Key information
- Funding
- Self-funded
- School
- Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society
- Location
- Edinburgh
- Delivery type
- Full-time, Part-time
- Start date
- September
There has been a growth in interest in comparative housing and urban research over the past 20 years. In part this reflects the growing influence of supranational forms of governance, such as through the European Union, the exercise of ‘soft' power through the promulgation of certain ways doing things (e.g. OECD) and the growing integration of economies through trade and economies. The Global Financial Crisis began with a crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage market – but continues to have world-wide consequences. Comparative research is also increasingly undertaken in the search of successful policy transfer, especially in an age of fiscal austerity.
Members of the group has a strong track record in conducting comparative and international research and consultancy for a variety of agencies, including the European Commission, European Parliament, OECD, Council of Europe Development Bank, UN-Habitat, UN-Economic Commission for Europe, as well as for overseas governments, including New Zealand and Finland.
I-SPHERE is an institutional member of the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR), and Mark Stephens has been an ENHR Committee member for more than 10 years. Glen Bramley was a co-ordinator of the ENHR Working Group on Metropolitan Dynamics and Mark Stephens is a co-ordinator if its Working Group on Comparative Housing Policy. Mark Stephens and Michelle Norris produced an edited collection Meaning and Measurement in Comparative Housing Research (Routledge, 2014) based on one of the working group's meetings.
Additional information
Staff contributing to this research area include:
Entry requirements
Candidate criteria
We welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates. Please visit our How to apply page.
Funding information
| Status | Full Time | Part Time |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £5,006 | £2,503 |
| England / Wales / N Ireland | £5,006 | £2,503 |
| International | £19,816 | £9,908 |
- Status: Your residency status is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course.
- International: 'International' includes applicants from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in UK. (This does not include students from the Republic of Ireland - see above).
We offer a number of competitive funded scholarships for research degrees. Full or partial support may be available for well-qualified candidates from UK research councils, research pools, charities or industry.
View our full range of scholarships.
Why Heriot-Watt
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