SGSAH (AHRC) funding - School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures

PhD studentships funded by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH).

The University of Edinburgh is part of a consortium of eight Scottish Universities and two specialist Scottish institutions awarded funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) via the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) to support postgraduate studentships and training in the Arts and Humanities in Scotland.

The award on offer is a fully-funded PhD with stipend, a robust three-and-a-half year training programme, and access to Scotland's resources through SGSAH’s strong links and national networks with our supporter organisations in the education, creative, cultural and heritage sectors.

2024 entry

The application window for prospective PhD students who plan to begin their studies in September 2024 has now closed. If you have applied, you will be notified by the end of December 2023 if you have been nominated by the University to go forward to the next round of the funding competition.

If you are nominated by the University, you will be asked to submit the SGSAH studentship application via the SGSAH application portal by early February 2024. Final funding decisions will be made by the SGSAH by the end of April 2024 and successful applicants can expect to hear the outcome in May 2024.

2025 entry

The application window for 2025 entry is likely to open in late September 2024 and close in mid November 2024. The rest of the information on this page is for reference only - the process may be different for 2025 entry.

PhD programmes in Literatures, Languages and Cultures

The School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) is delighted to consider applications from highly qualified candidates for SGSAH doctoral studentship awards in all our subjects.

Explore our range of PhD programmes

Research Themes

Funding applications should be for projects within the AHRC disciplines. While all our PhD programmes are open to proposals on any relevant topic, we particularly encourage proposals that fall within these broad research themes:

Asian Studies

Literature, film, media and performance
Politics and governance
Modern society and ethnography
Religion, intellectual history and pre-modern culture
Transnational and colonial history

Celtic and Scottish Studies

Scottish Gaelic literature, history and culture
Linguistics and sociolinguistics of Celtic languages
Gaelic and Scots diasporas
Celtic languages, literatures and cultures of the Middle Ages
All aspects of Scottish ethnology
Traditional music and song, especially Scots and Gaelic
Scottish folklore

English Literature

Environmental humanities
Scottish literary studies
Transatlantic/US literary studies
Digital Humanities, including textual editing and archival studies
Postcolonial and Global Literatures

European Languages and Cultures

Comparative Literature
Intermediality
Memory Studies
Literature, Film and Visual Culture

Film Studies

Film-Philosophy
Screen Aesthetics
Film Theory
Film History

Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Classical and modern Arabic and Persian literature
History and historiography of early Islam and the Ottoman Empire, of the modern Arab world, especially Egypt, and its ethnic and religious minorities
Classical Islamic texts (Qur’an and tafsir, hadith, the biography of Muhammad)
Cultural, media, film and gender studies of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa
Shi’ism, intra-Muslim relaions, Islamism, social movements and Sufism
Muslims in Europe

Translation Studies

Translation and gender
Audiovisual translation
Translation and religion
Translation and music
Translation, postcolonialism and race
Literary translation
Translation and trauma (including gender-based violence)
Translation and emotions
Translation and health
Translation and history

Find out more about the AHRC disciplines on the AHRC website

Eligibility for funding

These studentships have residency requirements set by UK Research Innovation (UKRI). Eligibility extends to PhD researchers from around the world (UK, the EU and International). All funded PhD students, whether UK or International will be eligible for a full award covering fees and a stipend to support living costs.

Find out all about residential eligibility criteria on the SGSAH website

Application process and deadlines

Step one

You must complete the University of Edinburgh online application for the PhD programme you wish to study by Monday 6 November 2023. Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an email confirmation. This will include your Unique User Name (UUN).

Explore our range of PhD programmees and apply online

Step two

You must then complete the SGSAH nomination application form and return it, by email, to the LLC Postgraduate Research Office by Monday 13 November 2023. The SGSAH DTP nomination application form is now available to download from the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities website. Please follow the instructions and use the guidelines provided.

Go to the Scottish Graduate School for the Arts & Humanities website

Email the LLC Postgraduate Research Office to submit your nomination form

PLEASE NOTE: BOTH STEPS 1 AND 2 MUST BE COMPLETED FOR YOUR APPLICATION TO BE COMPLETE AND CONSIDERED. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO ALLOW YOURSELF TIME BEFORE THE DEADLINES PROVIDED ABOVE.

You will be notified by the end of December 2023 if you have been nominated by the University to go forward to the next round of the funding competition. If you are nominated by the University, you will be asked to submit the SGSAH studentship application via the SGSAH application portal by early February 2024.

Final funding decisions will be made by the SGSAH by the end of April 2024.