DAWN studentships
Four students wanted
Third round of DAWN studentships
The scientific problem
In 2009 Stockholm University first proposed the nine “Planetary Boundaries”, which delineate global limits to the impact humanity can have on certain Earth systems before disaster. Included in this concept is the planetary boundary for freshwater, which has been widely accepted into scientific literature and wider culture, shaping perceptions of the water crisis. With the definition of the freshwater planetary boundary having changed so much over the years, there remains the question as to why this concept persists in scientific literature.
What will students do?
The students will get involved in the project DAWN: Illuminating Deep Uncertainties in the Estimation of Irrigation Water Withdrawals, a £1.6M Frontier Research Grant project that will run from the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, from September 2023 to August 2028. They will become members of a team of international, interdisciplinary researchers and work in the following topic:
Exploration of the origin and spread of the freshwater planetary boundary concept: Using network citation analysis, students will collect claims regarding the freshwater planetary boundary from a variety of scientific works and track the dissemination of these claims through the references they use.
What will each student get?
1. Interdisciplinary training on the appraisal of uncertainties in scientific research and on the analysis of scientific literature.
2. Training in the main topics and skills required by the research.
3. Co-authorship in the resulting papers with the rest of the DAWN team. Examples of publications co-authored with previous DAWN students are:
(a) Widely cited global irrigation statistics lack empirical support.
4. Training in academic writing and presentation of results in academic journals.
5. A stipend based on 60h of work, band 400, spinal point 30 (11.78 pounds hourly rate of pay) upon submission of the report.
What do we expect from students?
We welcome applications from any student regardless of their disciplinary background and career stage. We are looking for students that are:
1. Curious, skeptical, willing to develop interdisciplinary profiles and work in-between the Human and the Natural Sciences.
2. Able to keep an open mind and think out-of-the-box, especially with regards to controversial issues such as the water crisis or climate change.
3. Committed to learn and work in a demanding research environment.
4. Able to attend two training sessions at the beginning of June (c. 2 h each, paid) at the University of Birmingham. The rest of the work will be desk-based and can be done remotely.
Timeline and schedule
Please send a one-page PDF including your abridged CV and a 250-word reflection that addresses the following question:
The Doomsday Clock has been used as a metaphor to show how close humanity is to catastrophe, but who decides what time the Doomsday Clock is set, and with what authority?
Please send the PDF to both Arnald Puy and Samuel Flinders (contact details below) via e-mail before Monday the 30th of March 2026.
Any notion of generative AI being used in your application will result in immediate rejection.
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed during the second and third week of April. Interviews will be in person unless there is a case of force majeure. Contracts with the selected students will be signed ideally in May, and work will begin at the beginning of June. Students must submit the draft with the results of their investigation by the second week of September 2026 at the latest.
Contacts
Arnald Puy
Associate Professor in Social and Environmental Uncertainties
a.puy@bham.ac.uk
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
United Kingdom
Samuel Flinders
PhD student of Physical Geography
stf135@student.bham.ac.uk
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
United Kingdom
