Swansea University is a UK top 30 institution for research excellence (Research Excellence Framework 2014), and has been named Welsh University of the Year 2017 by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide.

This scholarship is for a joint Swansea-Grenoble PhD. Candidates will spend time at College of Law and Criminology, Swansea University and Doctoral School of Law, Université Grenoble Alpes.

Project start date: 1 January 2018

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 25 September 2017.

The objective of this joint Swansea-Grenoble PhD will be to study how Governments around the world try to track and monitor the content that users publish on social media, what requests they make, and the companies’ answers to these requests. This will be analysed using the framework of International Law, in particular International Human Rights Law.

The supervisory team for this project will consist of Prof Stuart Macdonald (Swansea), Dr Lella Nouri (Swansea), Prof Theodore Christakis (Grenoble) and Prof Karine Bannelier (Grenoble).

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to participate in activities organised by Swansea University’s Cyberterrorism Project (www.cyberterrorism-project.org) and Université Grenoble Alpes’ Centre for International Security and European Studies (http://cesice.upmf-grenoble.fr/). During their first year the successful candidate will spend six months at each institution. During years two and three the length of time to be spent at each institution will be determined by the student’s supervisory needs.

Eligibility

Academic requirements:

As this is a joint degree, applicants must meet entry / funder requirements of both Universities, namely:

Communauté Université Grenoble Alpes:

Applicants must hold a Masters degree in Law.

Swansea University:

Either a First Class Honours Degree with a Masters in Law or, a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

Residency criteria:

Due to funding restrictions, this studentship is open to UK/EU candidates only.

The studentship covers the full cost of UK/EU tuition fees plus a stipend of £14,553 (RCUK rate) provided by Swansea University and Université Grenoble Alpes.

The student will also receive funds of £500 per annum to assist with travel and accommodation.