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BSPS scholarship for doctoral work in philosophy of science, Deadline: 1 May 2013

BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
DOCTORAL SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION 2013

The Society announces that it will be offering a scholarship for doctoral 
work in the philosophy of science at a UK university, subject to a 
candidate of sufficient merit presenting themselves. The level of the 
award will be the same as that of AHRC funding and will cover fees and 
maintenance. Scholarships will be awarded for a period equal to the 
institutional norm for PhD study at the student's institution minus any 
time already spent on the PhD (i.e., up to 3 years at most UK 
institutions). The BSPS award will not be made to anyone with another 
source of funding [though see note 1]. Applicants must have applied for 
other sources of funding for which they are eligible. The closing date for 
applications is midnight GMT Wednesday 1 May 2013. (It is anticipated that 
applicants will be informed of the outcome by early June.) Applicants are 
responsible for ensuring that complete applications, including references, 
arrive by the deadline. Applicants are therefore advised to give their 
referees and proposed supervisor clear notice of the deadline by which 
materials are required.

The competition is open both to Home/EU and to international students, 
provided that they will have been accepted onto an appropriate doctoral 
programme in philosophy of science at a UK university in time for the 
start of the 2013-14 academic year.

Incomplete applications, including those with missing references or 
missing supervisors' statements, will not be considered.

How to Apply:

A) Applicants should send (as a single pdf file):

1. A covering letter;
2. A curriculum vitae (no more than 2 sides of A4);
3. An outline of the proposed research (no more than 500 words);

4. A statement that i) sets out whether or not they have any other funding 
in place and what and how much if so; which ii) sets out what other 
sources of funding they have applied for and the dates at which they will 
hear whether these applications have been successful; and iii) explains 
the institutional norm for PhD completion at their proposed institution 
(i.e. whether their institution follows a 1+3 model or a 2+2 model for MA 
and PhD study, for example).

In addition:

5. If the applicant has already been accepted onto an appropriate doctoral 
programme, they should provide evidence that this is so. Otherwise, the 
award will be made to a successful candidate subject to confirmation at a 
later date of their having been accepted onto an appropriate programme.

B) The proposed supervisor should send a brief statement (no more than 500 
words) explaining why they are happy to supervise the applicant on the 
proposed project and how and why the supervisor's institution is a good 
fit for the person and project. [See Note 2.]

C) Two academic referees (which could include the supervisor) should write 
reference letters directly to the Honorary Secretary.

All documents should be sent by email to the Honorary Secretary at 
christopher.timpson@bnc.ox.ac.uk<mailto:christopher.timpson@bnc.ox.ac.uk>

Any queries should also be directed to the Honorary Secretary.

Notes

1. In cases where applicants have minimal funding from other sources this 
will be made up to AHRC levels by the BSPS grant. (For example, an 
applicant who has a fees-only award from elsewhere would be eligible to 
apply for a maintenance grant from the BSPS.)

2. Applicants may be in the position of considering a number of different 
departments for their doctoral studies and thus have a range of possible 
supervisors in mind. In this event, they should ask their currently 
preferred supervisor to write for them. Should an applicant be successful 
in the BSPS doctoral scholarship competition, but end up being accepted 
onto a PhD programme at a different institution from that of the 
supervisor who initially wrote for them, it would still be possible to 
hold the award at the new institution, subject to a suitable endorsement 
from the new supervisor. It should be noted that where it is obvious that 
a given applicant and project is a good fit to supervisor and institution, 
supervisors' letters may be rather brief without thereby disadvantaging 
the candidate.


Dr C.G. Timpson,
Honorary Secretary,
British Society for the Philosophy of Science;
Brasenose College, Oxford, OX1 4AJ, UK.
christopher.timpson@bnc.ox.ac.uk<mailto:christopher.timpson@bnc.ox.ac.uk>