The University of Stirling has been successful in securing funding of £200,000 over the next three years to provide doctoral studentships.
Two of the projects are being co-funded by the Scottish Government. Researchers on these projects will work closely with academic supervisors at SGSSS member universities and an analyst from the Scottish Government.
The SGSSS aims to improve the quality of postgraduate research students across Scotland, through collaboration and training.
Leigh Sparks, Head of Stirling Graduate School and Professor of Retail Studies at Stirling Management School, said: “This success - in extremely tough competition - is a reflection of the excellence of the postgraduate research environment at Stirling and our determination to attract and support the best research staff and students to undertake relevant and life-changing research.”
Professor Kirstein Rummery said the School of Applied Social Sciences was “delighted” to have secured the highly competitive scholarships from the Scottish Doctoral Training Centre. She added: “It is a demonstration of the significant impact our research has on policy and practice, and our on-going strong relationship with national and international policy makers, that we have been successful in winning this funding.
“The students appointed to these projects will have an exciting opportunity to work directly with the Scottish government and ensure that their research makes a real difference to people’s lives.”
The University projects being funded are:
•Richard Simmons, Director, MSc Applied Social Research - Understanding the Impact of User and Community Involvement on Local Service Outcomes in Scotland
•Dr Margaret Malloch, Senior Research Fellow - The Impact of Whole System Approach
•Dr Madhu Satsangi, Senior lecturer in Housing and Applied Social Science/Dr Vernon Gayle, Professor of Sociology - Understanding the Extent of Rural Poverty in Scotland
•Professor Kirstein Rummery, Lecturer in Social Policy/ Dr Sharon Wright, Lecturer in Social Policy - Developing Mechanisms to Improve Mainstream Social Policy and Economic Analysis from a Gender Equality Perspective