Scholarships & funding

Robert Burns and the Environment Scholarship

A PhD scholarship on the topic of ‘Robert Burns and the Environment’ is offered at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, University of Glasgow.

The scholarship is funded by the Principal’s Office in recognition of the award of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize to the Centre for Robert Burns Studies.

The successful candidate will be supervised and have access to resources from within the world-class Centre for Robert Burns Studies.

Background:
This scholarship is part of a new research strand on Burns, the Environment and Sustainable Cultural Heritage. There is enthusiastic support for this important and timely work among external partners in the Arts, Cultural Heritage and Creative Industries sectors. As such, the successful candidate will be expected to engage with partners, the media, and the public at large to further CRBS’s Knowledge Exchange and Impact activities beyond the University.

In order to be eligible for this scholarship you must:

- Hold an offer of study at the full-time Scottish Literature, PhD commencing in Autumn 2025

- Have Home/ RUK fee status

Number of Scholarships

1

Value

Full UK/Home Fee waiver + £19,910 stipend

How to apply

Candidates should apply by 23:59 on 18th August 2025 by submitting the following to RobertBurnsStudies@glasgow.ac.uk:

- 1000-word Research Outline (see below)
- Covering letter
- Full academic CV
- Two academic referees

Selection will follow an online interview of shortlisted candidates to be held w/c 1st September 2025, and a pro forma application to the Graduate School of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Glasgow.

Research Outline
Candidates are required to provide an outline of the proposed research subject in c.1000 words. Research Outlines are welcomed on any aspect of ‘Robert Burns and the Environment’ broadly conceived, including (but not limited to):
• Eco-critical approaches to Robert Burns
• Burns's creative and practical engagement with the environment, as both a writer and an improving farmer
• The impact of Burns’s engagement with the natural world upon our understanding of his literature and legacy, and in the context of contemporary environmental concerns
• Sustainable approaches to Burnsian cultural heritage in the 21st century
• Burns, the Environment and Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Research Outline need not be your final thesis proposal but should include:
 a straightforward, descriptive, and informative title
 the question that your research will address
 an account of why this question is important and worth investigating
 an assessment of how your own research will engage with recent study in the subject
 a brief account of the methodology and approach you will take
 a discussion of the primary sources that your research will draw upon, including printed books, manuscripts, archives, libraries, or museums
 an indicative bibliography of secondary sources that you have already consulted and/or are planning to consult.

 

For more information contact: Pauline.Mackay@glasgow.ac.uk