The Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH) launched in 2014. The world’s first national graduate school for the Arts & Humanities, our mission is to work together to inspire researchers who are talented, caring, ethical and reflective professionals with a demonstrable commitment to generating and mobilising knowledge across a range of scholarly, professional and public communities.
SGSAH is a partnership of 17 Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), sharing our resources to enrich the doctoral training environment and enhance the doctoral experience. Working with our supporters in the arts, culture, creative and heritage sectors, we support positive connections and productive networks locally, regionally and globally to provide outstanding opportunities for doctoral researchers in Scotland.
Members
Director’s Welcome
In the past year, it was with great delight that we celebrated SGSAH’s 10th anniversary. The first set of SGSAH-funded PhD researchers – and associated training and development activity – started in 2014, and we’ve grown so much since then. Our celebrations extended throughout the year, culminating in an event at SWG3 in Glasgow in October 2024 where we showcased current PhD researchers’ work, welcomed back our inaugural Director Professor Dee Heddon, as well as alumni and colleagues from across our member HEIs, our partners and our funders. The event included an address from Graeme Dey, Scottish Government Minister for Further and Higher Education, who commented on the momentous occasion:
‘To be the first national Graduate School in the Arts & Humanities with a membership of 17 institutions was an achievement in itself, but to be a champion in the discipline for the last decade is a triumph.’
As we advance into our next decade, we’re not resting on our laurels, particularly in the context of financial challenge in the higher education sector, changing funding scenarios, and global turmoil. As we detail later in the report, SGSAH works closely with our HEI members across Scotland and external partners to deliver creative and impactful training, which is attendant to our local and national contexts, but also the international environment. This report details some of the exciting work undertaken by individual PhD researchers as well as cohort activities, which we’re very proud to continue to support.
This year will be my final one as Director, as I will step down from the role in December 2025 after six years. It’s been a brilliant role to have over this period (never a dull moment!) and I’ll miss working closely with PhD researchers to enable them to realise their potential with colleagues across Scotland and beyond, including, of course, the SGSAH team. However, I’m very pleased to be able to hand over to Professor Maria Fusco who will take over as SGSAH’s Director in January 2026, and I know will be wonderful in the role. Welcome Maria!
Professor Claire Squires
October 2025
‘It never ceases to impress me how SGSAH, through the strength of its consortium of partners and institutions, continues to foster a vibrant and inclusive research culture across Scotland. This year has seen Arts & Humanities doctoral researchers flourish—collaborating across disciplines, engaging with communities, and shaping a more reflective, creative society. SGSAH’s leadership continues to ensure their work is supported, visible, and impactful on national and global stages.’
Professor Sarah Prescott Head of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh, and Co-Chair of the SGSAH Board
SGSAH funds innovative and interdisciplinary doctoral research across the full spectrum of Arts & Humanities disciplines with support from the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and our 17 member institutions.
New projects in 2024–25 reflect the global reach and local impact of our researchers. These include an investigation into the colonial legacies shaping archaeological practice in Syria; the role of fictional cinema in nation-building and international recognition for Kosovo and Palestine; and a study of the Sengwer language of Western Kenya, contributing to the cultural and linguistic rights of one of Kenya’s most marginalised communities. Closer to home, researchers are exploring the overlooked contribution of women to the ‘Golden Age’ of Scottish fiddle music; the barriers faced by linguistically diverse audiences in accessing online museum exhibitions; and the potential of oral traditions to empower Gypsy Traveller communities in the justice system.
Our doctoral researchers work with world-leading academics, often in cross-institutional supervisory teams, within a vibrant and collaborative research environment.
Through our Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) and Applied Research Collaborative Studentships (ARCS), this year’s cohort of researchers have partnered with a wide range of external organisations, including JustRight Scotland, Audit Scotland, the BBC, Ceòlas Uibhist, National Museums Scotland, the Scottish Government, NatureScot, Migrants Organising for Rights and Empowerment (MORE), and the Traverse Theatre. These partnerships extend the impact of research and deepen its relevance beyond academia.
We continue to support our researchers in developing and sharing their work, and to enable them to attend and lead collaborative training and events across Scotland.
