The Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews (UK) is advertising 2 PhD scholarships (4 years, full time, 100% UK/EU fee waiver with maintenance stipend of approx. £14,296/year (equivalent to a RCUK stipend) and conference/research expenses) to participate in an ERC-funded research project on the ethics of oil. The start date is September 2017. Deadline for application: 16 January 2017

This project entitled "The Ethics of Oil: Finance Moralities and Environmental Politics in the Global Oil Economy (ENERGYETHICS)" offers an exciting opportunity for 2 outstanding graduates to join a major anthropological research project funded by the European Research Council - as part of the conventional track for a PhD in Social Anthropology at University of St Andrews. The project is a comparative study of how people in positions of influence within the global oil economy make financial and ethical valuations of oil. Ethnographic fieldwork will be carried out with oil companies in the US and Norway, energy analysts in the UK and the US, and fossil fuel divestment movements in Germany and the UK. Taking our starting point in people's own perceptions of and direct involvement in the oil economy, we aim to understand the relationship between oil, money and climate change. We will ask: What is the value of oil? How do such valuations, understood as both financial and ethical, intersect and inform the making of the global energy economy in oil? To what extent can oil be an important industrial resource, a profit-yielding investment opportunity and an undesired pollutant that brings about irreversible climate impacts?

We are seeking prospective candidates with an existing interest in fields such as economic life, morality and ethics, energy and climate change, corporations and organisations. Applicants are encouraged to contribute their own provisional research ideas in the form of a proposal as part of their application. Projects will have ethnographic fieldwork at their core, but may also draw on other methodologies, including archival and visual media work.

Successful candidate 1 will explore convergences of oil production with national welfare agendas and climate change concerns in Norway. The research will involve 15 months of fieldwork and the candidate must be able to/willing to learn Norwegian. Successful candidate 2 will examine how divestment projects in Germany and the UK intersect with oil industry vulnerability and visions for the future. The research will involve 15 months of fieldwork and the candidate must be able to/willing to learn German.

Prospective candidates are encouraged to contact the Principal Investigator Dr Mette M. High.

The David Suzuki Fellowship program will empower emerging scholars to tackle complex environmental problems. It will reduce financial barriers, provide mentorship and foster leadership and creativity so fellows can conduct research and engage and inform the public and policy-makers.

A total of three fellowships are available, one in Montreal, one in Toronto and one in Vancouver. Each will be for one year (with the potential for renewal) and will consist of:

• A $50,000 stipend, plus up to $5,000 for travel and other professional expenses
• Mentorship from David Suzuki and David Suzuki Foundation senior staff
• Access to office space at the Foundation offices

1. VANCOUVER - RENEWABLE ENERGY AND/OR CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMICS: The Vancouver-based fellow will join the Foundation's Science and Policy team and research innovative clean energy solutions and/or the economics of sustainable development. Candidates from all disciplines are encouraged to apply.
   
2. TORONTO - INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND CLIMATE CHANGE: The Toronto-based fellow will join the Foundation's Ontario and Northern Canada team and work to integrate traditional Indigenous knowledge into climate change solutions. Candidates from all disciplines are encouraged to apply. You must be an Indigenous person (First Nation, Inuit or Métis) to be eligible.
   
3. MONTREAL - TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE: The Montreal-based fellow will join the Foundation's Quebec and Atlantic Canada team and work on regional and/or national transportation, energy and climate change issues. Issues may include (but are not limited to) green transit planning and the development of sustainable cities. Candidates from all disciplines are encouraged to apply and must be bilingual (French and English).
   

There is a temporary 2-year position available at the Department of Social Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology Management (NTNU) as Postdoctoral Fellow in social anthropology. This fixed-term position has the primary goal of qualifying for work in professional academic chair positions.

Obligations

The postdoctoral position forms part of a research project called Energy Futures: Assessing Intermediary Expertise that Guides Arctic and Global Hydrocarbon Development and is associated with the department's ongoing specialization in Organizational Anthropology.

The objective is to improve knowledge in relation to how intermediaries (energy consultants) generate learning environments across the energy industry. Research objectives of the project include building a conceptual terminology and typology of the kinds of assessments that consultants produce, as well as the visualizing practices developed in the creation of energy futures. The project will focus on aspects of ethnographic research that relate to the creation and performance of expertise, expert knowledge, and elite cultures more generally.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will be part of the research group in organizational anthropology at the department and is expected to take part in seminars, workshops and conferences convened as part of the project. It is also expected that the postdoctoral fellow will conduct ethnographic research.

More details.