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SGSSS Social.

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba
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      • Overview
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    • Supervisor Eligibility
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  • Our Partners
    • Internships
    • Collaborative Studentships
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    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
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  • About us
    • Governance
    • Challenge-Led Pathways
    • Case studies
    • Our Year in Review
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Contact us
    • Work with us
    • Complaints
  • Current Students
    • Events
    • Training
      • Summer School
      • Spring into Methods
    • Training Funds
      • ESRC Training Funds
      • Training Event Funds
      • Challenge Pathways Cohort Fund
    • Internships
    • Mentoring
    • Research Impact Competition
    • Student Handbook
    • Meet Our Students
    • Meet Our Fellows
    • Expenses Policy
  • Prospective Students and Fellows
    • Studentships
      • Overview
      • Supervisor-led Studentship Opportunities
      • Student-led Open Competition 2024/25
      • Eligibility
    • Fellowships
  • Supervisors
    • Supervisor Eligibility
    • Steers Competition 2024/25
    • Open Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Skills Development Scotland Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Spring into Methods
    • Supervisors’ Resource Library
  • Our Partners
    • Internships
    • Collaborative Studentships
    • Training
    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
    • Our work with Industry
    • SGSSS Alumni Community
  • About Us

    Governance

    • Our Funders
    • The Directorate
    • HEI Administrative Leads
    • Supervisory Board
    • Deans of Graduate Studies Network
    • Student Representation
    • Member Institutions

    Challenge-led Pathways

    • About Challenge Pathways
    • List of Challenge Pathways
    • SGSSS PGR Leads

    Useful Information

    • Case Studies
    • Our Year in Review
    • Contact Us
    • Work With Us
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Complaints
  • Current Students

    Training and Opportunities

    • Training Calendar
    • Summer School
    • Spring into Methods
    • Internships
    • Mentoring
    • SGSSS Impact Competition 2025

    Training and Event Funds

    • Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)
    • Overseas Fieldwork (OFW)
    • Overseas Institutional Visits (OIV)
    • Difficult Language Training (DLT)
    • Student-led Training Fund (SLTF)
    • Challenge Pathways Cohort Fund

    Useful Information

    • Student Handbook
    • Expenses Policy
    • Research in Practice
    • Student Wellbeing
    • Meet Our Students
    • Meet Our Fellows
    • PGR Networks
    SGSSS Apply
    SGSSS Social
  • Prospective Students and Fellows

    Studentships

    • Overview
    • Student-led Open Competition
    • Supervisor-led Studentship Opportunities
    • Eligibility
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

    Fellowships

    • ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship Competition
    • Meet Our Fellows
    SGSSS Apply
  • Supervisors

    Supervisor-led Competitions

    • ESRC Steers Competition
    • Open Collaborative Competition
    • SDS Collaborative Competition
    • Supervisor Eligiblity
    SGSSS Apply

    Training Funds

    • Discipline-led Training Fund
    • Spring into Methods

    Other

    • Resource Library
    • Supervisor Recognition
  • Our Partners

    Opportunities

    • Collaborative Studentships
    • Internships
    • Training

    Existing Work

    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
    • Our Work with Industry
    • SGSSS Alumni Community

Scottish Graduate School of Social Science

Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba
  • About us
    • Governance
    • Challenge-Led Pathways
    • Case studies
    • Our Year in Review
    • Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • Contact us
    • Work with us
    • Complaints
  • Current Students
    • Events
    • Training
      • Summer School
      • Spring into Methods
    • Training Funds
      • ESRC Training Funds
      • Training Event Funds
      • Challenge Pathways Cohort Fund
    • Internships
    • Mentoring
    • Research Impact Competition
    • Student Handbook
    • Meet Our Students
    • Meet Our Fellows
    • Expenses Policy
  • Prospective Students and Fellows
    • Studentships
      • Overview
      • Supervisor-led Studentship Opportunities
      • Student-led Open Competition 2024/25
      • Eligibility
    • Fellowships
  • Supervisors
    • Supervisor Eligibility
    • Steers Competition 2024/25
    • Open Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Skills Development Scotland Collaborative Competition 2024/25
    • Spring into Methods
    • Supervisors’ Resource Library
  • Our Partners
    • Internships
    • Collaborative Studentships
    • Training
    • The RSE Mentoring Scheme
    • Our work with Industry
    • SGSSS Alumni Community

Challenge-Led Pathways

From 2024 our training pathways will be organised around a set of key societal challenges. These challenges were developed so that they represent the kinds of social science research that our students do and to reflect the themes of the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

What you need to know before completing your application

What does it mean to be part of a challenge-led pathway?

