Our Department of Sociology has launched a new PhD scholarship on contextual safeguarding aimed at candidates with experience of care.
The Davis Scholarship is named after Jahnine Davis (pictured), National Kinship Care Ambassador and founder of UK national research and training organisation Listen Up. Jahnine is also a member of the independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.
The scholarship offers an enhanced package of support valued at over £160,000 to one successful candidate.
This includes additional funding to provide clinical supervision, peer support from other care-experienced academics and an enhanced stipend to cover living costs.
The opportunity is open to applicants with a range of care experience, including those who may have lived with foster carers or in a residential children's home.
It is also open to those who were cared for at home under a supervision order, or living with friends or relatives in kinship care either formally or informally.
The successful candidate will undertake a full-time PhD (and Master’s if required) in the Sociology department at Durham University from October 2025. With the Master’s element the total scholarship is worth over £160,000.
The closing date for applications is Friday 18 April 2025 (see find out more for further information about applying).
Jahnine Davis is a care-experienced research leader whose work has influenced the values and goals of contextual safeguarding. She champions the benefits of increasing opportunities for care-experienced people wanting to access Higher Education.
She is a passionate and tireless advocate who has devoted her life to the protection and empowerment of children, with a particular focus on those from care-experienced, Black, and racialised backgrounds.
As a trailblazer in the field of child protection, her pioneering work on adultification bias has had a transformative impact on policy, practice and research.
First and foremost, it is a privilege to have my name connected to such a significant scholarship. As someone who is care-experienced, this feels monumental because, for too long the inclusion of our voices has been the exception rather than the norm. I truly believe that this opportunity sends a clear message to the care-experienced community: you are needed and valued. Most importantly, we believe in you, and this investment is a testament to the importance of your experience.
The successful candidate will be supervised by Professor Carlene Firmin, a leading expert in the safeguarding of young people at risk of harm beyond their family homes, alongside other senior researchers from the Contextual Safeguarding Research Programme, which Carlene oversees.
The contextual safeguarding approach to child protection helps experts understand and respond to young people’s experiences of harm outside of their families, including in peer groups, schools and local neighbourhoods.
Carlene’s work in this area has helped advance policy and research into the protection of adolescents in the UK and internationally, including Europe and Australia.
All too often researchers have no experience of the systems they shape; meanwhile children and young people encounter services that are influenced by researchers that fail to centre their needs and experiences. This scholarship represents our commitment to creating research communities in which people from various backgrounds not only belong, but are also valued for all they bring.
The Davis Scholarship is open to any care-experienced candidate, of any age, who has an undergraduate degree and is interested in shaping the future of social work support for young people. Prospective candidates can also be connected with potential supervisors who can support them with their application. See more, including the full offer and how to apply for The Davis Scholarship.
Discover more about Jahnine Davis and Listen Up and read more about adultification bias.
More about Professor Carlene Firmin and the Contextual Safeguarding research programme.
The Davis Scholarship is funded by The Pocressi Initiative.
Our Department of Sociology is in the top 10 in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2025. Visit our Sociology webpages for more information on our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
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