CoSS/UWI Jointly Supervised PhD Scholarship
The College of Social Sciences (CoSS) are pleased to again offer 1 full PhD schoalrship under a Jointly Supervised arrangement with The University of the West Indies (UWI).
This is designed to deepen our partnership with UWI and encourage collaborative PGR and staff research. The initiative is part of the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research (GCCDR), established in 2019 to support joint research on topics relevant to the Caribbean nations.
Important conisderations:
Projects
- This is a supervisor-led competition in which academic colleages develop a PhD project proposal which will be considered for funding by the College;
- Project proposals are encouraged from all research disciplines within CoSS. However, the PhD project proposal should be of relevance to the Caribbean nations;
- 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 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 unsucessful applicants.
Previously successful project
The successful project in the last round was:
"Building Emotional Resilience: A Transformative Framework for Early Childhood Mental Health and Social and Emotional Regulation in Belize"
This study aims to address the significant gap in early childhood social and emotional regulation and mental health education in the Caribbean. Through the development of a trauma-informed, culturally adapted curriculum, the project seeks to enhance emotional resistance, social competence, and academic success among preschool children aged 3 and 4 years. The study will employ a mixed-methods approach to pilot interventions in approximatley 3 preschools across urban, rural, and coastal communities in Belize, reaching an estimated 120 preschool children. The intervention will utilize tools such as storybooks, interactive games, and caregiver workshops. The outcomes will consist of a replicable framework for mental health and social and emotional regulation education, shaped by the distinct sociocultural contexts of the Caribbean, along with a model for global adaptation.
Supervisory teams
- Project Teams must be made up of at least 3 supervisors:
- 1st Supervisor from within CoSS
- 2nd Supervisor from within CoSS
- 3rd Supervisor (External) from UWI
- 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 less-experienced academic is applying as the First/Lead Supervisor, that they have one or more members on the supervisory team that are expeirneced in supervising PhD candidates to completion, i.e. a supervisor with at least two PhD completions. Supervisors must have completed Supervisory training at their current institution as per that institution's policy.
- Colleagues may find the UofG's 'Staff research interests search' and UWI's 'Expert Directory' useful to identify potential co-supervisory pairings, however UofG supervisors must be from within a CoSS School:
*Proposals involving colleagues from the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) should note that the CPP Supervisor/s must be from within the College of Social Sciences. Proposals involving CPP supervisors who do not fall within the CoSS organisational structure (i.e. based in a different College or Central Univeristy) will not be considered.
Student Applicants/Candidates
- Student applicants to the successful project must be from the Commonwealth Caribbean and either a current student, staff member of alumni of UWI
- Successful applicants must meet all entry requirements of the PhD Programme that they will be undertaking
- This is not a Joint/Dual/Double PhD programme - the successful PhD candidatre would onluy be enrolled/registered at UofG but will have an external supervisor from UWI
- Candidate must physically base themselves at the UofG campus their CoSS School is based at. The funding is not provied for candidates to undertake PhD programmes by distance.
Scholarship
- The Scholarship will proive the successful PhD candidate with:
- A stipend at the UKRI stipend level
- A 100% tuition fee waiver (Home or International fees)
- Access to a Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) of up to £940 per annum (macimum of £2,820 over the 3-year funded period)
- The scholarship will also include an additional fund of up to £3,000 per year (maximum of £9,000 over the 3-year funded period) to facilitate research collaboration between the CoSS and UWI supervisors and therefore enable the supervisors to travel between UofG and UWI
Timeline
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 14 November 2025 | Launch of competition (Supervisors invited to submit proposals) |
| 13 February 2026 | Application deadline - proposals to be submitted to CoSS Graduate School |
| 16 February 2026 | Project proposals circulated to Joint Selection Panel (representatives from CoSS and UWI) |
| Week of 09-13 March 2026 | Joint Selection Panel meets to select successful project |
| 16 March 2026 | Outcomes communicated to all project teams. Student recruitment advert requested from successful project |
| 23 March 2026 | Student recruitment advert due to CoSS Graduate School from successful project team |
| 24 March 2026 | Student recruitment goes live |
| 20 April 2026 | Student recruitment closes |
| 27 April 2026 | References due from all applicants' referees |
| 28 April 2026 | Student applications circulated to project team for assessment/shortlist/interview |
| 21 May 2026 |
Deadline for successful project team to identify preferred student applicant to project |
| 01 October 2026 |
Funded student to commence PhD |
Please let the CoSS Graduate School know if you have any questions.