On-campus postgraduate scholarships

Africa and International Development offers a variety of courses and innovative cohort building activities that foster the co-creation of interdisciplinary understanding of the dynamics of the climate emergency, based on a situated understanding of its impact on societies across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Our approach to teaching underscores intersecting themes, ranging from climate-induced mobilities and vulnerabilities to contestations around net-zero transitions across the region. We also drive various student-led initiatives through dissertations and placement within several world-leading research and advocacy organisations which, enable students to connect acquired skills and insights on the programme with imaginative and practical ideas about how to empower governments, civil society, businesses and relevant stakeholders to build a more sustainable and inclusive solution to climate change.

I enjoyed the programme because most of the lecturers have some experience working in countries across Africa, so they always tried to connect theory to real-life experiences, which provided a better understanding of course content. The lectures were very engaging, and there was a lot of emphasis on critical thinking. I always felt like my input was valued, so it was easy to speak out in class. I also enjoyed that the programmre had a lot of flexibility and independent learning, which allowed me to explore topics or courses that were particularly interesting to me, making the entire educational experience more meaningful

Daphne Chebesi- 2024 Scholar 

Find out more about the MSc Africa and International Development:

MSc Africa and International Development

As it has been observed during the last decade, food security is becoming a major issue around the world.

The last FAO report (2023) states that almost 30% of the world's population suffered from severe or moderate food insecurity in 2022.  

Climate change and sustainability are critical elements of the food insecurity situation. Many consequences of climate change are challenging food security and diet quality worldwide.

Climate change places those vulnerable to food insecurity in even more difficult situations because of the reduced resources available for food production and the extreme climatological conditions make food production stability difficult to achieve.  Furthermore, how food is produced at the moment and how consumers are deciding which food conforms to their diet negatively impacts planetary resources, consumers' health and generates greenhouse gas emissions.

This is why two new food security pillars were defined last year: sustainability and agency. The sustainability pillar focuses on the importance of producing food, respecting the natural resources used to produce food and reducing the impact of climate change generated by the food system.

The objective is to work towards the long-term viability of food systems reinforcing its ecological and social bases. The agency pillar is to recognise the right and responsibility of people to choose what is good for them and the planet instead of being imposed on their dietary choices. Consumers can choose to help make the food system more sustainable for the planet and their health.

Richard Tusiime, 2024 Scholar 

The programme offers a comprehensive blend of disciplines, integrating international policies and instruments with mechanisms that enhance food systems and agriculture. This interdisciplinary approach provided me with a deeper understanding of how food security is intricately connected to governance, policy, and human rights. One of the most enriching aspects of the program was the practical exposure. Through national trips to different farms and an international field trip to Peru, I was able to witness first-hand the challenges and solutions related to food security. These visits provided me with invaluable insights into real-world applications of the concepts we studied, bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Richard Tusiime, 2024 Scholar 

Find out more about the MSc Food Security:

MSc Food security

The energy crisis is forcing the world to secure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The MSc in Sustainable Energy Systems allows students to contribute to a more sustainable future. The programme is grounded in engineering, but students are encouraged to consider the societal, economic, environmental and policy aspects of the industry.

The MSc Sustainable Energy Systems programme at the University of Edinburgh is intensive, with rigorous design projects, essays, report writing and critiquing. One of the best strategies I adopted was to starting my assignments on time and asking questions.  Beyond academics, I indulged in other social events around the campus, explored society clubs, participated in school politics, and volunteered for organizations. All these experiences counted and helped in building my social capital.

Victor Chukwuemezie- 2024 Scholar

Find out more about the MSc Sustainable Energy Systems:

MSc Sustainable Energy Systems

MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation prepares our students to tackle complex challenges, in different disciplines including sustainability by focusing on development, implementation and commercialisation of innovative solutions. The programme is designed focus on the development of practical skills and opportunities for the application of knowledge to real-life organisational situations and issues.  

Find out more about the MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation

MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Addressing climate change and sustainability is deeply intertwined with understanding inequalities. The most vulnerable and impoverished are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet studies reveal that the wealthiest 10% of the global population contributes to nearly half of all CO2 emissions. Dealing with climate change is, necessarily, dealing with inequalities.

The MSc Data, Inequality, and Society program is designed to empower students with robust analytical tools and data proficiency to delve into the underlying causes of inequalities and develop inclusive initiatives that pave the way for sustainable futures.

Find our more about the MSc Data, Inequality and Society:

MSc Data, Inequality and Society

The goal of Operational Research is to support organisations in running their operations as efficiently and effectively as possible using minimal physical resources. Especially the latter is becoming increasingly important in recent years.

