Governance
The Scottish Graduate School of Social Science is the UK's largest facilitator of funding, training and support for doctoral students in social science. By combining the expertise of sixteen universities across Scotland, the school facilitates world-class PhD research. The school is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Scottish Funding Council.
SGSSS is a highly attractive environment for doctoral research. Not only do our partner universities offer an excellent research environment, we also offer comprehensive and world-class research training in a number of discipline-specific and interdisciplinary pathways. In addition, the school manages a programme of advanced training courses and an annual summer school which together offers our students further opportunities to develop their research, knowledge exchange and transferable professional skills.
At the heart of the SGSSS is the Doctoral Training Partnership (formerly the Doctoral Training Centre) in Scotland. The SGSSS was established in 2011 and is the largest of 15 Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) accredited DTPs in the United Kingdom.
Our Funders
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
The Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. The ESRC supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.
The ESRC is a non-departmental public body established by Royal Charter in 1965 and receives most of its funding through the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. ESRC is committed to the principles of quality, impact and independence.
More information about the ESRC, its work, impact and findings can be found here.
Scottish Funding Council (SFC)
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is responsible for funding teaching and learning provision, research and other activities in Scotland’s colleges and higher education institutions. SFC’s Funding Decisions support the Scottish Government’s national priorities. Its purpose is to secure coherent, high quality further and higher learning provision by colleges and universities in Scotland, and the undertaking of research. SFC contributes to the costs of teaching, research and other activities – including costs related to staff, infrastructure, buildings and equipment. Click here to find out more about SFC.
The Directorate
The Directorate is responsible for the everyday operations of SGSSS. The directorate oversees the successful running and strategic development of the SGSSS in line with its objectives. This includes: designing and overseeing a studentship allocation system; providing advanced training; ensuring timely financial reporting; overseeing the development of partnerships.
The Directorate is hosted by the University of Edinburgh and comprises the following staff:
Professor Graeme Nixon
Director
Professor Alan Marshall
Deputy Director (Studentships and Partnerships)
Dr Katherine Keenan
Deputy Director (Training)
Professor Kathy Hamilton
Associate Director, Challenge Pathway Lead for Health, Wellbeing and Communities/Securities: Justice, Economies and Conflict
Dr Yuki Kamide
Associate Director, Challenge Pathway Lead for Governance and Institutions/Communication, AI and New Technologies
Dr Shari Sabeti
Associate Director, Challenge Pathway Lead for Environment, Migration and Demographic Change/Social Inequalities
Professor Adina Dudau
Associate Director, Supervisor Support and Engagement
Dr Dely Elliot
Associate Director, Student Engagement & EDI
Dr Roxanne Connelly
Associate Director, Training Lead
Dr Diarmuid McDonnell
Associate Director, Training Lead
Linsey Fender
Head of Strategy and Operations
Ross Hoffie
Operations Manager
Dr Victoria McQuillan
Research Impact and Partnerships Manager
Andrea Torres
Studentships Coordinator
Kelly Barbour
Research Impact and Partnerships Coordinator
Katherine Stephen
Student Experience and Development Coordinator
Dasha Narog
Graduate School Administrator
HEI Admin Leads
Each partner institution has a designated administration contact directly connected to the SGSSS. Coordination of future and ongoing studentships is handled locally at each member institution through the HEI Admin Leads.
| Institution | Contact |
| University of Aberdeen | Ann Marie Johnston |
| Abertay University | Jennifer Smith |
| University of Dundee | Judith Miller |
| University of Edinburgh | Lorna Shiels |
| University of Glasgow | Derek Simpson |
| Glasgow Caledonian University | Ivana Covic |
| Heriot-Watt University | Freya Peters |
| University of Highlands & Islands | Jackie Deacon |
| Edinburgh Napier University | Omar Dellal |
| Robert Gordon University | Stuart O’Neill |
| Scotland’s Rural College | Kate Hadley-Boyd |
| University of St Andrews | Paul Charlton |
| University of Stirling | Katharine Reibig |
| University of Strathclyde | Shona Cameron |
| Queen Margaret University | Alison Basford-Thomson |
| University of the West of Scotland | Linda Thorburn |
Supervisory Board
The Supervisory Board consists of representatives from each of our partner universities and is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction of the SGSSS. The Board agrees and oversees the strategic priorities and oversees the implementation of ESRC’s guidance on the distribution of studentships, spread of good practices and embedding collaboration.
