Margaret E.S. Merchant Memorial Scholarship

Margaret E.S. Merchant Memorial Scholarship

Call for applications


Applications are invited for the Margaret E.S. Merchant Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is open to candidates applying to the PhD programme in History. Candidates must study full-time on-campus in the area of History of Medicine, and may be of any nationality. Scholarship will be awarded on the strength of candidates’ overall profiles as presented in their PhD applications including academic and/or professional achievement, research proposal, and letters of reference.

The value of the scholarship is £10,000 per academic year for 36 months of supervised study. If the recipient is a home (UK) student for fee purposes their tuition fee will be waived and the remainder of the funds will be offered as a stipend paid in monthly instalments. If the recipient is an international student for fee purposes, they will be responsible for paying the difference between the £10,000 scholarship and the international fee rate. Tuition fee rates can be found here. One scholarship will be awarded with a start date of 1st October 2024 or 1st January 2025.

The candidate will be encouraged to work with local archives, including the Grampian NHS archives, city archives, University of Aberdeen Special Collections, Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society or others. They will be expected to be involved in appropriate academic and public engagement activities in the medical humanities both locally and nationally. The doctoral candidate will normally be co-supervised by staff with historical expertise and in medicine, and will be associated with the Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine.

Margaret E S Merchant was born on 30 November 1923 and graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an MA in 1945 and a Diploma in Education from Oxford in 1947. She had a long and illustrious career as a teacher at both Banchory Academy and St Margarets for Girls in Aberdeen. She died in 1986.

Eligibility Applicants must be new applicants to the PhD in History.
Applicants must have studied the History of Medicine at both UG and PG levels.

How to apply

Before applying please contact a potential supervisor within the field. This is an opportunity to discuss your research interests, whether the person you contact would be the best supervisory option, and how you intend to frame your research proposal.
Apply for the PhD in Divinity via the online application portal.
Under “Studentship Title” write “Margaret E.S. Merchant Memorial Scholarship”.
You must include a detailed research proposal (1000-1500 words) which sets out your anticipated research topic. Further guidance may be found here.
You must supply evidence of relevant UG and PG studies in the History of Medicine.
You will be considered on the basis of your PhD application materials. No additional documentation is required to be considered for this studentship.

Deadline for applications: 3rd May 2024

Enquiries: dhpa-pg-admissions@abdn.ac.uk