PhD Studentship at the University of Southampton

Trade and commerce in Rome’s hinterland in the early and middle Republican period: Material culture approaches

Applications are invited for a fully funded Distance-Learning Doctoral Award at the Discipline of Archaeology, University of Southampton from October 2013. It arises out of the research collaboration between the University of Southampton and the British School at Rome that has been ongoing since 2006. The aim of the PhD is to use ceramics as a basis for clarifying our understanding of the nature of commercial exchanges between settlements close to the coast in the area around Rome and the broader Mediterranean between c. the 5th and 2nd c BC. It is anticipated that existing published and unpublished ceramic collections in Italy will form the main research material.

The student will be registered at the University of Southampton and supervised by Professor Simon Keay, with external advice from Professor Christopher Smith, Director of the British School at Rome.

Required: a good 2:1 honours degree and/or MA (or equivalent) or Italian equivalent in archaeology, with experience of working with Italian ceramics of the period in question.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate excellent knowledge of Italian, experience of dealing with relevant material culture, and the capacity to write and participate fully in Italian research culture; a knowledge of the Portus Project (www.portusproject.org) and the aims of the BSR would be an advantage. The successful candidate may be invited to contribute to the research and/or teaching activities of the University of Southampton and the British School at Rome, in ways that are generally supportive of the academic research of the PhD, their career development and the completion of the PhD.

The studentship will comprise a fees element equivalent of £1950 per annum and a maintenance grant calculated at roughly the equivalent level of an AHRC studentship. This will be available for up to a maximum of four years, subject to satisfactory performance. As this is a Distance-Learning PhD, it does not have a requirement that the successful candidate will be based at Southampton, and may be full or part-time. It would also entail the position of Research Fellow at the BSR, and some privileges regarding space and board.

Applications should be made to Professor Simon Keay (sjk1@soton.ac.uk) by 5pm on Monday 9th September 2013 and should consist of a PhD proposal (up to c. 3000 words), and a CV and a covering letter, explaining why you feel you are suitable for this research project. Please also arrange for up to two academic references to be sent independently by the deadline. Interviews will be arranged for the week 16th September, with a view to starting the studentship as soon as possible thereafter.