Sgoil Cheumnaichean Saidheans Sòisealta na h-Alba
The SLTF aims to deliver high quality advanced training to postgraduate students in Scotland through producing a year-round calendar of events.
The application process for SLTF is open to all social science PhD students studying in Scotland (as well as ESRC-funded students currently in their master’s year of a 1+3/3.5 award) who have the right to work during their studies. Since 2022, we have permission to also open this opportunity to Early Career Researchers (ECRs). An ECR is defined as a university employed researcher usually on a fixed-term contract. An ECR is usually considered to be within seven years of completing their doctorate, although exceptions can be made for career interruptions and other routes into research roles.
We are delighted to announce the awardees from the second call of 2025-26 – congratulations to each of these students and early career researchers. Please see below for the expansive and exciting training that we are able to offer through this fund, and keep an eye on Portal for registrations opening for each one (typically around a month prior to the event date).
Training events
Practical Tools for Reflexivity and Ethics in Decolonising Health & Social Research: Oluchi Mellor, University of Edinburgh (18 May)
Demystifying Journal Publishing: A Hands-on Training for PhD Researchers: Dr Mengxing Joshi, University of St Andrews (19 May)
Introduction and Practice of Thematic Analysis: Jingyi Cao, University of Edinburgh (20 May)
Introduction to Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) using R: Calum MacGillivray, University of Dundee (5 June)
Creating counter-spaces using arts-based methods: Sarah Kline and Siying Wu, University of Edinburgh (5 June)
EduTok 101 Bootcamp: Start Creating Today: Aiman Abdul Rahman and Misha Khalaf, University of Stirling (18 June)
Poetic Inquiry in Social Science Research: Hsiao-Chiang Wang, University of Glasgow (9 July)
Writing Lived Experience: Creative Autoethnography as Research: Raghad Hilal, University of Glasgow (20 August)
To Code, or Not to Code, That is the Question: Analysing Data Otherwise in (Post)qualitative Research: Irene Piedrahita Arcila and Constanza Cárdenas-Alarcón, University of Glasgow (25 August)
Short-form research filmmaking for research dissemination: A practical workshop for PhD-students: Vanessa Schügerl, Heriot-Watt University (27-28 August)
Playing with Futures: Using Speculative Tabletop Games for Participatory Research and Community Impact: Nishat Tasneem, University of Edinburgh (4 September)
Online short courses (available through Portal from September 2026)
Introduction to Latent Class Analysis (LCA) Using R: Calum MacGillivray, University of Dundee
Decolonising Research: Beyond Diversification: Dustin Hosseini, University of Strathclyde
Running as an initiative since 2023, we have a strand of SLTF that is designed with and for collaborative partners. SGSSS have asked collaborative partners to submit examples of training gaps that they feel could be supported by current research / research methods. In the second call this year, students and ECRs have the option to submit proposals to meet that training need, and collaborative partners will be invited to join the session along with current students (unless facilitators have a clear rationale for keeping their event for collaborative partners only).
This new strand is a fantastic opportunity for applicants to deliver public-facing research training, and further the impact of their own research, knowledge and skills. SGSSS’s collaborative partners include representatives of the public, private and third sectors.
Proposed topics by our collaborative partners for the second call of the 2025-26 academic year can be reviewed below.
Please complete the below application form after reviewing the associated SLTF Guidance. Applications are submitted via SGSSS Apply.
*Please note applications are now open until 11 September*
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