PhD Studentship: Navigating Polycrisis: Climate Change and Small-scale Fishing Communities in Scotland

University of Strathclyde

Project summary: Small-scale fishers in Scotland rely on the ocean, and their cultural practices are shaped by land and sea interactions. However, they have been negatively impacted by the climate crisis. The project uses community-based research to understand how fishing communities navigate the complex interplay between climate change, regulations, environment, and culture.

Start date: 1st October 2026

Deadline: 30th April

Duration: 36 months

Funding: Funded

Funding towards: Home fee

Stipend -UKRI stipend rate for UK students.

Funding details: Fully-funded scholarship for 3 years covers all university tuition fees (at UK level) and an annual tax-free stipend. International students are also eligible to apply, but they will need to find other funding sources to cover the difference between the home and international tuition fees. Exceptional international candidates may be provided funding for this difference.

Number of places: 1

Number of places extra: There will be a shortlisting and interview process.

RCUK eligibility: No

Eligibility:

Qualifications:

A minimum of a first-class or upper second-class undergraduate degree (or international equivalent) OR a Master's degree with a research component (MSc/MRes/MA), in a relevant discipline.

Skills:

• Essential research skills, with a strong foundation in qualitative interviewing methods and fieldwork experience in community-based and participatory research approaches.
• Proficiency in analysing various forms of qualitative data.
• Practical fieldwork competencies including strong interpersonal skills, ability to organise and facilitate community workshops, and sensitivity to local communities.

For full details see advert: https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/postgraduateresearchphdopportunities/business/workemploymentorganisation/navigatingpolycrisisclimatechangesmall-scalefishingcommunitiesinscotland/

Study modes eligibility: Full-time

Fee Status: Home

Project Details: The project will be based in Scotland, where small-scale fishers are crucial to the coastal economy, providing jobs, local food with a lower carbon footprint, and preserving cultural heritage. Climate change has had wide-ranging impacts on them, including disrupted fishing activities, reduced fishing productivity, loss of income, loss of cultural identity and social practices, and loss of coastal land. Scholars and policymakers tend to address the climate crisis as a single system, overlooking the interactions, entanglements, and mutually reinforcing dynamics among multiple crises that are faced by fishers, many of which are driven by global-scale stressors and create combined harms that are worse than each crisis in isolation. This research will combine a polycrisis perspective with a community-oriented approach to examine small-scale fishers and the climate crisis by identifying shared stresses, cascading effects, and systemic dynamics at both national and global levels. It will use a social cartography method, viewing coasts as fluid zones rather than fixed boundaries, to understand how communities navigate political, regulatory, environmental, and cultural complexities. Fishers from five Scottish regions will collaboratively map their changing work territories through workshops, highlighting stressors, and share their experiences and challenges via photos and photo-voice methods.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Pratima Sambajee.

Additional Supervisor/s: Dr Brian Garvey.