Parliament research and fact sheets

Scottish Parliament Fellowship Scheme

The purpose of the Scottish Parliament is to hold the Scottish Government to account, to scrutinise legislation and to represent the people of Scotland by debating issues of national importance.

The Academic Fellowship Scheme, which is managed and hosted by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), enables academics to work on projects with the Parliament in support of this purpose.

The scheme aims to:

provide the Parliament with specialised resources which allow it to undertake and communicate analysis which would otherwise not be possible
increase the use of academic knowledge, skills and research within the Parliament
promote knowledge and understanding of the Parliament within the academic sector.

Following a very successful call for proposals in April and a competitive process, the following academic fellows have been appointed in 2025.

Dr Claire Perier, University of Edinburgh	Good food nation: options for innovative scrutiny, collaboration, and policy coherence
Dr Coree Brown Swan, University of Stirling	Devolution and the UK Internal Market Act
Dr Eleanor Kirk, University of Glasgow	Employment advice in Scotland: need, provision and distinctive models
Dr Emma Stewart, University of Glasgow	Impact of cash and in-kind transfers on child health and health inequalities
Dr Francisco Perez-Reche, University of Aberdeen	Extracting and summarising content from NHS Board reports using artificial intelligence
Dr Lewis Forsyth, University of Glasgow	Council tax and the Scottish Approach to Taxation
Dr Dely Elliot and Professor Sajjad Hussain, University of Glasgow	Impact of job cuts on the Scottish university sector
Dr Alisdair Macpherson and Professor Burcu Yüksel Ripley, University of Aberdeen	Digital Assets in Scots Law
Dr Mustapha Douch, University of Edinburgh	Using data to identify legal aid hotspots and gaps across Scotland

We are not currently looking for fellowship applications. The next call for fellowships is likely to be in autumn 2026.

For more information and answers to FAQs see our guide to the scheme:

Guide to the Scottish Parliament Fellowship Scheme 2025 (184KB, pdf) posted 28 February 2025

For information on fellows appointed by the Parliament see also our blogpost:

The Scottish Parliament Academic Fellowship Scheme - what's it all about?

If you have any queries, please email [email protected].