We want our pathways to give students the opportunity to develop capacity for interdisciplinary connections within the social sciences and beyond. In practical terms, we want our students to be able to communicate key disciplinary concepts and methods emerging from their own disciplines and specific research proposals to other researchers and to those outside academia. We also want students to learn from one another about new methods and theories and knowledge exchange networks. Each challenge pathway will be made up of students at different stages of their research and from different disciplines but with a broad interest in elements of a particular challenge. Training will be organised to encourage peer-to-peer learning and to bring in expertise from non- academic partners. Students from any discipline can apply to any challenge pathway.

What about my disciplinary training needs?

We have assessed the university environments in which you will be undertaking the subject specific elements of your masters training and where you will do your PhD research. All SGSSS funded students will be studying in schools/departments where there is recognised disciplinary excellence. Furthermore, you and your supervisor can include any disciplinary gaps in knowledge or skills in your Development Needs Analysis. We shape our wider training programme (cross-challenge pathway) according to needs identified and we will also help you to find training run elsewhere if it can’t be delivered within Scotland.

What are the challenge-led pathways?

We have 6 challenge-led pathways. Below we set out a brief description of what they cover and give some examples of the kinds of research that our students are already doing. As a reminder, all social science methods are welcome for each challenge pathway and each challenge can be explored from perspectives across the social sciences – for example, the issues might be explored from a sociological, psychological, management, socio-legal, political, historical, linguistic, human geography, social anthropological, policy or economic stance – or in combination with another discipline outside the social sciences. Students on the pathway will come together virtually and face-to-face to share peer-learning on theoretical, conceptual and methodological issues with a focus on communication of ideas beyond the discipline. The prioritisation of learning would come from students’ own development needs and those created collectively through early cohort development.

How do I choose a challenge pathway (or help my student to choose)?

We recognise that many applications will align with more than one challenge pathway. In discussion with your supervisor you should decide which pathway fits best with your main ideas. You will not be disadvantaged by your choice of pathway. There is no quota system in place for each pathway so you don’t need to be concerned about the likely ‘popularity’ of any given challenge. Our intention is that the challenge pathways will be as broanclud and isive as possible so you don’t need to be concerned that your application will be judged a poor fit – what we want to hear about in your application form is what you think will be the contribution of your thesis to the challenge area, what you hope to gain from your peers as part of being included within a cohort and what you can give in return. In addition, you will be able to switch pathways once if you feel that you have made the wrong choice in year 1 of your studentship and can also attend events held by other pathways if these are of particular interest and there is space.

What happens if I cannot choose any challenge pathway?

Because the challenge pathways were developed partly through a bottom-up process, looking at the research of our existing students, we are confident that the vast majority of likely proposals will fit at least one pathway. If, however, after reflection and discussion with your supervisor, you are unable to find a pathway description that fits your proposed work then you can signal this to us – you will not be penalised for this in the review process – the marking framework does not assess challenge fit. In your at-award Development Needs Analysis you will be able to discuss with us which pathway might offer the most fruitful learning conversations for you and your study. 

Challenge-Led Pathways

Communication, AI and New Technologies

This challenge pathway is interested in processes, challenges and solutions associated with how we communicate with each other and how new technologies (including but not limited to AI) are reshaping our world and our interactions with it. We will take a broad approach to the terms above and the pathway may include research looking at, for example: patterns and mechanisms of language, communication and interaction in changing worlds, employment, and industrial implications of smart technologies; lived experiences of health-care technologies; addressing pedagogical and communicative challenges of AI. 