Examples of sustainability issues addressed in courses of the programme include finding the best output levels of traditional and renewable electricity generators, the optimal placement of charging stations and use of electric vehicles for last-mile logistics, and ESG-based investments. In addition, in the past students could work for their summer projects on topics like hydrogen refuelling network design, managing grid-sized battery storage to level out imbalances in the energy network, or climate risk quantification in the financial industry.

Find out more about the MSc Operational Research

MSc Operational Research

The MSc Environmental Sustainability recognises that ensuring and achieving environmental sustainability is one of the most significant challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. You will be encouraged to think across different disciplines and consider scientific, socio-economic, and policy perspectives to better understand sustainability and how it can be achieved in different geographical contexts. You can explore critical social and global issues and ways to address these to benefit individuals, communities, societies and nature.

Find out more about the MSc Environmental Sustainability

MSc Environmental Sustainability

The University of Edinburgh Business School’s MSc in Climate Change Finance and Investment is dedicated to developing professionals in the field of low carbon finance and investment. Designed around an interdisciplinary foundation of carbon accounting, climate policy and financial economics, the programme aims to develop the skills and knowledge to drive the trillions of dollars of new investment needed to face the climate emergency. The MSc has an international focus, looking at the opportunities and challenges across different sectors, financial markets, and levels of national economic development.

Find out more about the MSc Climate Change Finance and Investment

MSc Climate Change Finance and Investment

A sustainable future is a future where people, living beings and the planet can flourish together. Planetary health is about achieving the highest attainable health, wellbeing and equity across the world  by attending to all of those human systems – the political, social, economic, and environmental systems alongside all of the earth’s natural systems. Planetary Health emphasises the absolute interconnection of all life – human, animal and the wider natural world – and the effects and consequences of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.  At the heart of planetary health studies is acknowledging that humans have been responsible for driving the triple crises, but we can also bring about the necessary changes.  Students on the Planetary Health MSc will develop the knowledge and skills required to promote sustainable livelihoods, learning how to protect human and natural systems and tackle the drivers of climate crises, biodiversity loss and pollution.

Find out more about the MSc Planetary Health

MSc Planetary Health

The MSc Environment and Development enables you to critically evaluate the multiple dimensions of the inter-relationship between development and the environment, with an abiding concern for social and environmental justice.  

Our approach to understanding climate change and sustainability will centre on questions of justice and inequalities. You will be encouraged to reflect upon your own roles in transformations towards social and environmental justice, considering the ethics of engagement in an unequal world.  Attempts to understand and address climate change and sustainability issues need to pay close attention to their contested, political and ideological nature and how they differ across places and scales. That is why our MSc foregrounds society and nature as inherently linked, historical contexts as highly relevant to current debates, and global capitalism as an underlying force of change.  It will consider the increasingly diverse set of actors, practices and processes driving environment and development issues, and question the power of these to direct agendas and actions.   The MSc has relevance in both the 'Global South' and 'Global North', drawing attention to relationships of inequality and marginalisation as they occur for particular environments and sections of society worldwide.  

Find out more about the MSc Environment & Development

MSc Environment & Development

You must meet the eligibility criteria to apply:

• Applicants must qualify academically for admission to the University of Edinburgh for a relevant degree programme listed. You will generally need to have achieved the equivalent of a UK Second Class (Upper) Bachelor’s (Hons) degree or higher. Find out more about the postgraduate entry requirements for your country:

Postgraduate entry requirements

• Applicants will have faced significant barriers to education (social, financial, personal, practical or health-related).
• Applicants must have graduated from an undergraduate study and must have a degree certificate and official final transcript to upload alongside their application by 8 November 2024.
• Applicants must be residents and citizens or hold refugee status in a sub-Saharan African country.
• Applicants must have faced barriers to education and in their early career.
• Applicants must demonstrate a track record of leadership and service within their community.
• Applicants must demonstrate experience, or at least ambition, in making a meaningful impact in addressing the climate crisis
• Applicants must be 35 or under the year the programme commences. Therefore, for the 2025/26 academic year, we accept applications from those born on or after 1 January 1990. Anyone born in 1989 and prior is not eligible. 
• Applicants should not have previously completed a postgraduate degree and should not be enrolled (or apply to enrol) at a separate university whilst on the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program scholarship.
• We particularly welcome applications from female scholars, scholars from refugee and displaced backgrounds, and scholars with disabilities (see FAQs below for further information)