Scholarships

It is now widely recognised that the challenges for local, national, and international communities to transition to more environmentally sustainable modes of production, business and industry, agriculture, consumption, energy use, natural resource use and conservation require interdisciplinary approaches to research that combine different streams of expertise from the natural and social sciences.

The Sustainable Transitions - Governance, Ecological Management and Society - Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme plays an important role in researching those transitions. It is founded on the world leading expertise in areas of environmental sustainability at the University of Essex. Each research project is interdisciplinary in nature and supervised by expert academics drawn from two of the following six disciplines at the University - Business, Government, Law, Life Sciences, Maths, and Sociology - to address specific challenges.

There are ten different projects that you can apply for under the programme:

• Addressing the place of microorganisms in the Nagoya Protocol: microbial biogeography, genomics and taxonomy
• Biodiversity Conservation. An empirical analysis of the ways that developers in England are working to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
• Co-Production, Climate Resilience, and Accountability: A Pathway to Localising Sustainable Agendas
• Digital technologies of Farming: Analysing and communicating their impact on farmers and the environment
• Exploring the legal and social emergence of rights of nature as a form of environmental protection
• From Global Promise to Local Impact: Evaluating Climate Funding at the Local Level
• The role of directors’ duties and their relationship with non-financial reporting in achieving environmental sustainability
• Towards a praxis of a just transition in developing economies: Beyond counter accounts and regulatory frameworks to action
• Transitions to sustainable wildlife harvest: evidence based management and the social licence to hunt
• Unilateralism v Multilateralism: Harnessing International Economic Policy for Sustainable Transitions

How to apply

You should apply separately for the scholarship and the PhD course applicable to the project that you are applying for.

To apply for the scholarship:

Please complete the application form (.docx) and email it to SustainableLDTP@essex.ac.uk by 11:59pm on Wednesday 28 May 2025 and attach a 3 page (max) curriculum vitae including educational and academic / professional / working experience.

To apply for the PhD course:

Please complete the online course application. For more information see PhD application information.

On the Course page of the application form, there is a section titled ‘Proposed research topic or area of research *’. In the adjacent box please note that you are applying for a Sustainable Transitions scholarship and provide the title of the project. 

On the same page, there is a section that states ‘If you have contacted a potential supervisor to discuss your application or research proposal, please provide the person's full name’. In the adjacent box please state the name of the primary discipline supervisor for the project.

You can learn about postgraduate research at the University of Essex more generally on our postgraduate research study pages.

You should apply for a place to study as soon as possible and at the latest by 11:59pm on Wednesday 28 May 2025.

Guidance for Applicants

Prior to applying, please read the Guidance for Applicants document (.docx) which provides further background information and guidance on the content that you should include in your application.

Guidance Webinar

• 22 April 2025 12pm - Sustainable Transitions Doctoral Training Programme – Guidance for Applicants Webinar - Register your place

Schedule for Shortlisting and Selection Process

• Applicants shortlisted for interview will be informed by 4 June 2025.
• Two rounds of interviews will take place from 9 June and 25 June 2025.
• Outcomes for interviewed applicants will be communicated by 7 July 2025.

Further Information

For any queries relating to the programme please contact the Sustainable Transitions Programme Administration at SustainableLDTP@essex.ac.uk

Terms and conditions

Sustainable Transitions – Governance, Ecological Management and Society – Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme 2025-26 (.pdf)

Please read the full terms and conditions before applying for or accepting a scholarship or bursary. They contain important information about eligibility, how to apply and how you'll receive your funding.

If you're a current student looking for information about an award you received, see our terms and conditions for previous years.