Scholarship - OUR MIND Programme

OUR MIND Programme Overview

Our minds perceive and interpret the world around us. They create knowledge and devise ways of putting that knowledge to use. They have created the arts, the sciences, the structures of our societies and our beliefs. How do they do it, why do they do it, what have they done and what will they do? We are offering funding to reflect, explore and engage with others, in particular the public, on questions such as these.

Successful projects from our 2023 programme: 

Meet the cohort

Our Mind public event news

Historical background 

In the early 19th century, phrenologists managed to convince much of the public that you could deduce a person’s personality from the shape of their skull. Scientists debunked this idea as they began to learn more about how the brain really works, but not before the phrenologists had left their mark. Phrenological societies, including one in Edinburgh, amassed large numbers of materials that they used as evidence for their beliefs, such as life and death masks and skulls from around the world. You can find out more about this history, learn about modern evidence for how our brains work, and see artwork inspired by these topics, in the online exhibition Mindshift: 

https://exhibitions.ed.ac.uk/exhibitions/mind-shift 

Application process 

Submission for 2023 has now CLOSED. Thank you for your interest!

If you have questions:

Please send any informal queries to David.Price@ed.ac.uk.  

Previous successful applications

Find out about successful applications from previous years