Scholarships & funding

ESRC Doctoral Studentship – Diet Transition: Understanding the Effectiveness of Community Organisation in Supporting Change

What we eat has significant impacts on human and planetary health. Poor diet is the biggest contributor to preventable ill-health and the food system produces approximately one third of carbon emissions globally. While household dietary change is pertinent, this is hampered by entrenched behaviours that are challenging to change. Community organisations play an important role in supporting such behaviour transitions. Constrained by short term funding and increasing demand as a result of polycrisis, it is important to understand their (in)effectiveness in facilitating diet transition.

This research will examine the role community organisations play in supporting household transitions towards healthy sustainable diets. The research will take place in Glasgow, in partnership with Glasgow Food Policy Partnership, given high levels of household diversity, deprivation and ill-health in the city and new policy interventions at the national (Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022) and regional (Glasgow City Food Plan; Food and Climate Action project) levels. This research takes an ethnographic approach with 10 households and 2 community organisations supporting household transition to healthy sustainable diets.

Data collection will comprise of in-depth interviews, participant observation, accompanied shopping and reflective diaries. The research explores the capacity and limits of community organisational support as a lever for change, by examining how exposure to community supported food work can shape household behaviour.

This has implications for transformative food policy work, and for the community food sector as a whole, as it seeks to understand and explain barriers and opportunities for change at the level of everyday action within households. As such, the research will contribute to sustainable food system debates and deepen our evolving understanding of how to implement effective change within food systems.

This application programme is for applicants looking to apply for ESRC studentship funding to undertake a supervisor-led pre-designed PhD research project, starting in the academic year 2025/26 (October 2026). To ensure you have the best chance of success please review the relevant studentship advert(s) in advance of submitting an application.

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• For 1+3.5- Applicants must hold or be predicted a First or a good 2:1 undergraduate degree in the social sciences, or have relevant comparable experience.
• Demonstrate an interest in, and academic knowledge of the topic under investigation, including literature and debates.
• For +3.5 – A master’s degree at 60%/merit or equivalent with a significant business and management component or the ability to demonstrate specialist academic knowledge of the topic or in exceptional cases prior experience.
• Demonstrate an interest in, and academic knowledge of the topic under investigation, including literature and debates.
• Applicants can study part-time or full-time.

For more details on our eligibility criteria, we encourage applicants to review this page.

IMPORTANT: For this studentship opportunity, this project is only open for applicants who are a UK national (meeting residency requirements), or have settled status, or have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

Number of Scholarships

1

Value

The scholarship is available as a +3.5 (3 year PhD and placement) or a 1+3.5 (Masters year, 3 year PhD, and a placement) studentship depending on prior research training. This will be assessed as part of the recruitment process, however you can access guidance here to help you decide on which to apply for. The programme will commence in October 2026. The full ESRC studentship package includes, as advised by ESRC:

• An annual maintenance grant (stipend)
• Fees at the standard institutional home rate
• Students can also draw on a pooled Research Training Support Grant (RTSG)

How to apply

1. Applicants must register on SGSSS Apply, completing their Equal Opportunities data.
2. Applicants must apply via SGSSS Apply, uploading the following documentation:

o   Application Questions (answered within SGSSS Apply, no upload needed)

o   Academic transcripts

o   Academic prizes

o   Referee information

o   CV

o  Other information (if required by the advert)

 

We strongly encourage applicants review the applicant guidance document for more on the process. 

Please Note:

• This is not an application to the relevant University, this is an application for SGSSS (ESRC) funding.
• Students do not need a Masters/PhD offer from the relevant University before they can apply for funding, i.e. this studentship.
• If successful in obtaining the SGSSS (ESRC) studentship, students can only start the funded studentship once they have an unconditional Masters/PhD degree offer from the relevant University. It is your responsibility to find out the University’s application process, including when you need to secure your offer, as SGSSS plays no role in this process.

Apply now via SGSSS Apply