ESRC NWSSDTP CASE PhD Studentship: The integration (and marketisation) of ‘Spaces of Compassion’ with healthcare

**Job Description**
Applications are invited for a 3-year full-time ESRC NWSSDTP CASE PhD studentship commencing January 2026. This qualitative consumer research project, titled “The integration (and marketisation) of ‘Spaces of Compassion’ with healthcare,” investigates the integration, branding, and operationalization of “compassion” within the UK’s healthcare and wellness industries. The research focuses on the local integration of “compassionate spaces” with hospital services against a backdrop of service environments increasingly centered on compassion. Utilizing creative ethnographic methods and interdisciplinary concepts, the project aims to understand the political and ideological dimensions of these spaces and the entanglements of multiple, sometimes competing, identities, values, and practices within clinical and commercial contexts. The project is situated within consumer culture studies, marketing, consumer research, and the sociology of health, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to both academic literature and NHS service provision.

**Skills & Abilities**
• Strong background in qualitative research.
• Preferably experienced in conducting ethnographic fieldwork.
• Confident in pursuing theory-guided research and working closely with concepts, frameworks, and ideas from the social sciences.
• Passionate about academic literature and the prospect of critiquing, expanding, and developing exciting conceptual explanations in consumption and health studies.

**Qualifications**
Required Degree(s) in:
• Social science or business background
• Master’s degree (Merit or Distinction) in marketing, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, human geography, or a related discipline, with a clear emphasis on consumer behaviour, critical marketing, political economy, space & space, or health & illness.

**Experience**
Experience Required:
• (MSc) Merit or Distinction
Other:
• Previous research experience

Note: We’ve analyzed the actual job post using AI, for more details visit the original job post by clicking on “Apply Now”!