The Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Warwick has a long history of championing people-focused professions. Over the years, our research, scholarship, and teaching have helped to develop 1000s of people working in adult education, career development work, coaching, counselling, early childhood practice, learning and development, psychotherapy, and social work.

We also have a proud tradition of supporting inclusion and participation. We enable people to participate more fully in society and engage in societal change in relation to a range of issues including age, class, disability, gender, geography, health/wellbeing, immigration/refugees, intersectionality, race/ethnicity, sexual identity, and special needs.

We are therefore delighted to offer two PhD scholarships linked to these two important topics:

1. People-focused Professions

You will have knowledge and experience of working at least one of the areas listed below and commitment to innovation and creativity in your professional practice.

• Adult education
• Career development work
• Coaching
• Counselling
• Early childhood practice
• Lifelong learning
• Learning and development
• Psychotherapy
• Social policy
• Social work

Through this theme, we seek to support innovation and good practice in people-focused professions. We are interested in research in any aspect of your practice i.e. this scholarship is not limited to inclusion. You are also advised to read about our PhD programme and our potential supervisors using the link below.

2. Inclusion

You will have knowledge and experience of inclusion and commitment to enabling participation and belonging linked to one or more of the issues listed below.

• Age
• Class
• Disability
• Gender
• Geography
• Health/Wellbeing
• Immigration/Refugees
• Intersectionality
• Race/Ethnicity
• Sexual identity
• Special needs
• Another aspect of inclusion not listed above

Through this theme, we seek to support innovation and good practice in relation to inclusion. We are interested in research related to inclusion in any context or situation linked to lifelong learning in its broadest sense. You are also advised to read about our PhD programme and our potential supervisors using the link below.

Criteria: Our criteria are as follows:

1. Good quality proposal with clear relevance to one of the above topics and the Centre for Lifelong Learning research strategy.
2. Potential to succeed on our PhD programme and make a good contribution to our collegiate research culture.

You must have submitted an application to study on our PhD programme and have received an offer before the scholarship can be confirmed. Your intended supervisor can provide help in reviewing your research proposal and developing your ideas.

Awarded by: Centre for Lifelong Learning

Amount: Full fees for three years (full-time). More detail is available on current ratesLink opens in a new window.

Number available: 2

Eligibility: You must also have submitted an application for our PhD programme and received an offer.

Exclusions: The scholarship is full-time fees only and excludes living costs, travel etc. Up to one scholarship can be provided to cover the current overseas fee (Band 1). More detail is available on current ratesLink opens in a new window. We reserve the right to extend the deadline and/or award only one or no scholarship(s) if the applications received are not deemed suitable.

Deadline for application: 30 April 2024

Further details: Your research proposal (supplied as part of your PhD application) should link to one of the two topics listed above. It is also possible to combine topics 1 and 2 and be considered for both, please indicate in your scholarship application if so. Your proposal must also link to the Centre for Lifelong Learning Research Strategy. In brief, our strategy is organised in terms of four interconnected themes:

1. Concepts of lifelong learning (e.g. experiential, social, cultural, transformative learning, professional and vocational studies, pedagogy/andragogy)
2. People-focused professions (e.g. adult education, career development work, coaching, counselling, early childhood practice, psychotherapy, social work)
3. Wellbeing and identity (e.g. sociology of health, mental health, mindfulness, growth, spirituality, calling)
4. Participation and collaboration (e.g. social policy, inclusion, social change, widening participation)

You should consult our full research strategyLink opens in a new window for more detail.

We are looking for students who are willing to make a good contribution to our collegiate research culture. This includes liaising with our current PhD students, acting as a student representative for up to one year, and supporting the seminar programme.

To apply for our PhD programme: use this link to find out about our PhD programme, Link opens in a new windowlocate a potential supervisor, and apply. Guidance on completing a research proposal is also available and should be used by all applicants.

To apply for the scholarship: use the link shown on this page in the purple box to apply for the scholarship.

We welcome a very wide range of life experience in CLL and look forward to hearing from you!