Doctoral researchers at the Partnership PhDs event, held at the Engine Shed in Stirling
Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) Partnership PhDs
Nic Green
Theatre Without Walls: Rethinking
Engagement, Participation and Social Impact in (Post)Pandemic Scottish Theatre
Higher Education Institution
University of Glasgow
Partner Organisation
National Theatre of Scotland
Hosted by the National Theatre of Scotland’s Creative Engagement Department, this collaborative PhD project between the University of Glasgow and the National Theatre of Scotland looks to assess the organisation’s commitment to dismantling barriers to creative participation, equity, and justice, and to re-frame/discover/imagine how being a ‘theatre without walls’ could manifest in (post)pandemic times.
The project examines the potential relationships between the local, national, and international in the field of ethical and equitable community-engaged practices, within the context(s) of a national theatre. It asks: ‘How can artist-led co-creation, participation, and social impact be theorised anew within the remit of a national organisation after the pandemic?’
This year, Nic was appointed to the role of Director of Creative Engagement with the host organisation and says: ‘The CDA has helped me to rethink my own agency within the theatre industry, and helped me understand how my practice relates to a whole range of languages and audiences. My research is a huge part of what led me to this particular role and work.’
Her predecessor and past industry supervisor, Paul Fitzpatrick, says about the project: ‘The CDA has been of massive benefit right across our organisation. One of the most important things has been the amount of learning it’s led to for ourselves internally at NTS; across the board it’s been so valuable for our everyday work.’
‘The CDA has helped me to rethink my own agency within the theatre industry, and helped me understand how my practice relates to a whole range of languages and audiences.’
Applied Research Collaborative Studentship (ARCS)
Patricia O’Grady
Exploring How the Relationship between Cultural Trusts and Local Authorities Affects the Support of Culture: A Case Study of OnFife and Fife Council
Higher Education Institutions
Edinburgh Napier University; Queen Margaret University
Partner Organisation
OnFife (Fife Cultural Trust)
This collaborative PhD explores the relationship between Cultural Trusts and Local Authorities in Scotland, to understand how that relationship affects the ways in which cultural activity is valued and supported.
Cultural Trusts are companies that local authorities create to manage their local cultural assets: libraries, museums, galleries and theatres. Over half of Scotland’s local authorities have adopted the model which operates under the Arms’ Length External Organisation (ALEO) principle. While Cultural Trusts and Councils reap benefits from being legally separate organisations, they are closely linked by legal agreements, public service obligations and governance structures.
Using the relationship between Fife Council and Fife’s Cultural Trust OnFife as a representative case study, this project explores how official factors, like legal agreements and technocratic functions, and unwritten factors, like attitudes and social dynamics, influence decisions about how culture is supported. Early findings indicate that in this case, public service obligations define the Trust/Local Authority relationship and how they value and support cultural activity.
By understanding the case of OnFife and Fife Council, the research aims to draw insights and conclusions that are useful to other Cultural Trusts and Local Authorities in Scotland, and to other situations in cultural management where examining interorganisational relationships could benefit the cultural offer.
Patricia O’Grady
Engagement Fund
From 2024-25, over 110 of SGSAH’s doctoral researchers were awarded approximately £270K of financial support from the Engagement Fund to undertake Visiting Doctoral Researcher opportunities, as well as field trips and archival visits, create artistic works, develop their skills, and generate knowledge exchange and impact.
Hannah Speed, a PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow exploring Scottish suffragist autobiographies, was awarded Engagement Funding to undertake a threeweek research visit to Australia, including Sydney, Canberra, and the National Library of Australia. The trip provided access to rare sources held exclusively in Australia, uncovering unique material on Helen Fraser Moyes as well as contextual collections on Helen Archdale and Adela Pankhurst. This significantly advanced Hannah’s doctoral research, deepening insights into feminist networks and material culture. It also fostered international scholarly connections and informed both academic outputs and public engagement activities, including conference presentations.
Francisco Llinas is an artist and PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh, working on the representation of the Venezuelan migration crisis through film, performance and film restoration. He was awarded Engagement Funding to become a researcher-in-residence with Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival in Hawick, where he curated Excerpts on Extraction—a special performance, screening, and discussion event examining archives of displacement within the Venezuelan diaspora.
