Robert Falkner - LSE - PhD supervision

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Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

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Robert Falkner

PhD SUPERVISION

I am interested in supervising PhD students working in international political economy or international relations, with a focus on global environmental politics, the role of business and other nonstate actors in world politics, global governance, international risk regulation, or other areas related to my research interests.

If you are interested in pursuing a PhD project under my supervision, you will need to apply through the LSE Graduate Admissions Office. Further guidance on the application process is available here. You may wish you send me an outline of your research project in advance of your formal application, although I cannot promise to give detailed feedback on such outlines.

Your research outline (ca. 3-4 pages) should ideally address the following questions:

What is your central research question?
How do you propose to answer this question? What theoretical and/or empirical work do you expect to undertake (e.g. case studies)?
How does your research project relate to relevant academic debates or literatures in International Political Economy or International Relations? What likely contribution do you expect to make to such debates or literatures?
What research methodology do you expect to employ in your project?

Please remember that a PhD thesis is a peculiar piece of academic writing, and that not all research questions or ideas are suitable for a PhD project that can be completed over a period of three to four years. It is best to avoid speculative, future-oriented or highly policy-focused questions (e.g. "Is the precautionary principle going to play a more important role in future world politics?" or "Should Europe aim for greater energy independence?").

Recently completed PhD projects:

Nico Jaspers, "Silent Divergence: Explaining Nanotechnology Risk Governance in the US and the EU" (2011)

Jonas Meckling, "The Global Rise of Carbon Trading. Transnational Business Networks in Global Environmental Politics" (2009)

Carola Kantz, "Precious Stones, Black Gold and the Extractive Industries: Accounting for the Institutional Design of Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives" (2009)

Christopher Wright, "Environmental Governance in International Banking: Exploring the Emergence of the Equator Principles" (2008)