Major funding collaboration drives Scotland’s rural creative economy with new PhDs

The Open University in Scotland is proud to be a core partner in a significant new investment from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), as part of its Doctoral Focal Awards programme. 

The award is designed to champion the next generation of researchers and academics, offering future-facing training in areas vital to the UK’s creative economy and societal well-being. 

The funding will enable the Open University in Scotland to work in collaboration with Glasgow School of Art (GSA) and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to create a distributed training college of twenty doctoral researchers, recruited from across Scotland’s rural and island communities. The seven-year programme of doctoral study and enterprise training will support PhD researchers based in these communities, developing talent in situ and helping to address regional inequalities and underrepresentation in the doctoral college and creative economy, in support of national economic ambitions. 

Martin Boyle, Director of The Open University in Scotland, said: 

"This innovative programme perfectly aligns with the OU’s mission to widen access to high-quality education and research. We’re delighted to be part of a collaboration that not only supports the development of Scotland’s creative industries but also ensures that rural and island communities are at the heart of the nation’s research future." 

Dr Mahesh Anand, Professor of Planetary Science and Exploration at The Open University, and one of the proponents of the project, added: 

"Scotland’s Highlands, Islands and Lowlands represent some of the most resource-constrained environments. The best of human ingenuity and innovation is required to overcome these challenges and pioneer sustainable living." 

"It is exciting to see this project funded, resulting from our Knowledge Exchange activities associated with the 2024 European Lunar Symposium, organised by the OU in Scotland. The theme of this award has parallels with working and living in space, which is another example of a resource-constrained environment. This doctoral award paves the way to engage the creative minds from the Scottish rural communities, harnessing their experience and expertise, in using local craft for sustainable living and contributing towards the next big leap for humanity by enabling sustainable exploration of space." 

Building on the GSA’s growing rural footprint—including its Highlands & Islands campus and newly launched GSA Rural Lab research centre, both based in Moray—this award represents a strategic expansion of GSA’s presence across Scotland, and a significant investment in place-driven and craft-led innovation, enterprise, and knowledge exchange. 

Scotland’s Highlands, Islands and Lowlands represent some of the most resource-constrained environments. The best of human ingenuity and innovation is required to overcome these challenges and pioneer sustainable living."
Dr Mahesh Anand, The Open University

The vision, titled ‘A Golden Thread: Crafting the Creative Economy from Scotland’s Highlands, Lowlands & Islands’, aims to strengthen Scotland’s craft sector—an 80% women-led industry that contributes an estimated £70 million every year to the Scottish economy, yet remains undervalued as an industrial sector. The programme aims to generate wider economic and social impacts through supporting interdisciplinary study at the intersection of craft and future-focused industries such as space, biomaterials, and regenerative design. 

“This significant AHRC Focal Award is a powerful endorsement of our vision for place-driven, innovation-led education. It enables the GSA to extend our footprint across rural Scotland, creating a distributed training model that connects local creative and craft economies with national priorities and global agendas,” says Professor Penny Macbeth, Director & Principal of The Glasgow School of Art. 

“Critically, this transformative investment addresses underrepresentation in the doctoral college as well as Scotland’s craft sector, closely aligning with and building on the work of GSA Rural Lab, launched in April this year and positioning us as a key player in Scotland’s rural economic strategy.” 

“At the heart of this programme is equality of access to world-class postgraduate training,” says Dr Clare Devaney, GSA Senior Researcher (Innovation) and Project Lead. 

“Innovations include wraparound mental health and wellbeing support for students and supervisors, a bespoke package of industry-led coaching, mentoring and enterprise development training, digitally enabled delivery and ‘in motion’ evaluation. We are delighted to lead this programme from GSA Rural Lab, and look forward to working with our academic, sector and community partners in realising its transformative potential.” 

Recruitment for the GSA-led PhD programme will start in January 2026, with the first cohort beginning in September 2026. The programme will grow to 20 students by 2029/30, with graduations until 2033.

7 July 2025