The members of the Board have been appointed to provide representation of our partner institutions. The Supervisory Board is chaired by Professor Sara Carter at the University of Glasgow.
The members of the Supervisory board include:
Professor Sara Carter, University of Glasgow, Chair
Professor Nick Forsyth, University of Aberdeen
Professor Nia White, Abertay University
Professor Jeff Blackford, University of Dundee
Professor David Smith, University of Edinburgh
Professor Nick Antonopoulos, Edinburgh Napier University
Professor Irene-marie Esser, University of Glasgow
Professor Andrea Nelson, Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor Stephen McLaughlin, Heriot-Watt University
Professor Brian Williams, University of the Highlands and Islands
Professor Richard Butt, Queen Margaret University
Professor Nick Fyfe, Robert Gordon University
Professor Eileen Wall, Scotland’s Rural College
Professor Iain Docherty, University of Stirling
Professor Madeleine Grealy, University of Strathclyde
Professor Frank Muller, University of St Andrews
Professor Arno van der Zwet, University of West of Scotland
Morag Campbell, Scottish Funding Council
Audrey MacDougall, Scottish Government
Patrick Watt, Skills Development Scotland
Deans of Graduate Studies Network
Professor Stuart Piertney, University of Aberdeen
Professor Jim Bown, Abertay University
Dr Ed Hall, University of Dundee
Professor Laura Bradley, University of Edinburgh
Professor Calum Neill, Edinburgh Napier University
Professor Irene-marie Esser, University of Glasgow
Professor Alastair Robertson, Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor Stephen Gibson, Heriot-Watt University
Professor Derek McGhee, University of the Highlands & Islands
Dr Magda Pieczka, Queen Margaret University
Professor Sarah Pedersen, Robert Gordon University
Dr Matteo Fumagalli, University of St Andrews
Toni Dismore, Scotland’s Rural University College
Professor Liz Forbat, University of Stirling
Dr Wendy Cohen, University of Strathclyde
Professor Arno van der Zwet, University of West of Scotland
Student Representation
Associate Officers for Student Engagement represent the voices of the student community and are consulted for their advice and expertise as PGRs. They also convey the views of students to the Board and the Directorate. SGSSS is committed to increasing student representation within its governance and wide range of activities. Our diverse group of Associate Officers for Student Engagement reflects a broad spectrum of institutions, academic stages, funding bases and demographic profiles.
Working Groups
Training Network 2023-2026
The Training Network is the primary forum within SGSSS to develop and deliver training components for students given +1 (masters) funding offered by eligible institutions. The network is responsible for building a foundation to student training, student support and cross-Scotland opportunities, and consists of academic representatives from our partner institutions and members of the SGSSS Directorate and operations team.
Dr Roxanne Connelly, SGSSS (Chair)
Dr Katherine Keenan, SGSSS
Professor Kathy Hamilton, SGSSS
Dr Diarmuid McDonnell, SGSSS
Professor Ian Greener, University of Aberdeen
Dr Alistair Geddes, University of Dundee
Dr Carin Runciman, University of Edinburgh
Dr Juliane Kloess, University of Edinburgh
Dr Niccole Pamphilis, University of Glasgow
Dr Alasdair Stewart, University of Glasgow
Dr Wendy Cohen, University of Strathclyde
Dr Sebastian Dellepiane Avellaneda, University of Strathclyde
Dr Yasaman Sarabi, Heriot-Watt University
Dr Matthew Smith , Heriot-Watt University
Professor Marian Brady, Glasgow Caledonian University
Dr Malaka Shwaikh, University of St Andrews
Professor Paul Lambert, University of Stirling
Dr Alison Elliott, Abertay University Dundee
Dr Taulant Guma, Edinburgh Napier University
Dr Vera Eory, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)
Professor Nick Jenkins, University of the West of Scotland
Dr Sarah Wagner, University of the Highlands and Islands
Professor Vicky Johnson, University of the Highlands and Islands
Katherine Stephen, SGSSS
Dasha Narog, SGSSS
Member Institutions
The following Scottish universities are members of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. The 14 Institutions eligible for hosting ESRC studentships are listed first:
