In the annual competition for collaborative PhD awards run by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences (SGSSS), Urban Studies was highly successful, securing two of the eleven awards distributed across all social science units in Scottish universities.  Urban Studies has an established history of holding such awards and from 2018 will  hold 4 collaborative studentships in total, a reflection of its commitment to high-quality research which has impacts upon policy, economy and society.

Developing a Behavioural and Experiential Understanding of Fuel Poverty, is a project to be supervised by Professors Ade Kearns and Mhairi Mackenzie and undertaken in collaboration with the Energy Agency, a charity involved in delivering improvement measures under national programmes to tackle fuel poverty.  The research will examine how dwelling occupants’ perceptions of thermal comfort, maintenance of heating regimes, and experience of paying energy bills, compare with the standards and norms contained within the new national fuel poverty strategy.  By linking to the work of the Energy Agency, guided by the Director Liz Marquis and the third supervisor, EA Research Officer Dr Cassandra Dove, the research will also investigate what difference interventions make to these parameters, as well as to the occupants’ health and wellbeing.

Creating well-designed places in Scotland: What does it take? is a project to be supervised by Drs James White and Rebecca Madgin and undertaken in collaboration with West Dunbartonshire Council. The research will investigate what it takes to deliver well-designed places in Scotland through an examination of a recent strategic investment by the collaborating partner in a Place and Design Panel. Working closely with the Council’s Planning and Building Standards Manager, Pamela Clifford, the research will pinpoint the barriers to good design and assess the effectiveness of the local planning system to improve the quality of development. In so doing, the research will also reflect more broadly on the extent to which local authorities are equipped to meet the Scottish Government’s ambition to create well-design places across the country.

First published: 31 January 2018

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