PhD Studentship in Fashion, Culture & Spatial Analytics

Deadline:- 18th April 2026

PhD Studentship in Fashion, Culture & Spatial Analytics (Full-time)

Department of Textile & Apparel Engineering / Department of Decision Sciences University of Moratuwa Are you a passionate and intellectually curious individual ready to explore the intersection of dress, identity, and national power?

Join our interdisciplinary research team for a full-time, three-year PhD journey investigating dress as soft power in post-independence Sri Lanka (1948–2025).

This SRC-funded project will develop a robust Dress Soft-Power Index (DSPI) — a spatially grounded, district-level framework mapping how sartorial choices have shaped Sri Lanka’s national identity and global image across eight decades.

Required Qualifications:-

• A degree in Fashion Design, Textile Studies, Cultural Studies, Social Sciences, Fine Arts, or a related discipline from a recognised university, with First Class or Upper Second-Class Honours

. • Strong interest in qualitative research, material culture analysis, and/or historical-analytical methods.

• Familiarity with — or willingness to learn — quantitative/spatial methods (e.g., GIS, R, Python) for index construction and spatial analysis.

• Excellent academic writing, critical thinking, and oral presentation skills.

• A committed and dedicated approach to sustained interdisciplinary research is essential.

• Publications or prior research experience in fashion history, cultural diplomacy, heritage studies, postcolonial theory, or spatial analytics will be a significant advantage.

What We Offer :-

• 3-Year Funded Monthly Stipend: Rs. 100,000

• Work at the intersection of soft power theory, spatial analytics, fashion semiotics, and postcolonial studies

• Co-author publications targeting Q1/Q2 journals (Fashion Theory, International Journal of Heritage Studies, PLoS ONE, Theory Culture & Society)

• Contribute to an open-access Spatial Soft-Power Atlas and policy-ready DSPI dashboard used by government ministries, cultural institutions, and creative industries

• Interdisciplinary Mentorship: Supervised by a team spanning fashion history, anthropology, and spatial data analytics

About the Project:-

This research traces how dress has functioned as a strategic tool of cultural diplomacy, nationalism, and identity across Sri Lanka’s post-independence history.

The project deploys visual and material culture analysis, oral histories, expert interviews, composite index construction (PCA + Delphi), and spatial econometrics (Moran’s I, LISA, GWR) to produce reproducible, policy-ready insights for cultural planners, policymakers, and the fashion industry.

How to Apply

Please send your comprehensive CV and a one-page statement of research interest to: 📧 sandund@uom.lk