The CSC hub at Loughborough University London promotes participation, storytelling, voice, activism, and citizen empowerment through dialogic, decolonising, and inclusive communication. We foster interdisciplinary collaborations to address key global challenges such as: mobility (refugees, migration), planetary futures (sustainable ecologies, degrowth), peace and conviviality (citizenship, social movements, governance, inclusion), digitalisation (AI & society, digital justice) and corporatisation (CSR and privatisation of funding, corporate stakeholder activism). These collaborations connect CSC with fields like design, digitalisation, politics and management.

We welcome applications for a PhD studentship that focus on the themes of the CSC hub. The successful candidates primary and secondary supervisors will be members of faculty associated with this research hub. We welcome supervisory teams composed of faculty from more than one institute at Loughborough University London to encourage interdisciplinarity. Candidates are encouraged to suggest two potential supervisors on their applications. Potential supervisors will combine expertise in communication and social change with interdisciplinary expertise (political science, management and economics, design, memory studies, disaster studies).

We are particularly interested in applicants with an interest in pursuing their research in communication and social change associated with the following areas, but are open to others too:

Planetary Futures and the Commons (sustainable ecologies, disaster resilience, degrowth, planetary justice).

Peace, Conviviality and Wellbeing (citizenship and social movements, media and civil society, governance).

Digital, Social and Epistemic Justice (AI & society, ethical AI, human-centred computing, digital design equity, digital sovereignty, data colonisation).

Corporatisation of Social Change (CSR, privatization of funding, corporate stakeholder activism, social entrepreneurship and sustainable development).

Sports, Equality and Social Change (youth, empowerment, well-being, participatory communication).

Subject area(s)

Institute for Creative Futures, Institute for Digital Technologies, Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs, Institute for International Management and Entrepreneurship, Institute for Sport Business.