*If you know any graduate students who'd be interested, please pass this on to them.* *MCM* [image: University of Bristol] <https://www.jobs.ac.uk/search/employer/university-of-bristol/phd> PhD Studentship: Financing Islamophobia? Using big data to track financial flows to anti-Muslim groups*University of Bristol* Qualification Type: PhD Location: Bristol Funding for: UK Students, EU Students Funding amount: See advert text for details Hours: Full Time Placed On: 11th September 2018 Closes: 7th October 2018
<http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/> *The project: * This project would pioneer a big data approach to understanding the financial interactions between elite philanthropists and anti-Muslim groups and networks, which are engaged in activities that undermine the ability of Muslim civil society groups and individuals to participate fully in the public sphere. Following the money from elite philanthropists has often been difficult since lack of transparency is an ongoing problem. It has worsened recently as some donors have taken steps to disguise their contributions by creating ‘donor advised’ funds. The project would use and develop an existing database of payments developed by the primary supervisor based on Internal Revenue Service (US) and Charity Commission (UK) filings; the data is scraped, downloaded and processed by an automated machine learning process that allows the recovery of digital data on the financing of anti-Muslim groups. The project will raise questions about the nature of power involved in conduct that extends and exacerbates the marginalization or exclusion of Muslims and Muslim civil society groups in the public sphere. What kind of power do elite philanthropists’ have? Is the power of groups active in this area only transactional in nature or do they make an original contribution to the production of discriminatory outcomes? The project would entail quantitative analysis of financial flows and network analysis of donors and recipients. This will be accompanied by qualitative analysis of the activities of both donors and recipients. It is envisaged that the project would highlight previously unknown connections and also assess the extent to which there are ethical and conflict of interest issues about some of the funding relations. Impact related work will involve liaison with policy groups, donor groups as well as government regulators to attempt to improve the transparency of funding flows. PhD students will additionally be supported through a Leadership Support Scheme (LSS), which will assist in developing their knowledge-base, personal qualities, leadership skills and professional networks. They will be matched with mentors and will be able to undertake two short placements with a community related or research organisation and a statutory sector agency respectively. *How to apply: * Please make an online application for this project at *http://www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply <http://www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply>*. Please select *Social Policy* on the Programme Choice page. You will be prompted to enter details of the studentship in the Funding and Research Details sections of the form. *Candidate requirements: *Candidates must show evidence of active engagement with Muslim communities or Muslim related organisations and demonstrate a desire to develop intellectual skills within a secular/multi-faith environment. *Funding: *This project is co funded by the University of Bristol and the Aziz Foundation. *Contacts: Professor David Miller for informal discussions [[email protected] <[email protected]>]* * [email protected] <[email protected]> for admissions queries* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support. Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to [email protected]. PLEASE NOTE: you must unsubscribe using the SAME email with which you subscribed; 2) go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com
