• British Council Scotland and the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) have launched a unique scholarship programme to address the challenges of climate change.
• The programme will encourage global and interdisciplinary collaborations with a focus on climate emergency themes and the interventions of the arts and humanities.
• Scholarships are open for application and are available to PhD and Early Career Researchers from across the arts and humanities.

British Council Scotland and the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) today announce the launch of an innovative scholarship programme that will be awarded to PhD and Early Career Researchers from around the world.

Building on the legacy of the British Council’s Climate Connection programme, EARTH Scholarships will recognise the importance of the climate emergency through cross-disciplinary research in science, arts, and humanities.

The programme will provide scholarships for in-person or hybrid exchanges to Scotland for up to three-months in 2023. The exchanges will include an in-person leadership programme where all recipients will come together alongside Scotland-based scholars to network and collaborate.

EARTH Scholarships compliment the SGSAH’s Saltire Emerging Researcher programme developed in partnership with the Scottish Funding Council. Now, in collaboration with the British Council the programme offers a new platform for international scholars to learn from, and to enhance, Scotland’s world leading universities and Higher Education Institutions’ efforts to address climate change.

Aimed at incoming PhD and Early Career Researchers these scholarships will help showcase the cultural assets of Scotland, as well as the vital role that arts and culture can play in addressing the climate emergency. The scholarships will address climate change from a new angle, drawing on the expertise of both organisations in offering international opportunities for research in the area of the arts, climate, and sustainability.

SGSAH is the world’s first national graduate school in the Arts and Humanities. Established in 2014, SGSAH provides training and support to doctoral researchers across Scotland. An integral part of Scottish, UK and international civil society, SGSAH works in the arts, culture,

creative and heritage sectors, supporting positive connections locally, regionally, and globally to provide outstanding opportunities for doctoral researchers in Scotland.

Working in Scotland since 1946 at forefront of education and culture, a key part of the British Council’s work is supporting universities in Scotland to internationalise their offer. Over the last eighteen months, the British Council has delivered the Climate Connection, a global platform that has helped build climate cooperation through arts, culture and education.

Speaking about the EARTH scholarship launch, Leigh Gibson, British Council Director Scotland said:

“These scholarships will generate powerful collaborations between art, humanities, and education to address the significant global issue of climate change. Universities and higher education institutions have a central role to play in driving innovation to help us cope with oncoming challenges – in public discourse, and in building understanding of the science.

“SGSAH is uniquely placed to offer this new programme, with excellent experience in widening access to international opportunities and I’ve no doubt that the research, discussion and the global networks generated will have a lasting impact in Scotland and globally.”

SGSAH’s Director, Professor Claire Squires, commented:

“We are delighted to be working with British Council Scotland to be offering the EARTH Scholarships, for PhD and postdoctoral researchers in the Arts & Humanities to come to Scotland from around the world in 2023.

“The scholarship holders will be placed at one of our member HEIs, have the opportunity to network with the other scholarship holders and Scotland-based PhD and ECRs working in the environmental arts and humanities, to meet with arts and cultural organisations in Scotland, benefit from cohort training and development opportunities, and to feed back to Scottish academics and organisations their own experience of researching responses to the climate emergency.”

Find more information and apply here

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We do this through our work in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021-22 we reached 650 million people.

About SGSAH

The Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) is the world’s first national graduate school in the Arts and Humanities. Its mission is to work in partnership to offer unparalleled training and support to doctoral researchers in Scotland. Its HEI members cover the whole of Scotland, from the Highlands and Islands to the Scottish Borders. Working with supporters in the arts, culture, creative and heritage sectors, SGSAH supports positive connections and productive networks locally, regionally and globally to provide outstanding opportunities for doctoral researchers in Scotland.

SGSAH is home to the AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership for Scotland. SGSAH is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Scottish Funding Council as well as member HEIs.

External Links

> A message from British Council CEO, Scott McDonald:

First published: 22 August 2022