6 Fully Funded Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs)

We are currently accepting application for a total of 6 Fully Funded Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) 

The full-time studentships are supported for 3 years and will start on 01 October 2024

Project Description 

Building on our recent success in REF 2021, the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business at the University of Plymouth is making a strategic investment in 6 Fully-Funded Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) and invites talented applicants to submit outstanding PhD research proposals and applications connecting with all our Place-based research in disciplines across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. We are particularly interested in projects that fit within the remit of our research excellence within one of the research project synopses listed in this link.

Real Ideas Organisation/University of Plymouth, 'Exploring innovative approaches to understand the relationship between culture and place’

The Box/University of Plymouth, ‘Materialities of colonisation and empire in the Cottonian Collection and its associated contemporary curatorial practices’

Ocean Conservation Trust/University of Plymouth Collaborative Doctoral Award, ‘Shifting the Narrative on Ocean Conservation and Place-making in the UK’

National Marine Park/University of Plymouth, ‘What does the sea mean to me?’ 

Marine Biological Association/University of Plymouth, ‘A Networked Ocean: historical archives and collections at the Marine Biological Association’ 

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust/University of Plymouth, ‘Playful Communication Design in the Context of Child Health’  

Successful candidates will join the diverse postgraduate research community of over 400 researchers who work across a variety of disciplines recognised as world-leading across the Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and their Economy (SHAPE) disciplines across our Schools. The Faculty has long been a national leader in fostering civic engagement focusing on creative industries and economies, placemaking, art and design practices, and social action research into the changing global societies and challenging real-world issues. 

Eligibility 

You are required to have a good honours degree (1st Class or an Upper 2:1) and likely a Masters degree in a relevant subject (completed with Distinction or a High Merit), and a strong wish to pursue a PhD with an original research project. Candidates are highly encouraged to discuss their ideas with project Supervisors leading the research synopses above in advance of making applications. Please see our Postgraduate Research page for the list of relevant project synopses that these awards intend to cover.

We are specifically encouraging applications from under-represented Global Majority candidates who identify as Black, Asian, Brown, dual heritage or those whose heritage is indigenous to the Global South and have been referred to as ethnic minority.

If you wish to ask questions about the studentships then please contact the Faculty Deputy Director of the Doctoral College, Professor Shaofeng Liu (shaofeng.liu@plymouth.ac.uk).

The Collaborative Doctoral Award will be granted to the strongest applications assessed on the basis of applicant’s academic excellence, the strength of the research proposal and it’s fit to the collaborative research synopsis proposed by lead Supervisors. 

The award is supported for 3 years and includes full Home tuition fees, a bench fee of up to £1,500 plus a stipend of £17,668 per annum (2023/24 rate). Applications are open for applicants who are eligible for Home fees with relevant qualifications.  

NB: The award is supported for three years of the four-year registration period. The fourth year is a self-funded ‘writing-up’ year. 

How to Apply 

To apply, please click the Apply button, above.

Please submit with your application, the following mandatory documents:

• A one page personal statement, indicating your research background and intentions for the award. Please clearly state the title of the collaborative research synopsis proposal that you are applying for and the name of the research lead Supervisor on the top of your personal statement.
• 3-page CV/résumé, detailing your full education and employment history (and current status), publication, experience, etc.
• A Research proposal (no more than 4 pages). The research proposal must include: a title, a clear synopsis of the field of research, a research question/proposition/problem, and a clear suggested methodology, an indication to the expected contribution to knowledge, all must be contextualised with appropriate literature and attached with a list of references at the end.
• A selection of portfolio of work where appropriate (max 15 pages). Please note that if you wish to include films then please provide web-links within your portfolio.
• The details of two academic referees (please provide names and details on the application form).
• Evidence of up-to-date qualifications (certificates and transcripts for Masters or Bachelor degrees, plus any relevant professional qualifications). 

Please clearly state that you are applying for Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Collaborative Doctoral Award, the name of the collaborative award proposed title by lead Supervisor and the name of the lead Supervisor on the top of your personal statement. 

Applicants cannot apply for this funding if they are already a PhD holder or if currently engaged in Doctoral study at the University of Plymouth or elsewhere. 

For more information on the admissions process generally, please visit our How to Apply for a Research Degree webpage or contact the Doctoral College. 

The closing date for applications is 12 noon on 25 April 2024.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview week commencing 27^th of May 2024.

We regret that we may not be able to respond to all applications.

Applicants who have not received a response within six weeks of the closing date should consider their application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. 

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