Successful applicants will begin their PhDs in September/October 2009 as part of the scheme run by The Bloomsbury Colleges (a consortium made up of Birkbeck, Institute of Education, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, School of Oriental and African Studies, and The School of Pharmacy). Each student will be guided by two academics - a lead supervisor from one of the Bloomsbury Colleges and a collaborating supervisor from another. This joint supervision approach will promote interdisciplinary research, a primary aim of LIDC. The Colleges, via the consortium, will provide Studentships to include tuition fees and a stipend. LIDC is committed to contributing a total of approximately £29,000 towards the field research costs across the five development Studentships.

Background
The Bloomsbury PhD Studentships were created to promote cross-College collaboration, particularly in areas likely to benefit from interdisciplinary work. A total of 12 are awarded every year for a range of topics, including international development. Guillaume Fournie and Sam Meijas were awarded Studentships in 2007 and their work is related to international development. Fournie is studying bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam at the Royal Veterinary College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Mejias is studying human rights education at the Institute of Education and Birkbeck. Mejias said: "I am being matched with two supervisors who are incredibly accomplished in the field and they have an interest in what I am doing. The Bloomsbury Studentship has been great for my academic and professional development".