Human Geography Pathway

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship. The studentship will start on 1 October 2027.

How to apply

To apply for SWDTP Advanced Quantitative Methods pathway studentship please simply click on the ‘online application’ links below for the PhD Human Geography. 
Within the Research section of the application form, in the following fields, please add:
  • Proposed project title/studentship title: add your project title 
  • Proposed supervisor: add potential supervisor’s name
  • Studentship Code: SWDTP 27-10 Human Geography
When the application asks for a research proposal, please just upload the SWDTP Studentship Application Form 2027 Entry (Annex A).

Application guidance

It is important that you follow the instructions above or your application for this studentship may be missed and therefore will not be considered.
Before applying, please ensure you have read the Doctoral College’s general information on applying for a postgraduate research degree. 
For more information on the admissions process please contact research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk.

Human Geography
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Faculty of Science and Engineering

We welcome applications for PhDs in all areas of human geography. You will be joining a vibrant postgraduate research community with wide ranging interests in human geography.
Human geography at the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ forms part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South West Doctoral Training Partnership for the South West (SWDTP), offering opportunities for funded PhD studentships. 
Research in human geography contributes to University-wide centres of excellence, including the  Centre for Place, the Centre for Coastal Communities, and the Centre of Research excellence in Intelligent and Sustainable Productive Systems (CRISPS). The University hosts two Research Institutes, namely the Marine Institute and the Sustainable Earth Institute. Supporting this activity, the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (SoGEES) hosts four research groups, namely:
For details of all staff research interests, please see our geography web page. More specifically, the following staff welcome contact for research related to the following areas in this SWDTP round: 
  • Examining the citizenship barriers and opportunities for young people in environmentally precarious locations
  • Exploring young people’s role in influencing / shaping marine practices and policy
  • Investigating the risks and opportunities for young people’s housing and / or employment mobilities
  • Social and cultural change in rural and/or coastal places
  • Geographies of citizenship, especially volunteering and civil society
  • Geographies of crime and policing
  • Military geographies – the changing spatial relationship between the armed forces and society.
  • The experience of terrorism, counterterrorism and urban security
  • Everyday experiences of the emerging new European Militarisms
  • Affective geographies, non-representational theories, and identity, community, difference, and / or subjectivity
  • Atmospheres of urban living: how have recent events (COVID-19 pandemic, financial challenges, resurgent nationalisms, domestic and overseas conflicts etc.) refigured the ways we live and move with others in cities?
  • Media attention and governance responses to plastics pollution
  • The anchoring effect of national climate acts
  • Healthy Cities
  • Geospatial analysis of environment-health interactions
  • Use of personal sensors for understanding how individuals navigate the Urban landscape
  • Exploring the multi-modal experiences of movement and travel
  • The impact of devolution on transport and mobility practices in urban areas
  • Transport, health and wellbeing in different governance regimes
  • Community organisation and mobilisation in disaster risk or recovery contexts (e.g. inter-faith networks, community associations)
  • Roles of technologies in mediating experiences of, and/or engagements with, disasters and crises
  • Social and political change in response to crisis events 

Initial enquiries

For more details and informal enquiries, please contact Nick Smith.

How to apply

The ESRC SWDTP encourages collaboration across the universities of the partnership and with external organisations.
Closing date: 12 January 2027, 12:00 noon (UK time)
Start date: 1 October 2027 
The studentship is supported for three to four years depending upon the pathway and includes full Home tuition fees plus a stipend which is currently £21,805 per annum 2026/27 rate (2027/28 rate TBC). 
There are limited number of places for international students.

Eligibility 

Information on the eligibility criteria for full awards can be found on the .

Application process

You will need to discuss your proposed research topic with an academic staff member in Human Geography before submitting your application. More specifically, the staff listed welcome contact for research related to the areas mentioned above in this SWDTP round.  You can also explore the member lists of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­'s research groups and centres or search staff profiles using subject-area search terms (e.g. citizenship) or an individual's name.
You will need to submit the following documentation in order for us to consider your application:
  • Completed University of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ online application (click on the link in the ‘How to Apply’ box above) 
  • Completed SWDTP
  • Completed SWDTP
  • Completed SWDTP EDI survey - a link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents
  • Copies of your academic qualifications (both certificates and transcripts of module/course marks).
  • Please include a CV with your application.
  • If applicable, appropriate proof of English proficiency.
  • Documents not included in the online application form can be emailed to research.degree.admissions@plymouth.ac.uk by the application deadline.
Your application will only be considered if it contains the above and you have met our . If we need further details or additional documentation, we will contact you.
For full details on the studentship process, please see the South West Doctoral Training Partnership and pages.
SWDTP Equal Opportunities Student Data Form 2027 Entry
Why do you collect data about people’s personal characteristics?
Across UK Higher Education it is generally suspected that access to postgraduate study is neither as open nor as inclusive as it should be and that more needs to be done to widen participation and equality of opportunity. However, the data needed to help make the system be more equitable is not as complete or as reliable as it needs to be to most effectively support change.  
Providing EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and equal opportunity data helps to better understand issues of selection and under-representation in postgraduate study. Such data are held confidentially and separately from the rest of your application. They are used only in aggregated and anonymised forms for internal monitoring purposes and as part of our required reporting to our funder, the ESRC – for example, as counts or percentages of the numbers in each category. We ask all applicants to complete the monitoring form. 
A link to the online form will be sent to you on submission of your funding application documents.