The LSE ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership is pleased to offer the following Collaborative Studentship, commencing in September 2025:
Project Title: Supporting UK Parents to Engage in Democratic Processes on Climate Issues
Collaborative Partner: Hope for the Future
LSE Department: Department of Government
Lead Supervisor: Professor Paul Apostolidis, p.apostolidis@lse.ac.uk
Project Description:
The project focusses on how UK parents can best be supported to engage in democratic processes with the aim of encouraging public action in response to climate change. The research principally involves examining and assessing a new charity-led parent-support programme for Yorkshire region parents in deprived communities and parents of disabled children, supplemented by a nationwide online parent-support protocol.
Hope For The Future (HFTF) is a climate action charity that trains UK citizens to participate in democratic processes and engage elected officials in discussions of climate-related issues. The organisation does not advocate for a specific policy agenda but rather seeks to equip individuals to exercise citizenship more effectively by using existing channels of democratic government. HFTF has been awarded a £1 million National Lottery grant under the ‘Shared Futures’ scheme to run a 5-year programme (1/25-12/29) that will support parents’ efforts to communicate with elected representatives about climate issues. The focus will be on parents in deprived communities and parents of disabled children.
HFTF’s parent-support programme will operate in the Yorkshire region and aims to involve 250 parents each year in Yorkshire. HFTF will train 150 of those parents annually through citizen education regarding processes, norms, and institutions of democratic government. The programme will rely on innovative means for stimulating parents’ participation and enthusiasm such as outdoor theatre activities, related assemblies and workshops, and other community-forming components. HFTF’s programme also will develop online resources to support democratic climate action by parents across the UK, building on outcomes of the Yorkshire activities and involving an additional 150 parents annually.
The student will be the Data Analyst on the Evaluation Team, for which Professor Apostolidis will be the Lead, with assistance during certain high-intensity periods from MSc-level student researchers. The Evaluation Team will have responsibility for investigating the programme’s impact, especially in terms of increasing parent-participants’ levels of knowledge, confidence, and active engagement in democratic processes on climate issues. Investigators on the team also will be responsible for communicating their findings to academic and broader audiences through peer-reviewed and other publications (e.g., blogs).
The Studentship will incorporate further research components as needed and in line with the students’ primary individual interests to address broader, related academic questions, such that the scope of doctoral research centrally includes but also extends beyond the work in the partnership with Hope For The Future. Such related questions could include, for instance, the role of family obligations in motivating climate action, the benefits for generating climate action of addressing social inequalities that affect political participation, and/or the value of citizen engagement with liberal-democratic institutions for improving climate policy.
Length of studentship:
The studentship will commence in September 2025, with a minimum duration of 4 years. The award length offered may differ depending on the successful candidate’s experience and training requirements.
LSE ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership Collaborative Studentships cover full fees and an annual stipend. The stipend per year for 2024/25 entry was £21,237.
Candidate Requirements:
Candidates must have already completed a MSc in a related subject (e.g., Political Science, Political Theory, Sociology, Public Policy), and it is desirable that candidates have experience conducting survey research and performing quantitative analyses of the data gained through study or working experience.
How to apply:
To apply for this Collaborative Studentship, you should make an application via MRes/Phd Political Science. You should clearly cite the Collaborative Studentship project title and outline your suitability for the Studentship within your application. Please note this will only constitute an application for admission for the Collaborative Studentship.
If you would also like to be considered for admission to this programme, please include a separate research proposal which meets the criteria for this programme, as set out on the programme page.
Deadline for applications: 15 January 2025
Enquiries regarding the application process should directed to Pam Rolfe, Deputy Head of Scholarships and Financial Support (p.rolfe@lse.ac.uk)