PhD Scholarship Competitions 2025-2026

• Staff-led proposals – apply to an existing project

  Academic staff within SGSD have been invited to submit proposals for PhD projects that they would like to supervise. Prospective students are invited to apply to undertake one of the listed projects. Only lead supervisors are listed, but projects may involve additional supervisors.

  Available staff proposals: 

  PhD Sustainable Development:

  • Dr Tania Mendo: Small-scale fisheries contributions to nutrition and food security under a changing climate (Word) (SD-Science)
  • Dr Tim Stojanovic: Characterising Seascape Visual and Spatial Methods for sustainability assessment in the oceans (Word) (SD-Science)

  PhD Geography:

  • Dr Júlia Mikolai: Family Complexity and Children’s Lives in Scotland (Word) (Geography-science)
  • Dr Hon Chim Chiu: Understanding historical urban planning and development in the Gorbals, Glasgow (Word) (Geography- Science)
  • Prof Nissa Finney: The mobilities slowdown and the reproduction of socio-spatial inequalities (Word) (Geography- Science)
  • Dr Tom Cowton: Investigating the oceanic impacts of Greenland’s meltwater (Word) (Geography-Science)
  • Dr Ian Lawson: Peat-forming seasonally flooded forests of the Peruvian Amazon distribution, carbon storage, and long-term ecology (Word) (Geography-Science)
  • Dr T. J. Young: How does ice flow enhancement and rearrangement impact the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (Word)? (Geography-Science)
  • Dr Katy Roucoux: History of tropical peatland vegetation – controls on the development of peatland pole forest in Peruvian Amazonia (Word) (Geography-Science)
  • Dr Craig Smeaton: Source or sink The roles of glacier melt and sediment transport for the carbon budget of the Greenland Ice Sheet (Word) (Geography-Science)

  Research and Training Support Grant funding 

  Students will as standard be provided with a Research and Training Support Grant (RTSG) at the present School rate, currently £750 per annum. The School does not provide financial assistance to cover relocation and visa costs. 

   

• Student-led proposals – propose your own project

  Prospective students wishing to study a PhD topic not already covered by the staff-led proposals are invited to write and submit their own proposal.

  Proposals for the two SGSD scholarships can address any topic that falls within the remit of the School of Geography and Sustainable Development. Please consider how your topic aligns with the research profile of your prospective supervisors. Given the School’s requirements for teaching support, please also explain in your cover letter in which areas you could contribute to teaching. Your prospective supervisors can advise you on our School’s teaching portfolio.

  Project proposals should be no more than two sides of A4 and should contain an overview and rationale for the project, aims, research questions and methods.

  Applicants must secure the support of a supervisor within SGSD, who must be named on the proposal. Details of academic staff and their supervisory interests can be found on the School’s people page and through the ‘Research projects’ section of the postgraduate research degree webpage. Once support of a supervisor has been obtained, a formal application may be submitted as outlined in the ‘How to apply’ section.

• How to apply

  Applications should be made via the central University's central research programmes application system. You should select School of Geography and Sustainable Development and clearly indicate SGSD Scholarship Competitions 2025-2026 in the funding section.

  For the application you will need:

  • A covering letter (called a statement of purpose on the online application system), explaining your reason for wishing to undertake PhD study at SGSD and why you believe you are a good candidate to undertake the proposed research.
  • A curriculum vitae (CV) focusing on your academic track record and relevant experience.
  • Transcripts and certificates of academic qualifications. Check that you fit the entry requirements for University of St Andrews Postgraduate studies – scroll down to find requirements for your country.
  • If you are applying through the student-led proposal pathway you should include your research proposal. Students applying for a staff-led proposal should upload the two-page research proposal of their intended supervisor, unedited.
  • A sample of academic writing in English, for example, your MSc dissertation or a conference paper or a similar piece of work on your research. The piece of writing should be a maximum of 1500 words if you are writing it specifically for this application, but it can be longer if you are submitting an existing piece of work.
  • Names and contact details of two referees who can provide references.
  • Evidence of English language capability, which may include evidence of prior Higher Education study in English or relevant certification, for example, IELTS (if not available at the time of application, this evidence can be provided later). For more information see the University’s English language requirements for postgraduate students.  

  For general criteria for entry to PhD programmes at St Andrews see the University’s Research programmes webpage.

  Entry requirements vary by country: for UK students, the minimum academic qualification is a 2:1 Honours degree in a relevant subject. International students should check postgraduate academic requirements and English requirements for their country on the University’s entry requirements webpage. Non-native speakers of English will be expected to reach the scores specified under the St Andrews English language profile 6-D.

  Application documents should not contain any AI-generated content, as per the University of St Andrews admissions policy. This may lead to an offer of study being withdrawn or, if found subsequent to matriculation, to termination of studies. See the University’s Admissions policy for details.

  The successful applicants will be expected to engage in study at the University of St Andrews and reside within a commutable distance of St Andrews, in keeping with the University’s Location of Studies policy.

  The closing date for applications is 9 February 2026 at 5pm (UK time).

• Selection process

  Due to the mixed staff and student-led approach, applications will be judged based on the academic track record and relevant experience of the candidate and their fit to the proposed work, rather than on the proposal itself, though student-led proposals must be approved by the named supervisor and will be reviewed for feasibility.

  Where supervisors have received multiple applicants for their advertised projects or requests to supervise student-led proposals, they can only nominate one applicant to go through to the School competition.

  A panel of staff from the School will review nominated applications. The School will invite shortlisted candidates for online interview on MS Teams. We will inform candidates of the outcome following the interviews.

  Please also read the University of St Andrews scholarships terms and conditions.