I am trying to get info on unis / supervisors interested in research areas pertaining to socio-economic implications of the Internet, ICTs for development, the digital divide..that kind of thing. It's quite multi-discplinary i.e a bit of economics, IT, Development studies etc...There is already quite a bit of interest in this field (see www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/ict4d/ and www.oii.ac.uk). Any info / contacts would be of great help. Thanks

Alex,
Thanks for the encouraging reply. I had a look at your pages and that is definitely great stuff you have going. I particularly like the "media" angle as opposed to just "ICTs" for development as it really beefs up the potential contexts as you noted on your page. Would be great if we could keep in contact and I'am very interested in your development of the MA, core modules and stuff. I am a community member here: topics.developmentgateway.org/ict. Great resources, please join if you haven't yet.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Julius

Brighton University.

Check out Media & Communiations website http://www.cmis.brighton.ac.uk/Research/default.htm

I met a woman a few months ago, who was doing a PhD on something like the sociology of internet forums, I'm sorry but I cant remember the exact details (I was a bit pissed). She was based at the University of Sussex.

thanks alot pea and interstella. will check out brighton and sussex. And stella, if you might the lady again, please drop me a line.
Cheers

Have you done a google search at the very minimum?

Or do you expect a PhD place to fall magically into your lap?

Not that I know anything about ICT but this is a quite universal method:

-Collect/read a number of papers/books in your field.
-Figure out which people seem to be the most relevant in particular subfields which interest you, or which people use methods/approaches which match your own preferences.
-Locate (with the help of Google) the departments in which these people work, read the department's webpage to see if you really have the opportunity to do a PhD with them.

Agree with Nimrod. ICTs represent a very wide field. I'm doing a PdD in ICTs for learning and that, in itself, is massive. Others I know are doing Technology and Gaming, Technology and Blogging, Social Software and so on. Search online using Google Scholar for ICT or Technology or Blogging or Social Software and the results could keep you busy (and informed) for months. From your post it appears you are interested in three, maybe four things: ICT generally, Internet, Development and, possible, new media technologies. If so, use these as keywords for your search. Development is a wide field, so it will probably help you to consider what area/field it is that you're really interested in - I know that's difficult at this stage but most people usually have a gut feeling about this.

You might find these sites a useful starting point:

http://partners.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=rh
http://www.lkl.ac.uk
http://www.futurelab.org.uk
http://www.childrenyouthandmediacentre.co.uk/

Unis I know of with an high level of interest in technologies:

King's College, Goldsmiths, Birkbeck, UCL, Brighton, Sussex, Exeter, Bristol, London Knowledge Lab

Hmm, okay, visited the site (interesting, by the way, thanks) you mentioned being a community member of - so it looks like you're really interested in the Development angle more than other things. The CAL 07 conference held earlier this year in Dublin had a Development section - here's the website - look at the presenters and you might find some useful connections:

http://www.cal-conference.elsevier.com/

The Mirandanet community also has interests in Global Development - and you might be able to get some advice/help there:

http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/index.htm

Great contributions there guys!

I have been in touch with several potential supervisors at Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Royal Holloway (I got admissions to all these except Edinburgh). The funding angle hasn't been that successful, so no...I won't be starting this October.