Anna Scott is the new Knowledge Exchange and Partnerships Manager with the SGSAH and has very kindly written a post detailing more about her role and the upcoming opportunities for researchers across Scotland, which all sound super exciting!
Me!
I joined the SGSAH team in August from Arts & Business Scotland, where I was Stakeholder Engagement Manager for a membership of more than 250 arts and heritage organisations and private businesses. The importance of creating links between sectors for mutual benefit is something I take into my role as Knowledge Exchange & Partnerships Manager at the SGSAH and it’s been a fascinating few weeks getting to know the team here and speaking to students about their work and how the work of the SGSAH adds value to their experience as an arts and humanities PhD researcher in Scotland.
I am responsible for, amongst other things, running the internships and artist residencies programme. So I’ve also been out and about speaking to organisations about the potential for working with us through this scheme, which is an easy sell for me since, from what I can see so far, it seem to be a win-win situation for all involved. It provides students with the opportunity to work with an external organisation and use their skills in a different setting, to develop networks and relationships outside of academia, and get paid for it! At the same time, organisations benefit from the unique set of skills that arts and humanities researchers have such as project management, critical and analytical expertise and access to new ideas, insights and perspectives.
Parliament Hall, Edinburgh during a visit to discuss internship opportunities – showing the beautiful stained glass windows and original hammer beam roof
I’m so excited to launch the 2016 competition, which offers more than 30 opportunities from 25 organisations, from small arts festivals to Scotland’s largest membership organisation. These paid opportunities are open to all 2nd and 3rd year PhD students working in arts and humanities at any of the SGSAH’s 16 member institutions in Scotland. The closing date for applications is 31st October 2016 with a meet the host event scheduled for 13th October in Edinburgh – most of the host organisations will be there and this is nearly sold out so book your place fast if you want to attend!
I’m fascinated to hear about the variety of projects that organisations would like to work on with PhD researchers – some have a very specific idea of what they want – for example Creative Scotland are looking for someone to map the landscape of current creative industries research in Scotland, and Theatre Nemo want evidence to support their proposal to create a Creative Holistic Support Centre for people who have just left prison. Others are really keen to tap into the ideas that researchers have to develop a certain area of activity, for example Raise the Roof Productions, who are Channel 4’s biggest supplier of programming in Scotland, are really keen for someone to join their development team and develop ideas with them based on their own specialist subject area.
There’s lots of opportunities for practice-based doctoral artists as well – this year we are offering nine artist residencies with the likes of Dundee Contemporary Arts, Aberdeen International Youth Festival, RSPB and Edinburgh Museums.
Building progress at the site of the V&A Dundee
Don’t forget that students funded by the AHRC through the SGSAH can organise their own internship or residency at any time – email me about how to formalise this so that we can arrange the appropriate stipend, and try and do it about two months before the start of any work so that we can get all the paperwork in place. Also, I’d be delighted to hear from students about organisations they would be interested in working with – it could be that I’m already speaking to them … or plan to.
Email: anna.scott@sgsah.ac.uk
Twitter: @icantfindit
LinkedIn: Anna Scott
SGSAH Blog 