PhD Studentship : AHRC funded Studentships through the AD[A]PT (Architectural Design and Humanities Promoting Transformation) Consortium

Eligibility:  See UKRI requirements and the AD[A]PT Call for Proposals and Award Details document, found at: www.adapt-phd.ac.uk/how-to-apply for guidance.

Bursary p.a.:  The stipend is at the UKRI rate (currently £20,780 for the academic year 2025/26).

Fees and Bench fees: The studentship covers bench fees, stipend (or bursary), and tuition fees at Home fee rates. Visa and associated costs are not funded. International applicants must demonstrate in their application how they will fund shortfall in fees by other means (personal funds,l or other grant); International applicants can visit https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/isat/ for further information.

Closing date:  Thursday 5th March 2026, 5pm GMT

Start Date: 1 October 2026

Project Title: AHRC funded Studentships through the AD[A]PT (Architectural Design and Humanities Promoting Transformation) Consortium

Requirements: For the full application documentation required, see the AD[A]PT website page: ‘How to Apply’ at www.adapt-phd.ac.uk/how-to-apply

Project Description: Two AHRC Doctoral Studentships available, through the AD[A]PT Consortium, hosted at Oxford Brookes University

Deadline for applications: Thursday 5th March 2026, 5pm, GMT

The Schools of Architecture and the Built Environment at Oxford Brookes University are offering two fully funded doctoral research scholarships through the AD[A]PT (Architectural Design and Humanities Promoting Transformation) Consortium’s AHRC Doctoral Focal Award supporting arts and humanities research towards a healthier people, place and planet.

Awards will be offered for a minimum of 3.5 years (full time equivalent), potentially up to 4 years, with exciting researcher development and placement opportunities. One successful applicant will be hosted at the School of Architecture, the other at the School of the Built Environment.

Successful candidates will join fellow AD[A]PT scholars at the Universities of Cardiff and Falmouth and studentship projects will benefit from input from the Consortium’s partner organisations - RIBA, RTPI, RICS, CIOB, Historic England, Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Cadw, RCAHMW, CIBSE, Design Commission for Wales, Landscape Institute, and Circus Eruption - with some studentships offered as a Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA).

We particularly welcome applications from groups traditionally under-represented in postgraduate study, and whose research proposal addresses our AD[A]PT research vision, or one of two set briefs outlined below.

THE AD[A]PT RESEARCH VISION

Despite decades of research giving us clear guidance on how built environment professionals can create healthy places, their delivery remains the exception rather than the norm. AD[A]PT will address this knowledge-practice gap through studentships that:

• identify barriers to build environment professionals creating healthy places
• devise strategies and tactics to overcome the above identified barriers
• problem-solve through design-led arts and humanities methodologies.

Projects may address one or more barriers faced by built environment professionals to:

• meet targets for the UN’s sustainable development goals, fulfilling the UK government’s pledge towards net zero, and biodiversity net gain towards a healthier planet
• exceed life, health and fire safety standards in buildings to ensure healthier people
• create healthy places that nurture, are accessible, inclusive and supportive of a rich diversity of life.

HOW TO APPLY

You can either:

1. a) Develop your own research topic proposal that addresses one or more of our Open Call Research Themes (you will need to demonstrate how it addresses the research vision, as well as potentially indicating input from partner organisations):

• Generational differences (e.g. healthy ageing / healthy youth)
• Inclusion, representation and justice
• Healthy (urban) places (placemaking and community)
• Green spaces
• Cultural heritage
• Regenerative practice
• The role of the built environment professions
• Homes and housing
• Policy and design governance
• Life and fire safety
• Healthy buildings
• Healthcare environments

 OR

1. b) Respond to Oxford Brookes University’s Set Brief 1 or 2.

Each university within the consortium is supporting different briefs:

1.  a) OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY’S SET BRIEFS:

SET BRIEF 1 (SCHOOL OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT):

“Fostering a healthy live music ecosystem as a driver for urban and cultural regeneration in inclusive cities”

Description: This project seeks to investigate the conditions for developing and sustaining a healthy live musical culture rooted in a locality, through understanding the affordances of urban form for musical performance and cultural production and the network of interacting agents that form a supporting music ecosystem. The project may be focussed to enable design reflections and policy recommendations as to the regenerative potential of public spaces as sites of expression, encounter, and mutual recognition within the context of increasingly mixed and co-located approaches to urban development.

Collaborative Doctoral Award: Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has expressed interest in supporting this topic as a CDA. In responding to this brief, you should give consideration as to how your project might benefit from engagement with RTPI. This includes preferential and early access to RTPI’s archival and currently untapped materials and free student membership. If successful, this project would be co-supervised between staff at the School of Built Environment at Oxford Brookes University and staff at RTPI, and involve a period of time being based within RTPI's London head office.

SET BRIEF 2 (SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE): “Ethical Professional Practice and Governance in the Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Supporting Professionals to Create Healthier Places”

Description: Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) is beginning to influence many aspects of work in the construction industry. This project invites applicants to explore how genAI might help professionals address barriers to creating healthier places, for example by improving access to information, supporting decision-making or easing pressures on time and resources. It also encourages investigation into the new ethical and governance questions that arise, including issues of responsibility, authorship, bias and professional judgement. The aim is to consider what forms of guidance or governance could enable responsible and effective use of genAI in support of healthier, safer and more sustainable environments.

Collaborative Doctoral Award: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has expressed interest in supporting this topic as a CDA. In responding to this brief, you should give consideration as to how your project will benefit from engagement with RICS. This includes access to RICS' Isurv system, access to their public and private archives and RICS membership for the duration of the award. This project will be co-supervised between staff at the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes University and staff at RICS, and involve a period of time being based within RICS’ London head office.

When responding to either calls, please give careful consideration as to methods and methodologies, making sure they both comply with the AHRC’s funding remit and the potential use of exploratory or innovative methods. While we are particularly interested in interdisciplinary proposals that utilise visualisation tools, use of AI in design, and/or arts-based research practice, we are open to a wide range of arts and humanities modes of inquiry.

All prospective applicants should refer to the instructions at the AD[A]PT website before applying, under the page ‘How to Apply’, which includes more information on the above open call and set briefs, on the eligibility requirements and the application process. See: www.adapt-phd.ac.uk/how-to-apply

Webinars for prospective applicants will also be held in January and February 2026 - see the above AD[A]PT website for more details.

International Applicants: Funding rules restrict us to a maximum of 30% of international applicant awards. Only home fees are covered meaning applicants will have to cover the shortfall from other sources.

Contact for informal enquiries: Associate Professor Emma Rowden (erowden@brookes.ac.uk) with the subject line: AHRC Doctoral Focal Awards.

For application enquiries contact: Dominic Maitland (tde-tdestudentships@brookes.ac.uk) and/or Associate Professor Emma Rowden (erowden@brookes.ac.uk)

Interviews will take place between 5th - 22nd May 2026.