The Leverhulme Trust awarded the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute 15 fully-funded PhD grants, with the third and final group of scholars commencing in October 2017. The scholarships are funded for 3 years at RCUK levels and each will include full-time UK/EU fees. The scholarships address key global issues such as access to resources, safety and security, the effects of rising sea levels, our responses to natural and human disasters, the impacts on people and the ways people are living by and from the sea.
The programme particularly encouraged projects that:
1. Proposed a transdisciplinary approach to tackle an important societal challenge in the marine and maritime realm;
2. Are useful in informing national and international decision makers from government, business and civil society;
3. Have direct benefit to marine/maritime stakeholders such as port authorities, aid and/or government agencies, businesses, seafarers and coastal communities;
4. Challenge public understanding and/or capture the public imagination.