As quoted in Sight and Sound: Summer 2025 Issue by Sophia Satchell-Baeza, Franscisco created ‘a richly layered performance screening exploring ideas of displacement, colonialist extraction and the impact of the oil boom on the Venezuelan diaspora.’
Hannah Speed outside the State Library of New South Wales, Australia
Francisco Llinas (second from left) on a panel with artists at the Alchemy Film Festival
Cohort Development Fund
SGSAH’s Cohort Development Fund (CDF) supports PhD researcher-led initiatives that respond directly to the training needs of doctoral researchers in the Arts & Humanities. Grounded in the belief that the best ideas for PhD training come from PhD researchers themselves, the fund enables them to identify gaps, propose solutions, and deliver innovative, inclusive and collaborative training across Scotland.
The CDF allows doctoral researchers at SGSAH member HEIs to develop and deliver training that would not be possible within a single institution — whether because of scale, subject matter, or delivery model. It supports training at the cutting edge of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, and fosters a culture of co-creation, peer learning and knowledge exchange. Researchers gain valuable experience in project and budget management, grant application writing, event promotion, and working with peers, institutions and external partners.
In 2024–25, SGSAH funded a range of creative and inclusive events through the CDF. These included:
• PhD Network Training: How to Start and Sustain Successful PGR Networks (December 2024)
A practical workshop focused on building and maintaining thriving postgraduate networks and reading groups. Led by the Edinburgh Environmental Humanities Network (EEHN), alongside convenors from other successful networks across the UK and Scandinavia, the session offered peer insights, strategies, and inspiration for researchers looking to foster supportive academic communities.
• Heritage Authenticities, Dissonant Ecologies and Urban Futures (April 2025)
A hands-on hybrid workshop held within the iconic and contested Edinburgh Futures Institute, itself situated within the city’s UNESCO World Heritage boundary. This full-day event brought together researchers from a range of disciplines, inviting them to imagine the future of the site, whilst catalysing conversations around heritage, erasure, ecology, and justice.
• Young Audiences and Authentic Representation in Professional Children’s Theatre (May 2025)
Held in collaboration with the renowned Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, this afternoon event explored themes of authenticity, visibility, and children’s rights in the representation and reception of children in professional theatre and dance. It brought together doctoral researchers and industry professionals for rich discussion and knowledge exchange.
Panel of presenters at the CDF event on young audiences and children’s theatre
Keili Koppel
Events and Training Spotlights
It’s been another busy year in terms of SGSAH events and training. As well as our 10-year anniversary celebrations in October 2024 (see the Director’s Welcome for more detail), SGSAH has once again delivered Spring into Methods in partnership with the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS). The series of eight workshops included approaches to ‘liminal spaces’, ‘doing’ feminism in research methodology, and creative postdisciplinarity.
Each year, our Year Two funded PhD researchers self-organise a symposium to showcase their research projects. This year’s event focused on the theme of Subversion, and included papers, workshops, creative presentations and posters which responded to the theme in a series of fascinating sessions which demonstrate the depth and breadth of research being undertaken.
We’ve continued this year to run a set of writing retreats hosted at Hospitalfield in Arbroath. Fuelled by delicious food (and log fires in the winter months), the retreat is particularly welcomed by our doctoral candidates in the last couple of years of their projects, giving them the focused time, and community support, to finalise a difficult chapter, write a conference paper, or lay the groundwork for their future thinking.
This year, we established a new Supervisor Forum—a series of free, online sessions for anyone at our member HEIs involved in PhD research supervision and development. Topics explored included supporting neurodiverse doctoral researchers; creative practice research supervision; anti-racism supervision practice; and focusing on part-time doctoral researchers. If you have suggestions for further sessions, please do let us know as we develop the programme further…
Joseph Brett-Demetre, Lewis Wood, and Heather Maycock, organisers of this year’s SGSAH Year 2 Symposium
This year SGSAH’s 11 Discipline+ Catalysts ran 28 events across Scotland in addition to making a strong contribution to our annual Summer School. The themes as ever offered every PhD researcher in Scotland the opportunity to explore the full breadth and depth of Arts & Humanities disciplines, with high quality training in everything from ‘Digital Mapping’ (Linguistics, Edinburgh), through ‘Inventing Vocabularies’ (Creative Arts, Online), ‘Queering Modern Languages’ (Modern Languages, Summer School), ‘Ethnographic Research’ (Cultural Studies and Museums, Aberdeen), to ‘Coin Stories: Numismatics and History’ (Archaeology and Classics, Glasgow).
