Four-Year Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships with Keele’s Sustainable Rural Futures Programme (SURF)

Keele University’s Leverhulme-funded Sustainable Rural Futures Programme will train a new generation of interdisciplinary rural researchers to tackle contemporary rural challenges in the UK. We are now recruiting UK and International students to our second cohort of up to five, fully-funded, four-year doctoral scholars, and one fully-funded five-year Masters+ scholarship for UK students from a low-income background or of black heritage.

Deadline: 5 March 2025

Interviews: 7/8 April 2025

Programme Details

Applications are invited to either our list of current project calls, or as a student-led project. Successful applicants will form the second cohort of students in this doctoral scholarship program to bring about step change in interdisciplinary and community-led rural research. Our projects are open to applicants from a range of disciplinary backgrounds spanning the Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences, including ecology, economics, english, environmental science, economics, cultural studies, geography, geology, history, law, politics, psychology and sustainability science.

Current Project Calls and primary disciplines for October 2025 Entry

Eligibility

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a Masters in a discipline relevant to their chosen project.

If English is not your first language, we require evidence of an IELTS test in the last two years with an overall score of 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any subtest.

All projects must have a focus on the United Kingdom.

How to apply

To apply for a SURF studentship you will need use our online application portal.

For your application you will need:

• Completed SURF application from (downloaded from the SURF website, please ensure you choose either the project or student-led form).
• CV
• Academic transcripts/certificates
• Passport
• Language certificate (if applicable)
• Contact details for two academic referees.

Guidance on how to complete you application is also available on our webpage.

If you have any questions about applying for our studentships, please contact the SURF team at surf@keele.ac.uk

Funding Notes

Funding is available for up to 6 scholarships:

• 4 scholarships for UK (or UK-domiciled) scholars. These are fully funded for four years at UKRI rates for stipend and PGR tuition fees.
• 1 scholarship for International scholars. This is fully funded for four years at UKRI rate for stipend and Keele University international PGR tuition fees.
• 1 Masters Plus scholarship for UK (or UK-domiciled) scholars from either low income backgrounds or Black heritage. This if fully funded for five years at UKRI rate for stipend, one year Masters tuition fees and four years PGR tuition fees.

All scholarships include £10,000 allowance to support research activities and training.

Scholars will also benefit from funding to support cohort building activities.