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 biggest of 14 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 Jamie Pearce
Director
Professor Mhairi Mackenzie
Deputy Director, Studentships
Dr Jo Ferrie
Deputy Director, Training
Dr Rachel Shanks
Associate Director, Society and Welfare Hub Lead
Dr Kiril Sharapov
Associate Director, People and Place Hub Lead
Dr Adina Dudau
Associate Director, Economies, Mind, and Technologies Hub Lead
Dr Ashley Rogers
Associate Director, Student Engagement
Professor Andrew Manches
Associate Director, Interdisciplinarity
Dr Alan Marshall
Associate Director, Advanced Methods
Professor Monika Harvey
Associate Director, SOCIAL AI
Linsey Fender
Head of Strategy and Operations
Ross Hoffie
Operations Manager
Anna-Marie Linnell
Knowledge Exchange and Partnership Manager
TBC
Studentships Coordinator
Kelly Gardner
Knowledge Exchange and Partnerships Coordinator
TBC
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 | Kiran Faisal |
| Glasgow Caledonian University | Ivana Covic |
| Heriot-Watt University | Susan Smith |
| University of Highlands & Islands | Jackie Deacon |
| Edinburgh Napier University | Karen Henderson |
| Robert Gordon University | Andrea MacMillan |
| Scotland’s Rural College | Dawn Latto |
| University of St Andrews | Paul Charlton |
| University of Stirling | Karen Sutherland |
| University of Strathclyde | Shona Cameron |
| Queen Margaret University | Alison Basford-Thomson |
| University of the West of Scotland | Linda MacDonald |
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 Marion Campbell, University of Aberdeen
Professor Nia White, Abertay University
Professor Jeff Blackford, University of Dundee
Professor Sarah Prescott, University of Edinburgh
Professor Nick Antonopoulos, Edinburgh Napier University
Professor Andrea Nelson, Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor Stephen McLaughlin, Heriot-Watt University
Professor Neil Simco, 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 Frank Muller, University of St Andrews
Professor Iain Docherty, University of Stirling
Professor Madeleine Grealy, University of Strathclyde
Professor Milan Radosavljevick, University of the West of Scotland
In addition to academic partners, our board includes key stakeholders:
Tracy Davies, UKRI-ESRC
Morag Campbell, Scottish Funding Council
Deans of Graduate Studies Network
Professor Graeme Nixon, University of Aberdeen
Professor Vera Kempe, Abertay University
Dr Ed Hall, University of Dundee
Professor Laura Bradley, University of Edinburgh
Dr Calum Neill, Edinburgh Napier University
Professor Irene-marie Esser, University of Glasgow
Professor Bonnie Steves, Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor Stephen Gibson, Heriot-Watt University
Professor Michael Rayner, University of the Highlands & Islands
Dr Rebecca Finkel (acting Dean), Queen Margaret University
Professor Andrew Lamb, Robert Gordon University
Dr Matteo Fumagalli, University of St Andrews
Toni Dismore, Scotland’s Rural University College
Professor Oliver Mallett, University of Stirling
Dr Mark Ellis, University of Strathclyde
Professor Arno van der Zwet, University of West of Scotland
Student Representation
Student representatives 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 student representatives reflects a broad spectrum of institutions, academic stages, funding bases and demographic profiles:
Michael Vallely, Studentship Competitions and Deans of Graduate Studies Network
Katherine Stephen, Training and Pathway Convenors Group: Economies, Mind, and Technologies Hub
Daisy Bao, Training and Pathway Convenors Group: People and Place Hub
Jon McFarlane, Widening Access and EDI Committee
Jessica Cleary, Wellbeing and Student-led Symposium
Yuemiao Ma, Knowledge Exchange and Impact, External Partners Group, and IAA Management
Member Institutions
The following Scottish universities are members of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. The 12 Institutions eligible for hosting ESRC studentships are listed first:
