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Faculty of Humanities

AHRC

CDA studentship competition

Collaborative Doctoral Awards provide funding for a postgraduate researcher to complete a PhD project in arts and humanities as a partnership between a Higher Education Institution and a partner organisation.

The awards are intended to encourage and develop collaboration and partnerships, providing opportunities for doctoral researchers to develop research with direct impact onto an industry organisation and the wider community while enhancing their professional profile.

The projects also encourage and establish networks and connections that can have long-term benefits for all collaborating partners, providing access to resources and materials, knowledge and expertise that may not otherwise have been available.

The funding is awarded to the host University and the postgraduate researcher receives a stipend for the duration of the PhD. The project is co-produced and supervised in collaboration with the organisation.

Full details including the CDA process timeline, assessment criteria, guidance and application form can be found on the NWCDTP Collaborative Doctoral Awards page.

Deadlines

Full joint applications will need to be submitted by Friday, 11 October 2024. Please apply using our updated form and submit it to NWCDTP@manchester.ac.uk.

Manchester Information Session

An AHRC NWCDTP CDA Studentship Information Event was held recently for academic colleagues across the four Schools within Humanities planning to submit a proposal for CDA studentships for this studentship round.

This session provided competition information, tips on applications and support to colleagues who may have questions or challenges in the development of their applications.

You can view the slides from the AHRC Session.

A recording of the session is also available below:

Standard studentship competition

The AHRC NWCDTP provides funding for postgraduate researchers to undertake doctoral research and training. There are 15 discipline Pathways broadly organised as Histories, Cultures & Heritage; Creative and Performing Arts; Languages and Literature.

You can read about the Pathways and see what kind of doctoral work has been funded in each one on their dedicated pages. Every applicant will select a pathway to apply to.

The AHRC NWCDTP particularly welcomes applications from prospective candidates from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in Higher Education. They have committed to supporting those communities that often have been marginalised. At the NWCDTP, they are working to address imbalances and promote equality of opportunity.

If you are liaising with a potential supervisee who may interested in applying for this funding competition, please direct them to the AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) PhD Studentships funding page. Full details can be found on the AHRC NWCDTP website.

Academic requirements

To be eligible applicants are required to meet the entry requirements for their programme.

Deadlines

Applicants seeking to apply for AHRC NWCDTP funding must submit their programme application by the school or department deadline:

  • Alliance Manchester Business School: 1 December 2024
  • School of Arts, Languages and Cultures: 13 January 2025
  • School of Education, Environment and Development: 13 January 2025
  • School of Social Sciences: 1 December 2024
  • Department of Philosophy: 13 January 2025

Applicants must also submit their AHRC funding application by 5pm GMT on Monday, 3 February 2025 to the Humanities Doctoral Academy at hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk.

Please note that the given deadlines are strict and late or incomplete applications will not be included in the competition.

The AHRC NWCDTP competition is extremely competitive, and if you are liaising with a potential supervisee, it is likely you will be required to support the PGR and their application throughout the process, and to ensure the funding application is submitted by the deadline.

Please liaise with your supervisee to help them produce a 1500 word version of their research proposal and make sure the revised version of the proposal is forwarded to the Doctoral Academy Admissions team by the above deadlines.

Pathway leads also utilise the content of the interview form in their nominations, so please complete this form with as much detail as possible following the admissions interview to ensure a strong application.

Allocation procedure

  1. Applicants submit their application by the relevant school deadline. Applications must indicate the intention to apply for AHRC NWCDTP funding and contain all necessary supporting documents, including a 1500 word research proposal.
  2. Applications are then circulated for review via the evaluation process. If you have a potential supervisee seeking AHRC NWCDTP funding, please ensure to review their application in a timely manner. Candidates must hold an offer by 7 March 2025. If the research proposal is redrafted during the evaluation, make sure the revised version of the proposal is forwarded to the Doctoral Academy Admissions team no later than the NWCDTP funding application deadline.
  3. Applicants must submit a NWCDTP funding application to the Humanities Doctoral Academy at hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk by 5pm on Monday, 3 February 2025.
  4. Following the funding application deadline, the Doctoral Academy Admissions team compiles all eligible applicants, including an academic summary for each, into a candidate list per pathway. This candidate list and all application documents are provided to Pathway Representatives by 14 February 2025.
  5. Pathway Representatives will then review the applications and submit a ranking to the respective Pathway Lead and the Doctoral Academy Admissions Team by 7 March 2025.
  6. Once pathway nominees are determined, Pathway Leads will arrange and hold the NWSSDTP Pathway Panel with colleagues at the partner institutions to review all pathway nominees (cross-institution) by 28 March 2024. Following these panels, Pathway Leads submit the top ranked applications to the NWCDTP for the Studentship Committee, and notify the Doctoral Academy Admissions team of the nominations.
  7. The Doctoral Academy Admissions team will contact candidates not nominated for the Studentship Committee and inform them of the unsuccessful outcome.
  8. On 30 April - 1 May, the NWCDTP Studentship Committee takes place, attended by the NWCDTP team and Institutional Leads. In this committee, Pathway Leads discuss their shortlist of candidates and the nomination process, and the studentships are allocated accordingly.
  9. Applicants who are submitted to the NWCDTP Studentship Committee will be notified of the outcome (successful, reserve or unsuccessful) by the NWCDTP team.
  10. The Doctoral Academy Admissions team issues funding letters to AHRC NWCDTP studentship awardees.