AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) Studentship

AHRC CDP with National Maritime Museum and Royal College of Art Thames Barge Stories: Exploring the design and material culture of the Thames Sailing Barge c1800-present.

Start date: 1st October 2025

Application Deadline:  30 June 2025 12 noon.

Interviews will take place (via zoom) on 18 July 2025 The National Maritime Museum (NMM) and the Royal College of Art (RCA) are delighted to announce the availability of a fully funded studentship from October 2025 under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP) scheme.

Thames Barge Stories explores the design and material culture of Thames sail barges – commercial vessels unique to the Thames estuary – from their 19th-century heyday to the present. This practice-led doctoral project combines lens-based art practice with design history methodology to generate fresh perspectives on Thames barges, revealing object-centred microhistories of local, national and global trade networks and bringing new visibility to the diverse working-class communities who sustained them. In doing so, this project aims to enhance knowledge about NMM collections and reconnect contemporary audiences with the rich cultural heritage of the river.

We are looking for an artist whose practice engages with social history and lived experience and who is keen to develop their archival research skills, knowledge of riverine material culture and to employ object-centred design historical methodologies. This studentship might also appeal to historians with a creative practice in photography, art film making or related lens-based work.

• The award covers tuition fees up to the value of full-time home fees, plus an annual stipend of £22,780 for Home and Overseas students.
• Applications are open to Home and Overseas students
• The studentship is funded for up to 48 months (four years) full time, or part time equivalent up to a maximum of seven years.
• Interviews will take place (via zoom) on 18 July 2025

For more details about the studentship, funding and information on how to apply, visit the RCA's Thames Barge Stories CDP page.

Interested candidates are encouraged to watch the Information Webinar, recorded on 16 May, which gives further information about the project and how a CDP works. 

Information about the REACH CDP Consortium can be found on the here.

Any queries about this opportunity, please contact josie.kane@rca.ac.uk

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