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Scotland’s Future Series offers small grants of up to £1000 on a rolling basis and large grants of up to £3500 in two annual funding rounds: one in Week 3 of Candlemas Semester and a second round in Week 3 of Martinmas Semester.

The project is designed to stimulate debate and discussion on Scotland’s future by supporting projects put forward by academic and professional staff and students and any St Andrews staff member or student can apply.

Launched in January 2022, Scotland’s Future Series demonstrates St Andrews’ commitment to playing an active and apolitical role in shaping Scotland’s future by supporting staff and students to carry out research and outreach work relevant to this important topic. A £35,000 annual fund is availble to help support projects which enhance discussion and debate on issues pertinent to Scotland’s future, and projects which promote inclusion and interdisciplinary working are particularly encouraged.

Last year (2023) Scotland’s Future Series supported nine projects on a variety of topics from different groups, some of which included staff and students working collaboratively. Successful applicants included academic and professional staff, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students, covering a wide range of issues. Positive outreach has included a major event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival as well as events involving writers, poets, painters, actors and authors at venues across Scotland, including Glasgow and Shetland.  

Welcoming visitors to St Andrews has also been an important part of the project with participants engaging Members of Parliament and parliamentary committees, business leaders, academic experts, campaigners and leading voices in civil society in events and debates. One of the most successful projects has been a podcast series which has provided a vehicle for discussion on topics of wider significance, such as the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, and controversial changes in legislation, as well as providing a platform for Scotland’s Future Series participants to talk about the aims of their projects to a wider audience.

In the last year, the project has also worked to improve its online presence with user-friendly web pages showcasing many of the projects and offering participants to submit blogs to give further insight into their work and what they hope to achieve. This page, which forms part of the new website, will be updated with announcements about funding rounds, SFS projects, events and news. A speaker series is planned for the last part of 2023 which, it is hoped, will provide another platform for staff, students and the wider St Andrews community to engage with the project and think about how we can all help shape Scotland’s future.