Meet our researchers who have undertaken SGSAH Visiting Doctoral Researcher placements and research supported by our Engagement Fund as a part of their PhD projects, and find out how these opportunities have impacted their doctoral experience.
Antonis Stamiris
The last summer found me in the ‘fragrant’ city of Cologne, where I participated in the ‘German for Students of Classicals Studies’ programme (GSCS). The six-week summer course at the University of Cologne offered a combination of intensive German language classes, Classics research seminars as well as a number of tours and trips to important Roman archaeological sites in and around Cologne.Â
Cleo O’Callaghan Yeoman
My VDR trip to UC Berkeley (UCB) was something that my supervisors and I wrote into my original SGSAH application before I actually began my PhD. The nature of my research project is such that there was one academic in particular, Professor Ian Duncan, who immediately sprang to mind as someone who would be invaluable to work with if I was able to secure funding to undertake my PhD.
Hannah Speed
SGSAH engagement funding enabled me to undertake a three-week research visit to Australia in May 2025 to explore the archives at the Jessie Street National Women’s Library and the State Library of New South Wales. I then moved to Canberra, to work in the National Library of Australia.Â
Maria Elena Bertoli
My PhD project aims to investigate the modes and times of the adoption of wool during Bronze Age northern Italy. During a 3-month stay at the University of Padua, Italy, I had the opportunity to access the main museums and institutions where the textiles and textile tools from Bronze Age northern Italy are currently preserved.
Michael Fraser
In examining Scottish connections with Europe in the Early Modern period, there is no better scholar than Steve Murdoch. Combined with the necessity of research in Scandinavia for the completion of the thesis, the SGSAH VDR Scholarship offered me unparalleled research and consultation opportunities not only with Professor Murdoch, but also with other Scandinavian academics.
