PhD Studentship on Gaming & Sustainability

This studentship is funded by the NWCDTP, with home student fees paid, plus an annual stipend at the UKRI standard rate (£19,237 per year for 2024-2025).

This full-time PhD is funded by the AHRC The North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP). It is part of a group of three PhD studentships focusing on Sustainable Game Design and Consumption. Two of the PhDs will be based at Manchester Metropolitan University, with this third studentship at the University of Salford.

In particular, this PhD completes the ecosystemic investigation of sustainable design and play by researching the consumption of games. The study aims to understand how gaming practices contribute to (un)sustainable behaviours and explore strategies to foster more eco-friendly consumption and production in gaming. Key research questions may include: How do gaming cultures and consumer behaviours contribute to environmental impacts? Do video games play a role in increasing awareness and involvement in ecological issues? How can sustainable gaming practices influence broader consumption habits?

The study will employ a mixed-methods approach, which may include: a literature review to assess research on sustainable consumption, gaming, and the broader entertainment industry, surveys and interviews with consumers, developers, and industry professionals to explore attitudes towards sustainability and gaming habits, case studies of consumer perspectives on sustainability and games, and comparative analysis to generate insights about the different cases. Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of how consumers understand the sustainability of games consumption, recommendations for developers to integrate sustainability into their communication/design of gaming products and services, and insights into how games can raise awareness about ecological issues. The project aims to influence both industry practices and player behaviours by establishing frameworks for sustainable play.

The project will be supervised by Prof. Garry Crawford (Salford) and Dr Tom Brock (MMU).

The studentship is funded by the NWCDTP, with home (UK) student fees paid, plus an annual stipend at the UKRI standard rate (£19,237 per year for 2024-2025). International applicants would be expected to pay the difference between domestic and international fees, which is currently £12,804 annually.

Successful applicants will start in October 2025. This project is open to both Home and International students (though international students would be subject to paying the difference between home and international student fees).

For more information, please feel free to contact Prof. Garry Crawford (g.crawford@salford.ac.uk) for an informal discussion.

To apply you will need to submit a research proposal addressing the project’s focus, demonstrating how the skills you have maps to the area of research, and why you see this area as being of importance and interest.

This should be submitted as part of the online application (via the ‘Apply’ button above) for a full-time PhD in Sociology in the School of Health & Society.

Expected start date: October 2025

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