PhD studentships AHRC Landscape Award

The University of Brighton is delighted to invite applications to three PhD studentships in the arts, architecture and humanities starting in October 2026.

These studentships are funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through its Doctoral Landscape Award scheme. Each studentship provides Home (UK) tuition fees and an annual stipend (grant) at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) rates (currently £20,780 per year) plus some research and training costs. Successful applicants will benefit from a rich and diverse training programme with a focus on interdisciplinarity and developing career potential both in and beyond higher education.

Interested in applying? Please do contact a potential academic supervisor (see below) and come along to our free and informative webinar on 17 November 2025 at 10-11 am. (No need to register - simply click the button on the right to join. A recording of the presentation will be posted on this page for those unable to attend.)

We particularly welcome applications from those who identify as being from groups under-represented in higher education and in doctoral study in particular, as well as from those who have undertaken non-traditional routes towards the PhD, for example via extensive professional experience in the arts, community wellbeing or design and technology.

Research areas

We are proud of our wide range of arts, architecture and humanities research and we welcome projects that push the boundaries of traditional disciplines and those that are truly inter-disciplinary, including standard and practice-based research.

Themes we particularly encourage for 2026 include:

material and/or oral histories
community engaged design
medical humanities
comics and visual narratives
creative industries and heritage
creative ecologies
creative technologies and AI.

This list is not exhaustive and innovative applications on other themes relevant to the university's arts, architecture and humanities research interests are also welcome.

Join us for our information webinar AT 10am ON 17 November '25

Key facts

Deadline (Brighton) Sunday 22 February 2026 11.59pm

Interviews Early April 2026; dates to be confirmed

All applications must be developed with a university academic staff member.

Find out how to apply

Advice before application

We are eager to hear about your academic and/or professional background, how your research might align with our university's strengths, and the skills and experiences you hope to bring to research study.

Your application should be carefully written to show your potential to the full. To make sure you have the best chance of success, we require all applications to be supported by a member of our academic staff who is interested in supervising your reseach project. You will be applying with their name included in your application.

If you do not yet have a potential supervisor to support your application, you should make contact with a member of our academic staff by email.

With the email you should include a short statement of up to 300 words which outlines your proposed research and indicates how it might fit with the academic interests of the university. If the potential supervisor thinks your project is feasible and wishes to support your application, they are likely to ask to see a more developed research proposal (see Research proposal in How to Apply for guidance).

To help you find and approach an expert in your chosen research field, there are selected supervisory staff listed below. These academics can consider your approach or pass to colleagues in their disciplinary area. You may also find details of arts, architecture and humanities academics on our wider website, either within the relevant Centres of Research Excellence or the appropriate disciplinary PhD Programme Areas.

If you'd like further guidance on how to identify and approach a potential supervisor, you might find it helpful to attend or listen to a recording of our introductory webinar taking place on 17 November.

Collaborative Doctoral Awards

Building on our legacy of successful Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) at Brighton, we are ambitious that annually, one of the funding awards we make will be a CDA, where the research project is developed with the involvement of a non-academic partner (eg a museum, library, archive, heritage organisation, working within the broad AHRC remit) from the outset.

These Collaborative Doctoral Awards will be advertised as broad projects with confirmed external partners and will be distinct from the Landscape Award studentships open call.

About the AHRC Landscape Award funding opportunity

The studentships are funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through its Doctoral Landscape Award scheme, a new studentship and researcher training model.

The Landscape Award funding aims to allow universities to build on existing excellence in their research, offer opportunities for innovation, and widen participation in doctoral-level study.

The University of Brighton is part of a regional training hub in the South of England, working with 10 other universities. Each university in the Landscape South Hub will offer three new Landscape Award studentships per year, from 2026-2030. Fully-funded studentships (providing a stipend at the UKRI annual rate and covering Home tuition fees) are awarded to the best students applying to individual universities (rather than to the Hub as a whole).

Application process in detail

Overview

Applications received by the deadline will be reviewed and shortlisted. Successful candidates will be invited to interview and the final outcome will be communicated by the end of April.

Process

Applications for the Landscape Award studentships at the University of Brighton must be made as follows:

Applicants are required to identify a potential supervisor and to discuss their research proposal before submitting an application. Speculative applications will not be accepted. If you are not sure how to choose a supervisor, please do come along to our webinar (or watch the recording afterwards) and we will talk through how to find and contact the right person for you. See How to Apply (in Before you apply/Finding a supervisor) below for guidance and links.
Applicants will be required to attach a research proposal to their application. This should include a summary, research questions, context, methods and plan with a maximum word count of 2000 words, plus references.  See How to Apply (in Research proposal) below for guidance and links.

The application form

Complete your University of Brighton application linked under How to Apply/ Apply online below, attaching your transcripts, references, passport and research proposal.

Applicants are advised to be available should they be called for interview.

Entry requirements

Academic qualifications

Applicants must satisfy AHRC eligibility requirements and would normally have a masters degree or equivalent qualification.

As stated above, we would particularly welcome applications from those who identify as being from groups under-represented in higher education and in doctoral study in particular, as well as from those who have undertaken non-traditional routes towards the PhD.

Residential eligibility and funding

Successful candidates will receive a tax-free stipend (grant) at the UKRI rate (£20,780 per year for 2025-26) and a Home (only) fee waiver. International applications are welcome however the difference between Home and international fees will need to be met by any successful candidate.

Study can be undertaken on either a full-time or part-time basis.

The AHRC guidelines for funding stipulate that studentship recipients must live in the UK and within reasonable travel time of the institution at which they are registered.

English language entry requirements

All applicants must have successfully completed a Secure English Language Test (SELT) in the last two years unless they are from one of the UKVI-defined list of majority English-speaking countries.

Applicants who are studying for, or have obtained in the last three years, a degree from an institution in the UK or one of the UKVI-defined majority-English speaking countries may apply without a SELT. However, the university may request a SELT is taken as part of any award made. See UK Government guidance for full details

English language IELTS requirements should be 7.0 overall, 7.0 for writing, and none below 6.5.

How to apply

Before you apply

Make sure that you meet the entry requirements before making your application, and have read all of our advice about finding a research supervisor, writing your research proposal and making an application.

Finding a supervisor

Applicants are required to identify potential supervisors from our academic staff base.

As well as the academics listed on this page, you can explore the university's PhD Programme Areas in arts and humanities, the arts and humanities Centres of Research Excellence (COREs) and Research Excellence Groups (REGs).

If you need help finding a potential supervisor, the Doctoral College can advise: DoctoralCollege@brighton.ac.uk.

Speculative applications will not be accepted.

Research proposal

Applicants are required to identify a potential supervisor and to work with that supervisor on a research proposal. You should name your potential supervisor in your application and submit a full research proposal. Please see our guidance on writing a research proposal.

Apply online

1. Log in or register as a new user to complete a University of Brighton online application

2. Select the following options from the drop down menus

type of course: research degree

school of study: Doctoral College

Then select AHRC Landscape studentships (FT or PT) from the list of courses

3. During the application form please attach the following:

i. research proposal

ii. references

iii. undergraduate and masters transcripts

iv. a copy of your passport (at any upload point)

Apply online

If you have any questions, contact the Doctoral College at DoctoralCollege@brighton.ac.uk and we will be happy to help.