Vacancy: PhD Decision culture in European Water Governance

The Centre for Water Science is an internationally-recognised centre of excellence that undertakes consultancy, research and training in science, technologies and management associated with the improvement of water quality to protect and enhance natural, human and industrial environments.
A PhD studentship on Decision culture in European Water Governance is now available, funded under the EC ISBP project, a NEST-PATHFINDER project, due to begin in November 2006. The studentship will involve carrying out research to characterise and understand the way in which UK Water Service Providers (WSPs) are responding to the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The research will seek to elaborate the types of response available to WSPs, the processes by which they are generated and selected, the way in which evidence (scientific, engineering, financial) is gathered and used in doing so, and the subsequent influence that response selection is having on implementation of the WFD. The broader aims of the Project Workpackage in which the studentship will be located will be to develop a concept of ‘decision culture’ in the context of European water governance.