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Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba

Studentship opportunity

All Studentship Opportunities

Public transport and social welfare: The impact of bus connectivity on employment outcomes for low-income populations

This studentship is funded by the ESRC through the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS)

Institution
University of Glasgow
Pathway
Social Inequalities
Studentship
Steers – Datasets
Mode of study

Full-time / Part-time

Application deadline
4pm, 14 April 2022
Applications are due 10 April, 5 pm BST and
References are due 16 April, 5 pm BST

Project details

Public transport enables access to economic opportunities, services and social networks particularly for lower-income populations who cannot afford to own a private car. Buses play a particularly important role, but services have declined substantially over the past decade in the UK. While most city regions in the UK have experienced long-term decline in services, others, like London and Manchester, stand out for implementing significant positive reforms under a public-driven governance model.

This contrasting landscape offers a unique opportunity to investigate two distinct public transport governance approaches and their social welfare implications by means of ‘natural experiments’. Public transport accessibility modelling will be fundamental to this project. Specifically, the successful candidate will combine the unique longitudinal public transport timetable dataset from the Urban Big Data Centre with aggregated administrative data and longitudinal survey data in the UK. Timetable data allows for modelling realistic transport conditions to reach opportunities related to employment. The other datasets offer detailed statistics on aggregate welfare benefits and individual wellbeing over time in the UK.

Supervisory Team:

  • First Supervisor: Dr J Rafael Verduzco Torres, JoseRafael.Verduzco-Torres@glasgow.ac.uk
  • Second Supervisor: Professor Nick Bailey, Nick.Bailey@glasgow.ac.uk

About the University

This PhD studentship will be based in the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC), part of the newly-established Urban Analytics Subject Group (UASG) within the Division of Urban Studies & Social Policy, University of Glasgow.

Together, UBDC and UASG offer extensive experience with large-scale and non-traditional datasets which, combined with the robust IT infrastructure and advanced tools available, eases the technical requirements of the project.

The successful candidate will benefit from the expertise within UBDC, a ten-year-old national data service and research centre that has pioneered the value of such data in the UK and beyond, with a proven track record of impact.

The recent establishment of the UASG in September 2024 builds on the UBDC’s capacity as a long-term UofG investment. The successful candidate will join a community of around 25 scholars and 20+ PhD students at the forefront of analytical techniques with new forms of data.

Additionally, this research is connected to researchers of the Adam Smith Business School, which extends technical and disciplinary support, complemented by its strong connections across government. This provides a unique blend of cutting-edge digital innovation with a strong social and public policy focus.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Applicants will have a first degree (undergraduate) and have a demonstrable interest in the topic area under investigation.
  • Applicants can have a Masters degree, however this is not a requirement.
  • Applicants can study part-time or full-time

Other criteria include:

  • The applicant’s degree should be in a relevant discipline such as economics, urban planning, transport studies or a similar one with a substantial quantitative component.
  • While experience with programming languages such as R or Python is desirable, a significant component of the project requires proficiency in these languages. Thus, being willing to learn and apply them as part of their work is essential.

Funding

As per guidance published by UKRI in October 2020, a maximum of 30% of all studentships awarded can be made to international students, with the remaining 70% going to home students. 

Residential Criteria

To be classed as a home student, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a UK national (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have settled status, or
  • Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If you do not meet the criteria above, you will be classed as an international student. To establish if you would be classed as a home student, please see pages 4 and 5 of the UKRI eligibility guidance here

As per guidance published by UKRI in October 2020, a maximum of 30% of all studentships awarded can be made to international students, of which SGSSS has now awarded for the 2021/22 round of studentship awards. As such, this opportunity is only open to home students.

Residential Criteria

To be classed as a home student, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a UK national (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have settled status, or
  • Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If you do not meet the criteria above, you will be classed as an international student and will not be eligible to apply. To establish if you would be classed as a home student, please see pages 4 and 5 of the UKRI eligibility guidance here.

Award details

The scholarship is available as a +3.5 (3 year PhD and placement) or a 1+3.5 (Masters year, 3 year PhD, and a placement) studentship depending on prior research training. This will be assessed as part of the recruitment process, however you can access guidance here to help you decide on which to apply for. The programme will commence in October 2025. The full ESRC studentship package includes, as advised by ESRC:

  • An annual maintenance grant (stipend)
  • Fees at the standard institutional home rate
  • Students can also draw on a pooled Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)

Other information

The specific aims of this studentship are as follows:

  • To develop measures of bus service connectivity to employment-related opportunities in the UK over time (2021-2025) at the national level and assess the extent of change on low-income populations,
  • To examine how sustained bus service reductions affect employment-related outcomes of low-income populations at the individual level, e.g. employment status, job satisfaction, mental health and well-being.
  • To assess the role of selected bus service interventions under the public-driven model in selected cases on employment inequalities at the neighbourhood level, e.g. welfare benefits and benefit sanctions.

This provides the opportunity to develop expertise in natural or quasi experimental approaches using multilevel and spatial models to account for the interdependence of spatially autocorrelated observations.

In addition to the (open-access longitudinal public transport timetables from the UBDC), aggregate data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ‘Stat-Xplore’ platform will provide insights into neighbourhood-level welfare outcomes, such as Universal Credit claims, Jobseeker’s Allowance uptake, and benefit sanctions. Individual-level outcomes will draw on longitudinal data from the ‘Understanding Society’ dataset. This data will enable the opportunity to evaluate the impacts on employment status, job satisfaction, mental health, and well-being.

This PhD studentship will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team, including Dr J Rafael Verduzco-Torres , Prof Nick Bailey, Prof Graeme Roy, and Dr Fiona Crawford

For informal queries, feel free to get in touch with Dr J Rafael Verduzco-Torres (Email: JoseRafael.Verduzco-Torres@glasgow.ac.uk)

How to apply

  1. Applicants must register on SGSSS Apply, completing their Equal Opportunities data.
  2. Applicants must apply via SGSSS Apply, uploading the following documentation:

    • Application Questions (answered within SGSSS Apply, no upload needed)
    • Academic transcripts
    • Academic prizes
    • Referee information
    • CV
    • Other information (if required by the advert)
We strongly encourage applicants review the applicant guidance document for more on the process. 

Please Note:

  • This is not an application to the relevant University, this is an application for SGSSS (ESRC) funding.
  • Students do not need a Masters/PhD offer from the relevant University before they can apply for funding, i.e. this studentship.
  • If successful in obtaining the SGSSS (ESRC) studentship, students can only start the funded studentship once they have an unconditional Masters/PhD degree offer from the relevant University. It is your responsibility to find out the University’s application process, including when you need to secure your offer, as SGSSS plays no role in this process.

This studentship opportunity will open for applications on 9th June.

Apply now via SGSSS Apply

Selection process

Applications will be ranked by an internal institutional selection panel, and you will be notified if you have been shortlisted for interview on or around 22 April. Interviews will take place 29 April.

This studentship award is subject to the successful candidate securing admission to a PhD programme within the University of Glasgow. The successful candidate will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programme.

Contact details

Name
SGSSS Team (for questions on the application portal, only), for any questions on the project, email the first & second supervisors (see details in abstract above)
Email
team@sgsss.ac.uk

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