Scholarships & funding

UofG-USYD Collaborative PhD Scholarship - Caught in the sludge: legibility and the accessibility of energy support in Australia and Great Britain

Project details

Energy poverty remains a growing issue as cost-of-living rises and extreme weather events increase. Policies for energy poverty relief are becoming more common. However, as with other types of public programs, accessing these supports can be its own challenge. Administrative burdens can form a 'sludge' that inhibits access to relief, such as complex paperwork, intrusive checks, and hard-to navigate websites. In Great Britain, an estimated £722 million for the Warm Homes Discount will go unclaimed in 2025/2026, despite average electricity debts of £1,749 per household, and in Australia an estimated 19 – 38% of households are not receiving energy concessions they are eligible for. 

In this unique PhD programme, jointly supervised between the University of Glasgow and University of Sydney, you will use framings of administrative burden and Design Thinking to develop your own independent investigation to answer the question: where do current systems place additional burdens on the most vulnerable, who is bearing these, and how could these burdens be alleviated?

Administrative burdens in energy systems are only just starting to be understood, and these burdens and their impacts are highly specific to jurisdictional design of social policy and electricity regulation. While support for the essential service of energy could be improved, it sits within a complex web of policies of different designs. People experiencing energy poverty may simultaneously be navigating challenges such as insecure housing or caring responsibilities. In this project, you would use Design Thinking as a novel way to examine policy re-design through an approach grounded in empathy and understanding complexity. You will have the opportunity to examine Australia and Great Britain as a cross-case comparison, given richness by the differences in policy design for energy poverty relief across two places with similar electricity market designs. Importantly, both countries have substantial ongoing policy reform, such as the Better Consumer Energy Experiences review in Australia, and Review of the Fuel Poverty Strategy in England. Project findings could directly inform policy design changes to alleviate burdens.

Supervisory Team

Principal Supervisor: Professor Harriet Thomson (UofG)

Secondary Supervisor(s): Dr Lee White (USYD), Dr Assel Mussagulova (USYD) & Dr Hannah Salamon (UofG)

About the School/Research Unit

This PhD will be jointly hosted by the University of Glasgow and the University of Sydney, with a multidisciplinary supervisory team comprising Professor Harriet Thomson (UofG), Dr Lee White (USYD), Dr Assel Mussagulova (USYD), and Dr Hannah Salamon (UofG).

The project sits within the public policy cluster in the Government and International Relations discipline at USYD, in the School of Social and Political Sciences, and within the Urban Studies and Social Policy discipline at UofG, also in a School of Social and Political Sciences, with associated methodological expertise and mentorship opportunities beyond the core supervisory team. It is also closely aligned with the Sydney Environment Institute, Glasgow Centre for Sustainable Energy, and the Centre for Public Policy, all of which offer wider opportunities for research training and mentorship, as well as Early Career Researcher networks

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria

• Applicants will have a First Class Honours degree, or Master's by Research with outstanding results (at least 80%) [or overseas equivalent]
• Applicants must be able to study on a full-time basis only
• Applicants must have a demonstratable interest in the topic area under investigation.
• Applicants must be able to commit to enrolling/registering on PhD programmes at both institutions simultaneously and spend time physically based at each institution during the PhD
• Successful applicants must be physically based at UofG for commencement of the Collaborative PhD.
• Applicants will have proven experience in either quantitative experiment design or in-depth qualitative approaches, and a strong curiosity and capacity for learning the other. Evidence may include proof of completing relevant courses and/or demonstration of prior use of the approach in publications or unpublished projects, or via referee vouching

Please note that all applicants must also meet the entry requirements for the Social & Public Policy, PhD [UofG] and the Doctor of Philosophy (Arts and Social Sciences) [USYD] 

Number of Scholarships

1

Value

Award details

The scholarship is available as a full-time +3 (3 year) PhD programme only. The programme will commence in January 2027. The funding is provided by UofG's College of Social Sciences and includes:

• An annual maintenance grant (stipend) at the UKRI rate
• Fees at the standard home or international rate
• Students can also draw on a Research Training Support Grant, usually up to a maximum of £940 per year
• A one off travel grant of up to £3,000 to facilitate the required travel between Glasgow and Sydney

Additionally, no tuition fees will be charged for the USYD PhD programme.

Other information

The successful candidate's home institution will be the University of Glasgow, where year one and three will be spent. Year two will be spent at the University of Sydney.

How to apply

Applicants must apply via the Scholarships Application Portal (please see Scholarships Application Portal - Applicant Guide for more information). The funding opportunity is under 'College of Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Funding > COSS-25-014'), uploading the following documentation:

• UofG-USYD Scholarship - Caught in the sludge application form (in Word format)
• Academic transcripts (All relevant Undergraduate and Master’s level degree transcripts (and translations, if not originally in English) – provisional transcripts are sufficient if you are yet to complete your degree).
• Contact details for two referees (where possible your referees should include an academic familiar with your work (within the last 5 years). Both referees can be academics but you may include a work referee, especially if you have been out of academia for more than 5 years). Please note, a CoSS PGR Funding Reference template will be sent to your referees for completion)*. Note that no member of this project's supervisory team can act as your referee. Please see CoSS PGR Funding Reference request guide for further guidance
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) (academic where applicable)

*Please note that when you enter your referees contact details on the Scholarships Application Portal and send the reference request, your referees are expected to provide their references by the closing date of the Scholarship (below). It is strongly recommended you complete this as soon as possible, as late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Closing Date: 21 April 2026

References from referees are due no later than 28 April 2026

Selection process

Applications will be assessed by the project team. Shortlisted applicants may be requested to attend an Interview.

All scholarship awards are subject to candidates successfully securing admission to a PhD programmes in The University of Glasgow's School of Social and Political Sciences and The University of Sydney's School of Social and Political Sciences. Successful applicants will be invited to apply for admission to the relevant PhD programmes after they are selected for funding.

Contact details

Questions on the project: Professor Harriet Thomson or Dr Lee White

Questions on the Scholarships Application Portal only: College of Social Sciences Graduate School