Applications are invited for a full-time scholarship available in the School of Social Work. The scholarship is tenable for up to 3 years for a PhD (via MPhil route) [subject to satisfactory progress] and is open to international applicants only. UK/EU applicants are not eligible to apply. The scholarship will provide £15000 towards the cost of the International tuition fee over 3 years. The project is part of an international collaborative study of Children’s Commissioners and Ombudsmen, or ‘independent children’s rights institutions’, directed by Professor Thomas with colleagues in Switzerland and the United States (the Research Group on Ombudspersons for Children – RGOC). The international study is focused on how models of independent children’s rights institutions map onto different national contexts, on criteria for independence, and on ways of measuring impact. This particular project will be looking at the latter question.
The aim is to develop methods and instruments for assessing the impact of independent children’s rights institutions on children’s lives, on policies for children and young people, on societal attitudes to children and on children’s participation in society. The research student will be invited to complete a thorough review of the relevant literature, and then to conduct an empirical enquiry, targeted on one or more independent children’s rights institutions, which will be designed to explore and test the reliability and validity of different approaches to measuring impact.

Scholarship Application Deadline: 13 May 2011

Further Scholarship Information and Application