ESRC fully funded PhD opportunity: Connecting policy with the
personal: UK pension reforms and individual financial decision making

Studentship: 3 year, full time, fully funded PhD studentship
Award: £19,000 p.a. tax free stipend, plus full fees (EU/Home rates)
and a training grant worth at least £750 p.a.
Deadline: 5pm on Tuesday 2nd June 2015
Interviews: Friday 12th June 2015

This is a great opportunity for a fully funded 3-year ESRC PhD
studentship in a unique collaboration between the Institute of
Gerontology (IOG) at King’s College London, and leading independent
research institute, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI). Supervised
by Dr. Debora Price and Professor Karen Glaser, the study will examine
employee responses to recent pension reforms in the UK. It aims to
(1) elucidate the institutional, social and personal contexts that
frame and influence individual’s financial decision making, and (2)
assess what this means for social and financial inequalities, and for
policy. The research will inform our understanding of real-life
financial decision making in an increasingly individualised system
where people are expected to take high levels of responsibility for
their own financial welfare in later life. Based at the IOG and with
close links to the PPI, this collaboration offers exceptional insight
into how the work of researchers feeds into policymaking and policy
impact, including how evidence is utilised by key actors such as
Members of Parliament, government officials and other stakeholders.

Students from any relevant discipline will be considered including
(but not limited to) gerontology, sociology, social policy,
psychology, economics, geography, anthropology, management, business
studies or human resources. An excellent academic record (first class
or high merit achieved or expected at Masters level) and clear
motivation to study for a PhD are required. A demonstrable interest in
social inequalities, lifecourse research, financial welfare, pensions
or behavioural responses to policy is desirable.

Each year the student will receive the full ESRC stipend plus £3,000
p.a. (worth £19,000 tax free in 2015/16), as well as a research
training grant of at least £750 per annum and full fees paid at
Home/EU rates. Students must be eligible for ESRC studentship
funding: you must have settled status in the UK and been ordinarily
resident in the UK for 3 years prior to the grant, and – if not an EU
or UK national – this residence must not have been for the purposes of
full-time education. For full details of eligibility requirements,
please see http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/postgraduates/prospective-students/eligibility/

The Institute of Gerontology is situated in the Department for Social
Science, Health and Medicine at King’s College London and is one of
the leading gerontological research and teaching centres worldwide.
You will be joining a vibrant and dynamic group of PhD students across
the Department focusing on the social, political, economic, legal and
ethical factors shaping our lives. For more information about the
Department, please see
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/sshm/index.aspx

The studentship will begin in September 2015, Full Time for 3 years.

To apply please send (1) a CV (including degree classification for any
prior degrees) of no more than 3 pages; (2) a supporting statement of
between 1 and 2 pages setting out how your skills, experience,
attributes and interests equip you for this PhD; and (3) a short
covering letter including contact details for two academic referees;
by email to Poppy Goddard: poppy.goddard@kcl.ac.uk no later than 5pm
onTuesday 2nd June 2015. Please include “ESRC PhD studentship at the
Institute of Gerontology” in the subject line.

Interviews will be held on Friday 12th June 2015. You will be
notified by Friday 5th June whether you have been short-listed for
interview.

For further information or an informal discussion, contact Dr. Debora
Price on debora.price@kcl.ac.uk