UK : University of Teesside Research Doctoral Scholarships

Organisational learning; the impact of HE employer engagement in the north east of England

The University of Teesside is offering full-time Research Doctoral Scholarships across the broad theme of work based learning and employer engagement. The scholarships are aligned to key areas of research strength within Teesside Business School (TBS) working closely with the University's Department for Academic Enterprise. The award/s will be for a period of three years and include fees (home/EU or international rate) and an annual stipend of £12,940. It is anticipated that the successful candidate will, through their research, also contribute to the development and delivery of Work Based Learning programmes within TBS for a maximum of 6 hours a week. Successful applicants should be in a position to take up the scholarship by November 2008.

Research theme: "Organisational learning; the impact of HE employer engagement in the north east of England."

The University of Teesside has been awarded a significant Higher Education Funding Council Strategic Development Project (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/econsoc/employer/projects/show.asp?id=23) to deliver a major change programme, building on existing practice and areas of expertise, to create an employer-facing institution providing a distinctive and responsive service that meets the high-level skills needs of employers.

A full programme of research and evaluation will be a major feature of this exciting and challenging project and we wish to appoint at least one doctoral scholarship within Teesside Business School to work with and alongside the project activity. Research since the early-1990's (eg Naish, 1995) has explored the rich potential for Work Based Learning to make a difference to higher education and employer partnerships and more recently (KSA, 2007) is becoming better understood in terms of the systemic issues HE has to confront and the step changes needed to implement them. A significant contribution to these debates has been empirical research amply demonstrating how individual work based learners benefit and gain from their experiences in terms of professional development (Garnett, 2006) and how this might relate to the intellectual capital of organisations. However, in-depth research into the reality of how, why and with what consequences whole organisations benefit remains far less tangible, and some useful case study material (Naish, 2004) has highlighted a range of important characteristics for successful HE/employer partnerships.

We wish to take this research into its important next phase to identity the range of different impacts HEIs may have when working directly with employers for their workforce development and the different relationship models (eg Work Based Learning) that might contribute to this. Central to these objectives will be for the research to explore any relationship between the HE/ employer partnership and the organisations' own development and learning.

For an informal discussion about this scholarship please contact Dr Jenny Naish, Assistant Dean, (Partnerships), Teesside Business School, who will lead the research team. Email: J.Naish@tees.ac.uk. Phone: +44 (0)1642 342905.

Research Doctoral Scholarships applicants should have at least an upper second class honours degree or equivalent qualification and ideally a postgraduate qualification. For this research theme we are also looking for applicants to be able to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the Work Based Learning and Workforce Development agendas and issues in UK higher education. The minimum English language entry level is IELTS 6.5 with no grade below 6.0 or equivalent.

To apply for a scholarship you must contact the Graduate Research School for an application form:
University of Teesside Research Doctoral Scholarships
Graduate Research School, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, Tees Valley, TS1 3BA, UK
Email: graduateresearchschool@tees.ac.uk or tel: +44 (0)1642 73803

Closing date: 15 September 2008