Environment, Migration and Demographic Change

This challenge pathway is concerned with global and local processes relating to environment, migration and demographic change including problems and solutions pertaining to the green economy and biodiversity. The scope for the challenge-led pathway is correspondingly broad and might cover research including, for example: anthropological study of community experiences, differences in the psychology and behaviour of relevant groups, the challenges of longitudinal analysis of demographic data, the concept of the circular economy, sociological theories of othering, the politics and economics of just transitions. 

Governance and Institutions

This challenge pathway is interested in how institutions form, operate and impact on lives globally, nationally, and locally. Institutions are meant in the broadest sense to include international bodies, corporations and religions, governments, arms-length institutions of the state, civil society organisations, formal and informal movements. These might be studied separately or in comparison. 

Health, Wellbeing and Communities 

This challenge pathway brings together interests in research about distributions of health and wellbeing across the lifespan; how mental and physical health and wellbeing are understood, experienced, challenged and strengthened at multi-scalar levels. The pathway is also concerned with the social, political and economic functioning of communities. 

Securities: Justice, Economies and Conflict

This challenge pathway is concerned with the societal challenges thrown up by processes relating to justice, economies and conflict at global, national and local levels; on inter- and intra-state problems and resolutions. The scope for the challenge-led pathway is correspondingly broad and might cover research including, for example: comparative studies of justice systems in relation to specific areas of legislation; histories of conflict resolution in particular geographies; studies of macro-economic shocks.  

Social Inequalities

This challenge pathway brings together interests in a range of social inequality problems separately or intersecting) at global and national and local levels and in actions to resolve these. The scope for the pathway is broad and could cover, for example, research on the following kinds of topic: understanding changing patterns of inequality using big data; the lived experience of particular populations; evaluations of the contribution of specific solutions; critical analyses of social frameworks to better understand inequality problems. 

SGSSS PGR Leads

From 2024, 14 of our 16 partnered institutions in Scotland are eligible to receive ESRC funding across 21 Units of Assessment (UoA). Each UoA is analogous to a subject area / discipline and each university has appointed an SGSSS PGR Lead for each UoA they are eligible for, see the lists below. 

Our supervisor eligibility information has now moved, for more on this, please visit this page.

To download a copy of the the chart above, visit this link.

Panel C

Panel D

Architecture, Built Environments and Planning

ESRC-funded studentships in Architecture, Built Environments and Planning are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Glasgow

Dr David McArthur

Heriot-Watt

Dr Sander van der Jagt

Strathclyde

Dr Ombretta Romice

Geography and Environmental Studies

ESRC-funded studentships in Geography and Environmental Studies are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Dundee

Dr Jonathan Mendel

Glasgow

Dr Brian Barrett

St AndrewsDr Mike Kesby
Economics and Econometrics

ESRC-funded studentships in Economics and Econometrics are available at the following institutions. Economics PGR Leads and eligibility for the Universities of Glasgow, Heriot Watt and Stirling must be met under the ‘Business and Management Studies.’  Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Edinburgh

Dr Diego Battiston

Heriot-Watt

See Business and Management Studies 

Glasgow

See Business and Management Studies 

St. Andrews

Dr Fergus Neville

Stirling

See Business and Management Studies 

Business and Management Studies

ESRC-funded studentships in Business and Management Studies  are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Aberdeen

Professor Audrey Paterson

Edinburgh

Dr Angelica Gonzalez

Glasgow

Dr Francesca Flamini (sub-discipline: Economics)

Dr Alvise Favotto (sub-discipline: Accounting and Finance and Business Management) 

Heriot-Watt

Dr Atanas Christev (sub-discipline: Economics)

Dr April Henning

St. Andrews

Dr Fergus Neville

Stirling

Dr Dionysia Dionysiou 

Dr Hector Gutierrez Rufrancos

Strathclyde

Dr Anna Spadavecchia

Professor Julia Darby

Law

ESRC-funded studentships in Law are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Aberdeen

Professor Peter Cserne

EdinburghDr Andy Aydın-Aitchison

Glasgow *

Professor Ruth Dukes (sub-discipline: Law)

Dr Caitlin Gormley (sub-discipline: Socio-Legal)

Stirling

Dr Diana Miranda

Strathclyde

Professor Jane Scoular

* University of Glasgow’s criminology is covered under the Social Policy and Social Work UoA 

