilitation and Reintegration in Europe (RaRiE), led by Professor Fergus McNeill with colleagues in the Universities of Leiden and Oslo.

By examining evidence from three countries that are often considered ‘progressive’ in penal policy and practice terms (the Netherlands, Norway and Scotland), the RaRiE project aims to help us better understand whether and where rehabilitation lives up to its ideals, and to creatively, critically and comparatively interrogate its development and prospects, its coherences and contradictions, its rhetoric and its realities, its pitfalls and its possibilities.  Through a new approach called Dialogical Comparative Penology (DCP), building on the interdisciplinary approaches that used by the investigators in a series of innovative, high-impact research projects, RaRiE will provide a uniquely comprehensive analysis of the nature and impact of rehabilitation in these three nations. It will also develop new tools and metrics for critically assessing rehabilitative systems and practices, to better direct their future development. In and through dialogue with policymakers, senior leaders in prison and probation systems, practitioners, activists and people with lived experience of rehabilitation, RaRiE will help to improve the fairness and effectiveness of European penal systems. RaRiE’s ambition -- the ‘step-change’ it offers – lies both in developing a new approach to comparative penology, and in using that new approach to reshape how rehabilitation is understood and developed in Europe.

Across 4 ‘work packages’, the RaRiE project will:

1. Examine how the rehabilitative ideal has been understood, constructed, contested and represented in each country;
2. map and measure the scale and shape of rehabilitation as it exists and is pursued in each country, and at what cost;
3. examine and assess how and to what extent, rehabilitation is operationalised via technologies (including tools and techniques) in each country; and
4. explore how rehabilitation is understood and experiences by those directly involved in its everyday practices (i.e. those practising and those undergoing rehabilitation) in each country.

PhD researchers in Glasgow, Leiden and Oslo will conduct within-country studies related to work packages 3 and 4. They will also have opportunities to engage with project partners, to work with diverse participants, and to participate in comparative aspects of the study. Further details of the project’s aims, research questions, methods and outputs will be made available to short-listed applicants but, in sum, this Glasgow-based PhD will use qualitative methods (primarily interviews) to address the following questions:

• How and in what forms is rehabilitaiton in Scotland operationalised via new and old technologies?
• How is rehabilitation in Scotland understoos and experienced by those dir3ectly involved in its everyday practices (i.e. those designing, those practicising, and those undergoing rehabilitaiton)?

Applicants may find it useful to read and refer to the RaRiE Briefing for PhD applicants for further information and context to the RaRiE project.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Applicants will have a good Masters degree (or overseas equivalent) in Criminology or closely related discipline.
• Applicants will have a demonstratable interest in and knowledge of rehabilitation and reintegration research.
• Applicants must be able to commit to study full-time only.
• The successful applicant will be Glasgow-based, but must also be able to travel internationally (to participate in the wider project ot which the PhD contributes).

Please note that all applicants must also meet the entry requirements for the Criminology, PhD. 

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +4 (4 year) PhD programme only. The programme commencement date is flexible but will begin no earlier than March 2026 and no later than May 2026. The funding includes:

• An annual stipend at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home or international tuition fee rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year (in the first 3 years of a PhD only)
• Funding of direct fieldwork costs and, where required, of particpation in international meetings and conferences will be provided via the project grant.

Application process

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information).The funding opportunity is under 'College of Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Funding > COSS-25-017') uploading the following documentation:

• ERC RaRiE PhD Scholarship application form (in Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*. Note that no member of this project's supervisory team can act as your referee. Please see CoSS PGR Funding Reference request guide for further guidance
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is strongly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Application Closing Date: 05 February 2026

References due no later than 12 February 2026

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. Shortlisted applicants may be requested to attend an Interview.

Shortlisted applicants may be asked to provide further work (exact format to be confirmed but could be new or existing writing or a presentation to be confirmed) by the Selection panel. 

All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programme in the School of Social and Political Sciences. Successful applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme after they are selected for funding.

Key contact

Professor Fergus McNeill