Cambridge ESRC DTP Interdisciplinary Studentship 2023: Causal Inference, Selection Bias, and Their Implications for Legal Theory and Practice The University of Cambridge ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership DTP is pleased to offer an interdisciplinary studentship available for admission in October 2023.
The studentship is open as either a one-year masters followed by three-year doctoral programme or a three-year doctoral programme and will be co- supervised by Dr Qingyuan Zhao (Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics and Prof Simon Deakin (Faculty of Law).
DTP students will acquire a unique set of skills that will equip them for high-profile careers as leading social scientists, in academia or in other government, industrial, commercial and third sector organisations, either in the UK or elsewhere.
Project description New developments of causal inference have revolutionized the way we use data, statistics, and research design and provided a new suite of qualitative and quantitative tools to study long-standing questions in the social sciences. One of the contexts in which these methods are being applied is the interdisciplinary field of empirical legal studies.
This PhD project will study causal inference problems arising from intersection of the social sciences, in particular political science, economics, sociology, and law. A motivating problem to consider could be racial discrimination in policing, where recent studies have highlighted serious selection bias in regular analyses of administrative databases. The student will develop a rigorous framework to investigate this type of problems by combining the graphical and counterfactual approaches to causal inference. The student will then work with the supervisors to explore how the statistical concepts of causation may be applied in legal settings.
Cambridge ESRC DTP studentships are open to all students who meet the required academic conditions.
An ESRC DTP studentship will cover Home rate fees and provide £17,668 p.a. in living costs (current rates). DTP students also receive a personal allowance for additional training costs, and can apply for further funding to pursue fieldwork, academic exchange, and collaboration with non-academic partner organisations. What to do next
You can find out more about the Cambridge ESRC DTP at: https: // www. esrcdtp.group.cam.ac.uk/about/onoffer and read about some of the opportunities that will be available to you.
The student is expected to have a good understanding of probability and statistics at the undergraduate level. The student may attend courses in the Mathematics Part III programme to brush up on the relevant skills.
You can find out more about the Statistical Laboratory (a sub-department of the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics) at https: // www. statslab.cam.ac.uk/ and the Faculty of Law at https: // www. law.cam.ac.uk/. Information about the Mathematics masters and doctoral programmes can be found at https: // www. maths.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/part- iii/prospective.html and https: // www. maths.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/phd-pure- mathematics-and-mathematical-statistics.
Please address any questions about this studentship to the Mathematics Postgraduate Office at [email protected]
A formal application should be made to the Dept of Pure Mathematics and Mathematics Statistics (course code: MAPM21) ensuring that the project title is mentioned in the application materials. Further information on applying is available at https: // www. postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/mapmpdpms
The closing date for applications will be 23:59pm (midnight) UK time on 5 January 2023.
We welcome applications from individuals who wish to be considered for part- time working or other flexible working arrangements.
We particularly welcome applications from women and /or candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our department/institution/Faculty/School/University.
You will need to upload full curriculum vitae, list of publications, and a description of your recent and future research projects (not to exceed three pages). The contact details of two academic referees will be required; please ensure that your referees are aware that they will be contacted by the Mathematics HR Office Administrator to request that they upload a reference for you to our Web Recruitment System; and please encourage them to do so promptly.
Please quote reference LF34420 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Department/LocationDepartment of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics
ReferenceLF34420
CategoryStudentships
Published29 November 2022
Closing date5 January 2023