Locations ranged across our member HEIs (including GSA’s Forres campus) and online, and also included other stunning venues. Blair Castle hosted a Cultural and Museum Studies event on ‘Interpreting Historic Houses’ which reconsidered these iconic elements of Scotland’s build environment and how they might be reappraised in light of contemporary concerns, especially climate change and sustainability.
Another iconic backdrop offers an excellent example of the unique opportunities SGSAH and the Discipline+ Catalysts create. In May, the archives of Inverary Castle played host to a ‘Global Hackathon’. The castle was the seat of the Dukes of Argyll, one of Britain’s most influential families from the 1680s to the 1920s whose interests spread around the world, often in ways inextricably entangled with empire, and reshaped Scottish society — especially its rural order. The event offered a rare hands-on chance to explore these local and global connections critically, diving into the records and developing projects. It attracted PGRs across Scotland from disciplines as disparate as musicology and sociology in addition to history. For some it offered the first experience of archival research. One participant offered thanks for the ‘chance to go through archives with other peoples as it is usually such an individual/ lonely experience’. The hosts benefited from the experience, including learning lessons in opening the archives to multiple groups and from seeing their holdings in new light and with an eye to potential future collaboration with Arts & Humanities researchers.
Knowledge Exchange Hubs
SGSAH’s Knowledge Exchange (KE) Hubs are focused on training and networking to aid PhD researchers’ future career paths outside academia and facilitate research with external partners and sectors.
The KE Hubs, which are themed around the areas of Heritage, Creative Economies, and Citizenship, Culture & Ethics, work in direct collaboration with multi-sectoral partners including BBC Scotland, British Council Scotland, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Creative Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, the Scottish Parliament, and the V&A.
The KE Hubs are led jointly by expert academics and representatives from the external organisations, and work to implement an ongoing programme of professional skills training and help build meaningful connections between doctoral researchers and sectors outside of academia.
Colleagues from the Scottish Centre for Voluntary Organisations at our non-academic careers fair
Behind the scenes tour of Edinburgh Printmakers at a KE Hub careers event
The KE Hubs create and coordinate around seven events each year with participation from over 500 doctoral researchers. Standout events for this year included the popular annual broadcasting training session where PhD researchers pitch ideas to commissioners at the BBC; a fully-subscribed ‘Sustainable Research and Podcasting’ workshop in Dundee; a session on developing/reflecting on ecological and environmental research, held at St Andrews Botanical Gardens, and a hybrid heritage symposium looking at the challenges and opportunities of small museums, archives and heritage organisations in current contexts.
The KE Hubs also come together every year to deliver a collaborative, cross-disciplinary symposium. This year we were hosted by the
stunning Edinburgh Printmakers for a day looking at non-academic careers post-PhD, including SGSAH’s first ever careers speednetworking session. We were delighted as part of this to host our industry partners from BBC Scotland, British Council Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Printmakers themselves as speakers and facilitators, discussing routes into careers, transferable skills from a PhD, what the landscape looks like in diverse sectors and contexts, and opportunities for next steps.
SGSAH are enormously grateful to our dedicated industry and academic colleagues from across the country, for bringing our annual programme of Hub events to life.
Summer School
tickets sold over five days
‘I look forward to attending again next year!’
‘The Summer School is always a great opportunity to get to know other peers and chat with the lovely members of the SGSAH team.’
sessions
Visitors at the ‘BodyCloud Drive’ research showcase by Yuxi Jiang
‘It always feels good to connect with SGSAH events and I came away feeling inspired and supported once more.’
of attendees found the content of the sessions useful 98%
hours of workshops +85
SGSAH alumna Dr Irene Ros returned to Summer School with her satirical performance Another Useless Doctor
Members of the band
The Tenementals with attendees at their Summer School session
Events and Training Spotlights Research Showcase
Researcher Kai Durkin presented a range of interactive games at this year’s Showcase
Peter Noble
Each year, SGSAH hosts a Doctoral Researcher Showcase to illustrate and celebrate the innovative research being undertaken by Arts & Humanities PhD researchers across Scotland.
For 2025, SGSAH showcased a selection of inspiring, diverse work from six current Arts & Humanities researchers presenting through song, dance, games, diaries, film, architectural models and, a first for SGSAH, an interactive fish mask. The featured researchers showcasing their projects at the University of Glasgow’s ARC building this year were:
• Yuxi Jiang (University of Edinburgh) a dance researcher and choreographer, who gave a live performance of improvised movement, related to the movement methodologies of her PhD.
• Peter Noble (University of the Highlands & Islands) a creative practice researcher, who wrote and performed a song as part of a site-specific sound and light installation at the ARC, looking at the natural environment of the Cromarty Firth.
• Julia Römer (Glasgow School of Art), a design & innovation researcher, who presented an interactive display of diaries, booklets and posters, relating to childhood education and the learner experience.
• Kai Durkin (Abertay University), who presented a range of engaging, entertaining interactive games for participants, focusing on health and wellbeing.
• Yimin Xiang (Glasgow School of Art), a fine artist, who showcased a range of striking experimental photographic prints, exhibited via sustainable, handmade framing structures.
• Yafei Wang (University of Edinburgh), an art and landscape architecture design researcher, who presented The Book of Fish Answers, combining artwork and performance. The showcase included a ‘ceremony’ led by a masked fish figure, who invited audience questions about fish, water and being.
Researcher Yafei Wang’s exhibit included a mix of artwork and performance, featuring a masked fish figure
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Over the last year, SGSAH has continued to further develop our range of EDI activities.
In July 2025, we ran the third iteration of a widening participation event for potential PhD applicants. This hybrid event included roundtable discussions with current SGSAHfunded PhD researchers, as well as academic staff who assess PhD applications and supervise doctoral researchers.
In the last year SGSAH has taken the lead in organising EDI-related initiatives in collaboration with our AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) counterparts across the UK. In February, we ran the first cross-DTP EDI event for current AHRC-funded doctoral researchers. This two-day, hybrid event was held in Manchester and was attended by almost 100 PhD scholars from across the country.
We also continue to collaborate with our sibling school, the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science, especially on our EDI networks. We currently have four such networks –the Global Majority network, the Disabled PhD Researchers’ Network, the International PGR Network and the Part Time PGR Network.
Arising out of SGSAH’s collaborative work with SGSSS, we are also part of two successful research projects funded by the Wellcome Trust funded InFrame project. Called ‘Interrogating the Viva: Making PhD Assessment More Equitable, Fair and Inclusive’ and ‘Inspiring Leaders from Underrepresented Doctoral Communities’, both projects seek to broaden the PhD journey by taking into account marginalised and minoritised experiences. We are very excited about this work, and are positive about the difference it will make, so watch this space!
SGSAH in the World
EARTH Scholars on a guided walking tour in Tarradale
By its very nature – and name
– SGSAH is a Scottish graduate school, firmly grounded in our local and national contexts. But our reach extends throughout the world.
This reach takes place through funding for international PhD researchers to come to Scotland to undertake their doctoral projects with the guidance of expert supervisors at Scottish HEIs, as well as in research projects which focus on geographical areas beyond our national boundaries. Our PhD researchers conduct international fieldwork, attend conferences and summer schools overseas, and through our Visiting Doctoral Researcher scheme, they are enabled to travel to universities around the world for several months – including in the past year at the University of Padua (Italy), Aalto University (Finland), and University of Canberra (Australia).
We also engage in a number of international partnerships, including through British Council Scotland EARTH Scholarships programme, as well as our Global Connects programme – more on which can be found in the following pages.
Maria Elena Bertoli analysing textiles from the Bronze Age during a research trip to Trento, Italy
EARTH Scholarships
For the third consecutive year, SGSAH has partnered with British Council Scotland to deliver the EARTH Scholarships, an ambitious international programme designed to support PhD and Early Career Researchers in the Environmental Arts & Humanities. This innovative initiative brings scholars from around the world to Scotland for up to three months to collaborate, share knowledge, and advance research that addresses the climate emergency through the lens of arts, culture and the humanities.
The 2025 programme continued to build on the principles outlined in our GREEN/GRADUATE Strategy and Operations Plan. It placed particular emphasis on interdisciplinarity across STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics), with thematic priorities including Women in STEAM, Inclusive Education, Green Energy, and Gender Equality.
This year, 10 scholars joined us from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, India, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. During the April cohort programme - a highlight of the scholarship - they were joined by an equal number of Scotland-based researchers. Led by academic colleagues across Scotland, the cohort programme comprised a series of workshops and site visits, including trips to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and St Andrews. As scholar Leyla Craig (University of Sydney/University of Edinburgh) noted, ‘I’m truly grateful for the EARTH Fellowship experience. The brilliant minds I met and the shared commitment to climatefocussed research reminded me of the power of community, creativity, and collaboration.’
EARTH Scholars at the Scottish Government in Edinburgh
‘The EARTH Scholarship programme challenged us with differences in perspective that at times felt uncomfortable but ultimately sparked unexpected creativity and deep collaboration with people I now proudly call friends.’
Zahra Tootonsab
McMaster University, Canada/University of Glasgow
Among the 2025 EARTH Scholars cohort were:
• Marta Kucza (University of Tartu, Estonia), a documentary filmmaker whose research specialises in embodied learning about plants and animals combining ecosemiotics, ethnography and art-based methods. During her scholarship, Marta visited and worked in collaboration with Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University to further her ongoing PhD research, which addresses the climate crisis and exclusion of people labelled as having learning disabilities from knowledge production. Through shared experimental film and sound practices with the residents of Maarja küla, a supported living facility for neurodivergent adults located in South Estonia, she is exploring the potential of neurodivergent modes of enquiry for the study of morethan-human ecosystems.
• Thainan Rocha (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) whose research bridges culture and climate action, fostering resilience and transformative development within the creative industries. Thainan’s home state of Rio Grande do Sul was devastated by severe floods in 2024. Drawing insight from both Brazilian and Scottish experiences, Thainan explored strategies for rebuilding cultural ecosystems and driving sustainable growth within the creative economy during their scholarship with the University of Glasgow.
• Miriam Sentler (University of Oslo, Norway), a visual artist and doctoral researcher in Petroculture Studies, interrogates how Shetlanders utilise their creative culture to translate and oppose oil- and other energy production in the North Sea. In collaboration with the University of the Highlands and Islands, Miriam spent her scholarship conducting comparative background research in Orkney to map the broader context of creative performances about energy production happening in the northern isles of Scotland.
Miriam Sentler in the Inverness Museum & Art Gallery
Building on our global reach, this year SGSAH supported three international training events aligned with our strategic priorities. These were designed and delivered this year to engage both Scotland-based and international postgraduate researchers in the Arts & Humanities. Sessions included:
• ‘Archives, Access and Agency, Practice-led Research in Melbourne and Scotland’, a series of four seminars led by the University of Dundee, University of Melbourne and the Victoria College of the Arts (Australia).
• ‘Alasdair Gray: Marginalisations and Colonialism’, an online event for over 100 participants from the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Finland, France, India, Poland, Germany and more in partnership with the University of Strathclyde, the Alasdair Gray Archive and the University of Brest (France).
• ‘Prospectives 2024: Feminisms, Digital Art, and Activism’, a one-day event led by the University of Abertay in partnership with the University of Texas and Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology (US) to investigate the link between digital arts and activism with a focus on feminism.
Over six months this year, Yafei worked as a SGSAH-funded research intern and team member with Cassiltoun Housing Association in Glasgow on the Museum for Castlemilk project. This project is a new initiative from the Housing Association, aiming to celebrate and preserve the rich history of Castlemilk from its aristocratic past to its vibrant community present, with the restored eighteenth century stables at its heart.
The research placement involved cataloguing and curating historic and contemporary materials relating to the site, addressing challenges including gaps in historical collections, effective community engagement, sustainable preservation and developing impactful outputs. A key part of Yafei’s role was to bring materials into the digital age, using 3D scanning and modelling technology to preserve them in a format that is easier to store and more accessible for audiences to explore.
Yafei Wang
‘ What moved me most was witnessing the dedication of Castlemilk’s community. Through weekly history and writing groups, people came together to protect and pass on their heritage. With their generous support, we also created new histories, rich in daily life and imagination. The skills and experiences I have gained in archiving and community engagement will guide me in shaping more empathetic, communitybased field research in the future. I am proud to have contributed to preserving Castlemilk’s culture.’
Yafei Wang
Castlemilk Stables
Shailini Vinod
Project
A Documentary Film Investigating Marginalisation of British Asian Music
Higher Education Institution
University of Aberdeen
Research Internship Host
Do It Creative (Film Production), London
Shailini’s internship with Do It Creative involved working on a documentary project investigating the marginalisation of British Asian music/musicians. Shailini devised this placement as Research Consultant for the film as an opportunity to bring her interdisciplinary approach to tackling marginalisation into a screen context through collaborating with award-winning director Sam Bhattacharjee and the team at Do It Creative.
The documentary film at the core of the project aims to enquire into the various historical, sociological and commercial factors that have proven to be impediments marginalising British Asian music. During the placement, Shailini had the opportunity to study this area in-depth, specifically in relation to film media. She also played a part in ideation and research for future projects.
Shailini Vinod
‘As a researcher whose study combines sociological research with a view to tackle marginalisation of a British South Asian Community in English and Scottish Literature, this opportunity allows me to contribute to a highly relevant project in the creative industries. One of my post-research goals is the visual translation of short fiction into feature films or television series, and this internship has broadened my professional network while giving me invaluable insight into the possibilities and practicalities of bringing short fiction to the screen.’
Shailini Vinod
People Make SGSAH
The year kicked off with the appointment of Dr Andrew Dilley (University of Aberdeen) as SGSAH’s Deputy Director, after Professor Craig Martin (University of Edinburgh) stepped down from the role. Andrew has responsibility for overseeing the work of the Discipline+ Catalysts.
Mariam Jack – who leads on developing this report among other work – came back into her role as Communications Officer following a year’s secondment. Eliott Simpson, who covered her secondment, has gone on to a role in the University of Glasgow. And after being with SGSAH from its earliest days and providing us with a wealth of institutional knowledge, our Operations Manager, Lindsay Wilson, has moved to a role in Glasgow too. She has been replaced by Shauna Dillane, who joined in July. We would like to thank the colleagues who’ve left us for all their contributions to SGSAH!
And finally, a huge round of applause to Perpetual Brade (University of the West of Scotland), who has been a brilliant Chair of SGSAH’s Doctoral Researcher Committee for several years. She is stepping aside as Chair but continues to lead DRC alumni developments.
SGSAH Summer School attendees and staff gather in the ARC building at the University of Glasgow
The SGSAH Doctoral Researcher Committee (DRC) is the representative body of PhD researchers across Scotland’s Arts & Humanities disciplines. It is a key mechanism to ensure training provisions, networks and communications stay clear, adaptable and relevant as the funding landscape changes and multiple funding models intersect in coming years.
Through collaborative initiatives and feedback mechanisms, the committee helps to ensure that PhD researcher voices are heard and are empowered to influence their academic environment as well as supporting a thriving doctoral community across Scotland’s vibrant research landscape.
Currently with 25 representatives from 13 HEIs, the DRC encourages communication between PhD researchers and the SGSAH leadership, promoting inclusivity and wellbeing, as well as contributing to strategic planning.
A key focus this year has been to work together to update the terms of reference to establish a new alumni strand of the committee, to help strengthen the doctoral community post-PhD, expand networks and collaboration, demonstrate impact, shape future strategy and build legacy.
Since its launch in 2014, SGSAH has supported hundreds of PhD projects—each one led by a talented, thoughtful, and ethically minded researcher. SGSAH is committed to recognising the achievements and influence of our international alumni community and is equally focused on maintaining meaningful connections with alumni well beyond the PhD.
Digital engagement is central to this effort. In addition to SGSAH’s social media presence, we’ve been developing the SGSAH research site, which hosts growing collections of profiles of SGSAH-funded researchers. Since the site’s inception, these profiles have served as a vibrant, accessible, and visual platform to showcase our alumni-in-waiting— a lasting record of their work and impact.
As the SGSAH alumni network becomes increasingly diverse, it amplifies the reach and relevance of Arts & Humanities research both in Scotland and internationally. We are grateful to our alumni for continuing to recognise SGSAH as a valuable hub, and for staying engaged through participating in events, following our updates, and keeping their contact information current.
If you’re one of our alumni, we’d love to hear from you. You can keep in touch by filling in the online form found in the ‘Alumni’ section of our website. SGSAH is also using LinkedIn to strengthen connections, so please feel free to connect with us there.
Achievements and updates from our alumni in 2024-25 include:
• Dr Ann Gillian Chu Gillian has taken up the role of Assistant Professor in the Academy of Chinese, History, Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University, and the role of Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds.
• Dr Paul Michael Henry Michael collaborated with filmmaker Amélie Ravalec on the new dance-theatre and film piece Labyrinth of the Unseen World, supported by Creative Scotland and Butohpolis.
• Dr Jessica Secmezsoy-Urquhart Jessica featured in the History Hit documentary The Kings’ Curse, discussing the notorious witch trials carried out in Scotland.
• Dr Bilyana Palankasova Bilyana worked as Assistant Curator for Tate Modern’s acclaimed 2025 exhibition Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet.
• Dr Lili Scott Lintott Lili has been appointed Associate Lecturer in Legal History at the University of St Andrews.
• Dr Maria Sledmere Maria’s Midsummer Song—an autopoietic almanack of disambiguated ideas, a pale fire of a poem—was published by NoUP/ Tenement Press.
Our Staff
Professor Claire Squires (she/her) Director
Claire is the Director of SGSAH and is responsible to the Board for the overall vision and development of a world-leading and innovative national Graduate School, targeted to the particular needs of doctoral students in the Arts & Humanities. Alongside her role as Director, she is Professor in Publishing Studies at the University of Stirling and Director of the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication.
Dr Andrew Dilley (he/him)
SGSAH Deputy Director
Andrew joined SGSAH in July 2024. Based at the University of Aberdeen, he is a Senior Lecturer and former Research Dean for Academic Research Partnerships and Governance. A leading historian of Britain’s global imperial and colonial engagements, he has published widely on the economics and politics of Empire and the Commonwealth in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As Deputy Director, Andrew has particular responsibility for overseeing the work of the Discipline+ Catalysts.
Dr Anindya Raychaudhuri (he/him)
EDI Lead
Anindya took up the EDI role in April 2023. As EDI Lead, he is responsible for delivering the planned activity around EDI, including via the AHRC DTP2 EDI grant, working with the SGSAH Directorate, staff team, and governance structures.
Monica Callaghan (she/her)
Head of Operations and Strategy
Monica is responsible for implementing, overseeing and developing SGSAH's operational strategies and processes.
Monica joined SGSAH from The Hunterian where she was Head of Education and brings with her extensive leadership and strategic management experience within the cultural sector and a long-term commitment to learning and development.
Helen Kendrick (she/her)
Partnerships and Placements Manager
Helen joined SGSAH in 2019 after working in a range of academic and industry roles in the Arts & Heritage sector. She is responsible for SGSAH’s partnership strategy, knowledge exchange (KE) and careers-related training, collaborative PhDs and SGSAH’s extensive research internship programme.
Shauna Dillane (she/her)
Operations Manager
Shauna is responsible for supporting the smooth development and delivery of SGSAH's operational processes and strategy. Shauna joined SGSAH in July 2025, bringing experience in operations, programmes and partnership management across the third sector, with a particular focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Mariam Jack (she/her)
Communications Officer
Mariam joined SGSAH in March 2020. Her main role is to support the implementation of SGSAH's communications strategy. She supports the social media profile of SGSAH and contributes to a range of digital outputs and campaigns, including website content, video recordings, press releases and newsletter publications.
Jordan McInally (she/her)
Administrative Assistant
Jordan joined SGSAH in 2019 and leads on the organisation and delivery of SGSAH’s many events. Jordan is responsible for providing administrative support across the full range of SGSAH’s work, ensuring everything runs smoothly.
Sam Morton (he/him)
Administrative Assistant
Sam joined SGSAH in March 2023. He provides administrative and organisational support to staff and doctoral researchers, including arranging travel and accommodation, updating databases, processing expenses, supporting events, and contributing to SGSAH’s social media presence. Sam also lends his creative skills to graphic, logo and poster design for SGSAH.
Hugh Woods (he/him)
Senior Financial Analyst
Hugh is responsible for overseeing our financial operations, including budgeting, monitoring accounts, and ensuring accurate financial reporting.