Politics and International Studies

ESRC-funded studentships in Politics and International Studies are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Aberdeen

Dr Katrin Thomas

Edinburgh

Dr Sarah Liu

Glasgow

Dr Patrick Shea

St. Andrews

Dr Jeffrey Murer

Stirling

Dr Clemens Hoffmann

Strathclyde

Dr Gary Uzonyi
Social Work and Social Policy

ESRC-funded studentships in  Social Work and Social Policy are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Dundee

Dr Murray Simpson
EdinburghDr Elke Heins

Glasgow

Professor Andy Smith (sub discipline: sociology)

Glasgow Caledonian

Professor Norman Peng 

Dr Katy Proctor (sub-discipline: Social Policy , Fashion, Marketing, Tourism and Events, Media and Journalism)

Stirling

Dr Sandra Engstrom

Strathclyde

Professor Marion Henderson

Sociology

ESRC-funded studentships in  Sociology are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Edinburgh

Dr Zoe Malcolm

Anthropology and Development Studies

ESRC-funded studentships in  Anthropology and Development Studies are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Aberdeen

Dr Margaret Bolton
EdinburghDr Resto Cruz

St. Andrews

Dr Adam Reed (sub-discipline: social anthropology)

Education 

ESRC-funded studentships in Education are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Dundee

Dr Kumara Ward

Edinburgh

Dr Sarah McGeown

Glasgow

Professor Bonnie Slade

Stirling

Professor Greg Mannion

Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism

ESRC-funded studentships in Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Edinburgh

Dr Sarah McGeown

West of Scotland

Professor David McGillivray

Area Studies

ESRC-funded studentships in Area Studies are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Heriot-Watt

Dr Katerina Strani

Highlands & Islands

Professor Donna Heedle

Modern Languages and Linguistics

ESRC-funded studentships in Modern Languages and Linguistics are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Edinburgh

 Prof Jennifer Culbertson (when contacting, please CC the PG Awards Team at pgawards@ed.ac.uk) 
History

ESRC-funded studentships in History are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Edinburgh

Dr Felix Boecking

Glasgow

Dr Angus Ferguson

StirlingProfessor Alison Cathcart
St AndrewsProfessor Justine  Firnhaber-Baker
Strathclyde
Professor Matthew Smith
Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

ESRC-funded studentships in Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Abertay

Professor Robin Sloan

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management

ESRC-funded studentships in Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Napier

Dr David Brazier

Stirling

Professor Iain MacRury

Panel A

Panel B

Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care

ESRC-funded studentships in Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Aberdeen

Professor Paul McNamee

Glasgow

Professor Sara Macdonald

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

ESRC-funded studentships in Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Dundee

Dr Gavin Wylie

Edinburgh Napier

Dr Iain Atherton

Glasgow Caledonian

Dr Ben Stansfield (Senior Postgraduate Research Tutor (SPGRT) School of Health and Life Sciences)

Dr Karen Lorimer (sub-discipline: Nursing)

Dr David Hamilton (sub-discipline: Allied Health)

Stirling

Dr Sinead Currie

Dr Elaine Cameron

Strathclyde

Dr Susan Rasmussen (sub-discipline: Psychology)

Dr Will McGeown (sub-discipline: Psychology)

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

ESRC-funded studentships in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience are available at the following institutions. University of Strathclyde’s Psychology PGR Leads and eligibility must be met under the ‘Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy'.  Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Aberdeen

Professor Patric Bach

Abertay

Professor Sheila Cunningham

Dundee

Dr Christian Keitel 

Edinburgh

Dr Ewelina Rydzewska (sub-discipline: Psychiatry and Neuroscience)

Dr Jasmin Wertz (sub-discipline: Psychology)

Glasgow

Dr Dale Barr

St. Andrews

Dr Thomas Otto

Stirling

Dr Dimitrios Kourtis

Strathclyde

See Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Science

ESRC-funded studentships in Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Science are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Scotland Rural College (SRUC)

Professor Eileen Wall
Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

ESRC-funded studentships in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences are available at the following institutions. Please contact the relevant institutional PGR Lead for further information:

Institution

PGR Lead

Edinburgh

Dr Hamish Kallin (from January 2025)

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