CoSS/SU Collaborative PhD Scholarship
For the 2027/28 Academic Year, the College of Social Sciences (CoSS) and Stellenbosch University (SU) will offer, for the first time, 1 full PhD scholarship each.
The CoSS funded scholarship is aimed at South African citizens who are either a current student, staff member or alumni of Stellenbosch University.
The Stellenbosch University funded schoalrshiup is aimed at UK citizens who are either a current student, staff member or alumni of the University of Glasgow.
This is designed to deepen our partnership with SU and encourage collaborative PGR and staff research.
Important considerations:
PROJECTS
- This is a supervisor-led competitions in which academic colleagues develop a PhD project proposal which will be considered for funding by CoSS or Stellenbosch.
- Project propels are encouraged from all research disciplines within CoSS and the Stellenbosch Faculties of Arts & Social Sciences, Economics and Management Sciences, Education and Law. However the PhD project proposals should focus on South Africa & the United Kingdom.
- All project proposals should be designed and supervised in such a way that the PhD candidate can realistically complete the research and submit the thesis for examination within the 3-year funded period.
- The funded project will be required to recruit a PhD candidate openly and fairly through a process that includes interviews and feedback to unsuccessful applicants.
SUPERVISORY TEAMS
- Project Teams must by made up of at least 3 supervisors:
- For CoSS-based projects:
- 1st Supervisor from within CoSS
- 2nd Supervisor from within Coss
- 3rd Supervisor (External) from SU
- For SU-based projects:
- 1st Supervisor from within SU participating Faculty
- 2nd Supervisor from within SU participating Faculty
- 3rd Supervisor (External) from CoSS
- For CoSS-based projects:
- Proposals are welcome from academics at any stage of their careers, i.e. from Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to more experienced supervisors. We do ask, however, that if a less-experienced supervisor is applying as the First/Lead supervisor, that the have one or more members on the supervisory team that are experienced in supervising PhD candidates to completed, i.e. a supervisor with at least two PhD completions. All supervisors must have completed mandatory Supervisory training at their current institution as per that institution's policy.
- Stellenbosch University colleagues may find the UofG's 'Staff research interests search' useful to identify potential co-supervisory pairing, however:
- UofG supervisors must be from within a CoSS School:
*Proposals involving colleagues for the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) should note that the CPP Supervisor/s must be from within the College of Social Sciences organisational structure. Proposals involving CPP supervisors who not within CoSS (i.e. organisationally based in a different College or Central Services) will not be considered. Please check with any CPP colleague which UofG College/Area they are based in before developing a proposal.
- College of Social Sciences colleagues may find SU's 'Researcher Profiles' useful to identify potential co-supervisory pairing, however:
- SU supervisors must be from within a participating Faculty:
SUPERVISOR APPLICATIONS
- All applications must be made on the CoSS/SU Collaborative PhD Project Proposal application form
- This form must be uploaded by a UofG supervisor to the Supervisor Led Collaborative PhD Project Proposals online form
- Due to UofG IT security policies, this form is only accessible to UofG employees, so all proposals (even led by Stellenbosch colleagues) must be uploaded by a UofG colleague.
- Proposals must be received via the online form by 2359 (GMT) on 25 January 2027
ASSESSMENT
All eligible projects will be assessed and scored following the CoSS Supervisor Led Marking Framework 2027-28
SCHOLARSHIP
- The Coss PhD Scholarship will provide the successful PhD candidate with:
- A stipend at the UKRI stipend level
- A 100% tuition fee waiver (at Home or International fees)
- Access to a Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) of up to $940 per annum (maximum of £2,820 over the 3-year funded period)
- The scholarship will also include an additional fund of up to £3,000 per annum (maximum £9,000 over the 3-year funded period) to facilitate research collaboration between the CoSS and SU supervisors and therefore enable the supervisors to travel between UofG and SU.
- Stellenbosch University will advertise the benefits for their Scholarship as part of their student recruitment.
STUDENT APPLICANTS/CANDIDATES
- Student applicants to the successful funded projects must be:
- CoSS funded project: a citizen of South Africa and either a current student, staff member or alumni of SU
- SU funded project: a citizen of the United Kingdom and either a current student, staff member of alumni of UofG
- Successful applicants must meet all entry requirements of the PhD programme they will undertaking (at either SU or COSS)
- This is not a Joint/Dula/Double PhD programme - the successful PhD candidates would only be enrolled/registered at UofG or Stellenbosch, but will have an external supervisor from the partner institution
- PhD candidates must physically base themselves at the UofG campus their CoSS School is based at, or the Stellenbosch University campus their SU School is based at. The funding is not provided for candidates to undertake PhD programmes by distance.
TIMELINE
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 06 October 2026 | Launch of competition (Supervisors invited to submit proposals) |
| 25 January 2027 | Application deadline - proposals to be submitted via online form |
| 26 January 2027 | Eligible roject proposals circulated to Joint Selection Panel (representatives from CoSS and SU) for assessment and scoring |
| 24 February 2027 | Last date Joint Selection Panel can meet to select successful projects |
| From here, each institution undertakes its own separate recruitment of a PhD candidate to their successful funded project | |
| 26 February 2027 |
Outcomes to project teams
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