The successful candidate will be jointly hosted by the School of Geography and Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews, the Business School at the University of Aberdeen and the Department of Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences at the James Hutton Institute.
University of St Andrews
Founded in the 15th century, St Andrews is Scotland’s first university and the third oldest in the English-speaking world. The University of St Andrews is one of Europe’s most research-intensive seats of learning. It is one of the top-rated universities in Europe for research, teaching quality, and student satisfaction.
Today, under the leadership of Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Sally Mapstone FRSE, the University’s Strategy is to broaden its global influence, with a focus on diversity, building a culture of entrepreneurship, research excellence, and social responsibility.
St Andrews is committed to broadening digital education, enhancing the experience of our on-campus students, while bringing a St Andrews education to much wider global community.
From climate science and sustainable development to energy ethics and grass-roots level action across all the communities in which it operates, sustainability is at the heart of the University’s Strategic vision. World-leading research on sustainability is taking place across the breadth of the University, with researchers addressing key questions on the defining issue of our generation.
The University has set an ambitious target of carbon net zero by 2035, ten years ahead of the Scottish Government’s 2045 target.
St Andrews is ranked as the top university in the UK in The Guardian Guide 2024, and The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2024. The Complete University Guide 2024 ranks St Andrews as the top university in Scotland, and fourth in the UK.
The School of Geography and Sustainable Development is well known for world-leading research and teaching in Environmental Change, Development, Population Studies, Spatial Data Science, Health Geography, and Sustainability. According to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, 94% of research by the School was classified as world-leading or internationally excellent. The School also has an outstanding reputation for high-quality teaching and was ranked fourth in the UK by The Guardian University Guide 2023, fourth by The Times Good University Guide 2023 and fifth by the Complete University Guide 2023. The School has 38 academic staff, 15 postdoctoral fellows and 42 PhD students, supported by two technicians and seven administrative staff.
The successful applicant will also join the Population and Health Research Group (PHRG), which is one of the three research clusters in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development (SGSD). The PHRG is home to nine academic staff and a team of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students. PHRG research covers a wide range of demographic topics including the analysis of family and fertility dynamics; life course choices; internal and international migration; ethnicity and minority populations; health and mortality; and population inequalities (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/gsd/research/phrg/). The group combines expertise in demographic and longitudinal data analysis; population projections; spatial and geographical analysis; and qualitative and mixed methods. There are a number of ongoing research projects funded by UK research councils and the European Commission.
The University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen is founded by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, with the ambition “…to found a university, which would be open to all and dedicated to the pursuit of truth in the service of others”. King’s College becomes the UK’s fifth university, welcoming its first students in 1505.
The University was ranked 119th in the world in TIME magazine’s 2026 ranking of the world’s top universities. In 2025, Aberdeen was consistently ranked among the top 250 universities in the world and consistently ranked within the top 25 universities in the United Kingdom by The Guardian and The Times. In the 2019 Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings, Aberdeen was ranked 31st in the world for impact on society. Aberdeen was also named the 2019 Scottish University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide. Over 75 per cent of the university’s research was classified as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework
Research at the University of Aberdeen is driven by a commitment to addressing “global grand challenges” through a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative approach. This strategy is formalised through the university’s five Interdisciplinary Challenges: Energy Transition, Health, Nutrition and Wellbeing, Data and Artificial Intelligence, Environment and Biodiversity, and Social Inclusion and Cultural Diversity. These focus areas leverage the institution’s historic strengths to deliver measurable benefits to society, the economy, and global health, often working across traditional academic silos to spark innovation.
The successful candidate will be supervised within the economics group within the Business School. The key research strengths here are within labour and energy markets.
The James Hutton Institute (JHI)
The JHI is a world-leading independent scientific research organisation based in Scotland but working in collaboration across the globe. Our pioneering science innovates and finds solutions for the challenges posed by the climate and nature crises on the sustainability and resilience of our crops, land, natural resources and communities through the development of transformative tools, interventions, products and land management practices. The JHI comprises five science groups and this PhD will sit within the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences (SEGS) department. SEGS represents the fields of economics, geography, politics, sociology, anthropology, psychology and everything in between.
We contribute insights to discourses on sustainability, social and economic dimensions of rural development, culture and social norms, local food, agriculture and wider food systems, transport, land management and transitions, energy, natural resource use, human-environment relationships, valuation of natural resources, governance and institutions, risk, communities and health. Our research aims to inform understanding of real-world problems, often working with stakeholders, to improve outcomes through inclusive, ethically responsible research.
Through the development and application of a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods, we provide new insights into complex problems relevant to contemporary environmental and rural issues in Scotland, Europe and beyond. Regardless of our research methods and questions, we share a commitment to engagement and dialogue outside of academia, sharing and often co-creating insights with stakeholders ranging from policy makers to community groups.
