PhD The impact of visual environment on colour perception (cross-cultural fieldwork)

Closing Date
20 Jan 2019
Salary
£14,777 maintenance allowance and fees at Home/EU rates
Address
School of Psychology, University of Sussex
Duration
5 years

Supervisor:  Prof Anna Franklin (University of Sussex) and Dr Jenny Bosten (University of Sussex)

The PhD studentship is part of a 5-year interdisciplinary European Research Council-funded project investigating the impact of the visual environment on colour perception. The PhD will investigate whether people living in different environments (lush jungle vs arid desert or urban) differ in their colour perception as a result of the chromatic properties of those environments. This will involve conducting colour perception experiments in some of the remotest parts of the world with people from non-industrialised cultures.  The student will need to be confident travelling independently, living in rugged conditions (e.g., camping in the jungle), and communicating with people from different cultures to their own. The fieldwork will involve being away from home for up to 5 weeks at a time, several times throughout the year (fieldtrips will have a local guide and translator).  Prior experience in taking part in fieldwork or global travel is desirable. The student would join a research group (The Sussex Colour Group, http://www.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/colour/) with a strong track record of research on colour perception.

The School of Psychology is one of the largest centres for the study of psychology in the UK with nearly 50 academic faculty and over 1000 undergraduate and postgraduate students working in a rich and supportive learning environment.

Psychology is a diverse discipline and our size means that we span major research areas in social, cognitive, biological, developmental and clinical psychology. Psychology at Sussex was rated 10th in the UK for research in the 2014 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 91% of our research at Sussex is ranked as world-leading or internationally significant.

Applications should be made by 20th January 2019

  • This award will only pay fees at the Home/EU rate and will provide a maintenance allowance (currently £14,777 per year).
  • Candidates must have, or expect to obtain, a First or a high Upper Second Class Honours undergraduate degree, or equivalent qualification, and/or a Master's degree in Informatics, Computer Science, Psychology or a discipline where skills relate to the project (e.g., in the Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Physical Sciences or Biological sciences).
  • Only full time students will be accepted.

Guidance for applicants:

  • Please submit your application online at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply for the 'PhD in Psychology' programme for September 2019.
    • In the 'Supervisor suggested by applicant' section of your application form, please put name of supervisor(s)
    • In the 'Proposed source of funding' section of your application form, please put ‘ERC’
  • Frequently Asked Questions relating to applying for a PhD in Psychology at the University of Sussex

Candidates should provide:

  • A research proposal that outlines your knowledge of the research area, hypotheses that could be addressed in your PhD, and an outline of potential methods. Your answer should not exceed 2 pages including references, be set at minimum 10-font type with margins a minimum of 1cm.
  • An up-to-date CV.
  • Current degree transcript(s) with full details of performance on all completed courses.
  • Two academic references.

For queries with respect to the application process please send an email to 'Postgraduate Coordinator' to: psychologyphd-enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

To discuss the details of this PhD project further, please contact to Jenny Bosten (j.bosten@sussex.ac.uk).

Contact Details

Postgraduate Coordinator: psychologyphd-enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

Jenny Bosten: j.bosten@sussex.ac.uk