AHRC-funded PhD Studentships

Study for an AHRC Funded PhD at the University of Salford

Call for Expressions of Interest and Applications in Digital Curation

North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership Studentship Competition for 2025-26 Entry

We invite expressions of interest and applications, to the Art & Design and/or Heritage Pathways, for +2/+3 full and part-time PhD studentships as part of the AHRC’s North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership studentship competition.

The studentship covers PhD fees, provides an annual stipend for the duration of your study (currently set at £19,237 (or part-time pro rata) and subject to review), and access to additional funding for field research and further training.  

 The University of Salford is a member of the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP), which includes non-HE institutions such as the BBC, Home/Cornerhouse, Tate Liverpool, Opera North, FutureEverything, Science and Industry Musuem, and FACT (Liverpool). 

 The School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology at the University of Salford has an international reputation for research, both theoretical and practice-based. The Digital Curation Lab at MediaCityUK undertakes research in the conceptual, applied and practice-based aspects of digital curation, digital heritage, and digital preservation.  

Areas of expertise of our academic staff include: human-centred design, contemporary art-making, data art, curation, digital heritage, digital preservation, museum interfaces, digital storytelling,  and socially-engaged art & design practices.

How to Apply:

Prospective applicants who are interested in applying and eligible for funding ­ should get in touch with us with an expression of interest by Wednesday 11 December 2024.  

Please contact one of the Pathway Representatives at Salford, who can offer you guidance on the suitability of your research project proposal and eventual application:  

Dr Juan Hiriart (Heritage) – J.F.V.Hiriart@salford.ac.uk

Dr Toni Sant (Art & Design) – A.Sant2@salford.ac.uk

We would expect you to have a very good first degree in a related subject, and a completed or current MA, or equivalent professional experience. Applicants with a distinction on their MA (or equivalent) are normally rated higher than others in the funding competition.

Following that, it will be necessary to complete a formal application for PhD study at the University of Salford by Monday 13 January 2025 (17.00 GMT)  and ultimately an application to the Northwest Consortium by Monday 3 February 2025 (17.00 GMT) 

For further information including an application form and guidance notes, please see the NWC DTP site:  

http://www.nwcdtp.ac.uk/funding-prospective-students/

If you have further queries about the Digital Curation Lab and the potential for working with our non-HE partners, please contact us through our website at http://hub.salford.ac.uk/digital-curation-lab

Ring Fenced Studentships

The NWCDTP is committed to equality of opportunity and working to ensure our cohort of postgraduate researchers reflects the diverse community we serve. We have introduced a range of positive measures to assist in achieving these commitments, recognising in particular that postgraduate researchers from Global Majority, Disabled, and Socioeconomically Unequal communities are currently underrepresented on our programmes and across the UK university sector. The introduction of these measures follows a review of our recruitment processes and forms part of a three-year plan we have developed to achieve greater diversity and better equality outcomes.

In the current round, we will recruit directly to the following Named Studentships:

Global Majority or Global Majority Heritage studentship – recognising that our PGR cohort does not reflect the diversity of the UK population, this studentship is open to a Global Majority or Global Majority Heritage candidate. This studentship is available for Home and International candidates.

Broken Pipeline studentship – recognising the clear inequality within the HE sector this studentship is for a UK-domiciled candidate from an underrepresented group or background. This studentship is for candidates who feel that they are from groups or backgrounds that are underrepresented within UK Higher Education and experience barriers to access and participation. Many of these groups or backgrounds intersect and overlap and can pose barriers to equality of opportunity.

Applications workshops

We will be running online application workshops via Zoom for those who are interested in applying. Please find below dates, times and details on how to join our workshops :

19 November, 5-6:  https://zoom.us/j/91386554273
Workshop for candidates thinking of applying to ring-fenced studentships, including discussion of mentoring scheme. With Jerome de Groot and Excy Handsa (Application Support Fellow). Parts of this session will be recorded.

6 December, 2-3: https://zoom.us/j/91414273413
Workshop for all candidates with Jerome de Groot and Pamela Forster (Application Support Fellow).

If you have any questions regarding the formal application procedure please contact PGR-SupportSAM@salford.ac.uk