Student Placements

Procurement and Development Unit

Professor Annamaria La Chimia

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Professor La Chimia has been awarded a grant to conduct research on food procurement for schools during Covid-19 and is looking for one or two students to support her work on the project.

Interested students should have knowledge of Human Rights and/or public procurement law and policy, excellent computer skills as well as excellent legal research and writing skills are required. Experience in conducting empirical research and knowledge of languages, particularly French and Italian will be considered an advantage (however they are not essential). It is envisaged that the project might be extended until June/July to investigate school food procurement policies more generally.

Enthusiastic and highly-motivated individuals are encouraged to apply!

Applications will be considered from postgraduate students (PhD and LLM) only.

Essential:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills                                                              
• Legal research skills                                                                                                     
• Highly motivated                                                                                                          
• Communicate effectively and promptly with external partners                    
• Excellent time management                                                                                           
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team

Desirable:

• Knowledge or experience of human rights law                                                              
• Knowledge or experience of procurement law

January-March (with a possibility to extend further)

5-10 with the possibility to increase

Professor Annamaria La Chimia

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During the first two months of this project the student assistants are required to support the editorial process for an edited collection currently produced by PPRG members and to be published by Hart in 2021.

We are looking for:

Two assistants to work on a tight schedule to help ensure all chapters comply with Hart’s style guide, check references etc. Assistants may also be required to help with formatting and indexing.

During the final months of the post (February and March) students will be required to help Professor La Chimia with other PPRG related activities and responsibilities, such as transcripts of videos, editing of policy papers and blogs that will be produced to disseminate the findings of the book.

Assistants will work under the supervision of Professor La Chimia

Applicants must be native English speakers and have very good knowledge of the English grammar. The students will need to be meticulous in attention to detail, and be able to work under the pressure of publishing deadlines. They must have excellent IT skills and the ability to work independently.

These positions are open to postgraduate students from all schools in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

December to March

Up to 10 hours per week as required for the first two months, 5 hours per week afterword

Luke Butler

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Luke Butler is currently funded by a prestigious AHRC “urgent response” grant to examine the use of “single sourcing”, that is, the direct award of government contracts to a single supplier without an open competition during the Covid-19 pandemic. The grant is in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Open Contracting Partnership.

A Research Assistant is required to assist in obtaining information (from a range of known sources, including partners) on single source procurement in a range of countries. The project leader will use this information to write an evidence and policy paper comprising a detailed comparative study of how single sourcing is regulated and has been conducted in other countries during the pandemic.

The Research Assistant will undertake the following functions:

1. Liaise with the Open Contracting Partnership to obtain data on practices in other countries
2. Conduct independent research on how single sourcing has been conducted in other countries
3. Collate information obtained by (1) and (2) for the purposes of analysis

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the cutting edge of research on a defining issue of our age. You will help us to obtain data from interviews and other sources, analyse that data, present evidence derived from that data, and formulate proposals for reform ready for submission to relevant stakeholders as part of an Impact strategy. It is an ideal opportunity for any postgraduate researcher looking to develop their research profile.

Essential:

• Excellent written and oral English
• A relevant post-graduate qualification (preferably in law)

Desirable:

• Relevant expertise in public procurement
• The project runs to a tight timescale. We therefore require a researcher who is: self-motivated and demonstrates initiative
• Able to collate and synthesise large and diverse bodies of material ready from different sources for analysis

This position is open to postgraduate students (PGT/R) in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Up to 10 hours per week as required