Songwriting as Scottish Place: A Radical Embodied Cognitive Science approach to the role of place within the creative process (VC2643)

About the Project

University of the West of Scotland (UWS) is seeking to attract a PhD candidate of outstanding ability and commitment to join its vibrant and growing programme of internationally excellent research.

In the context of serious challenges to rural & island life in Scotland due to population decline and out-migration, cultural heritage and sense of belonging are increasingly identified as crucial factors. By considering and actively strengthening the links between place & songwriting in Scottish rural communities, this project explores the role of Scotland’s natural heritage within the creative and cognitive processes of its resident artists, thus highlighting and addressing the importance of rural locations & community settings in cultural heritage.

The project will make a methodological innovation to a growing new field in Cognitive Science - Radical Embodied Cognitive Science (RECS) – as a means to address the effect of the environment and social context on cognitive processes. The successful candidate will be a practice-based researcher with a songwriting background and will apply this approach within site-specific songwriting practices.

Objectives:

(1) Apply RECS to a novel field (songwriting practice), considering how it sheds crucial light on the cognitive aspects of the creative process

(2) Evidence the role of place as a cognitive process within songwriting, as compared across rural & urban Scottish contexts

(3) Explore & highlight the role of depopulation of Scottish rural to urban areas on the cognitive creative process

Process:

3 community-based songwriting residencies in a rural peninsula, an island, and an urban setting in Scotland. The songwriter-researcher will work intensively in a place-based, co-creative setting within a local archive to explore enactive cognition at work in songwriting products & processes of the area in question, producing:

• 3x short albums of songs
• 3x community-based performances (1 in each area), embodying & enacting the results of the research
• a written exegesis of findings, analysis of which will translate into a journal article – the first to address the application of RECS to songwriting practice.

The candidate/eligibility criteria

The successful candidate will have an established and demonstrable creative practice as a songwriter and performer, evidenced by a body of recorded work and live performance. They will be educated to masters’ level or equivalent, and hold a qualification in music, songwriting, ethnomusicology or a similar relevant field.

An established track record in applying practice-based songwriting, and/or the running of songwriting workshops, is important, and your application should demonstrate this experience with reference to relevant examples from your existing practice.

The successful candidate must meet the following criteria:

• be a UK National (meeting residency requirements),
• or have settled status,
• or have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements),
• or have indefinite leave to remain

For more information, or to discuss the project informally, please contact (via email) Dr Iain Taylor – iain.taylor@uws.ac.uk

Application Deadline: 15/06/2026

Start Date: 01/10/2026

Applications must be made via the UWS Online System.

Funding Notes

This is a fully funded PhD Studentship and includes payment of tuition fees for 36 months at the home/UK rate and an annual maintenance stipend equivalent to UKRI minimum stipend rate (£21,805pa from 01/10/2026).

The successful candidate must meet the following criteria:

• be a UK National (meeting residency requirements),
• or have settled status,
• or have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements),
• or have indefinite leave to remain