AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award PhD Studentships Ref: 5722

About the award

Supervisors

Prospective supervisors to be named as part of application

Project description

The University of Exeter is offering up to three fully funded AHRC doctoral studentships and training and development opportunities across a range of the AHRC’s disciplines for candidates aiming to begin studying in September 2026.

The University of Exeter is part of the AHRC South West and South East regional group and successful students will have opportunities to support their doctoral training as part of this group.

Exeter is a centre for world-leading research across the Arts and Humanities. Our departments are consistently placed at the top of national and international rankings.

Our AHRC studentships are available to support any excellent project connecting with, or across these subjects:

Exeter is a portal to a rich variety of research resources offering unique archives in medieval and modern history, modern and contemporary literature and film. Dynamic partnerships with arts, culture and heritage organisations – British Museum, Historic England, London Film School, National Trust, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Tate Britain among many others – give our researchers access to a remarkable range of research collections and facilities.

Exeter offers PhD students exceptional support:

A teamed approach to supervision combining research expertise from across our disciplines and access to a pastoral tutor
A dedicated Doctoral College, a single point-of-contact for all programme and practical needs
Access to a Digital Humanities Lab
Research and career development opportunities within the Faculty and across the University
Dedicated study space for HASS postgraduates
A well-established postgraduate research culture including conferences, seminars and journals
Funding opportunities for individual research needs

Awards will be granted to the strongest applicants based on an assessment of the applicant’s

Academic excellence
Research potential
Research proposal
Fit with research environment and supervision team

Applications will be assessed in line with the university’s commitment to supporting equality, diversity and inclusivity in postgraduate research. Please see our 2026 studentship assessment criteria for further details.

The Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences strives to foster a diverse and collaborative student community where everyone feels supported by us and by their peers to contribute to and engage with the opportunities available. We therefore encourage applications from individuals who respond to any of the nine protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010.

Duration and value of award

The studentship will be for a period of up to 3.5 years (42 months), dependent on satisfactory progress, and will cover full tuition fees and an annual maintenance grant of £20,780 (2025/26 rate).

For International applicants, please note that this studentship does not include funding for travel to the UK to take up this studentship nor does it cover visa and health surcharge costs, successful applicants must be prepared to cover these costs themselves.

We will be holding a Studentship Application Webinar to give advice about making an application for the studentship funding we have available, and to answer any questions that applicants may have. The webinar will run twice:

On Wednesday 12 November 2025, 9:30am – 10:30am GMT. Please use this link to Join the meeting at the appropriate time; and On Thursday 13 November 2025, 15:00 – 16:00 GMT. Please use this link to Join the meeting at the appropriate time.

Entry requirements

Applicants should have at a minimum a good first degree (at least 2.1, or international equivalent) in a relevant field of the humanities, arts or social sciences, and have obtained, or be currently working towards a Master's degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Evidence of relevant professional expertise can also be taken into consideration.

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements and provide proof of proficiency. Click here for more information.

Applicants must have identified and approached a potential supervisor and have supervision agreed in principle. This prospective supervisor must be named in your application and a supporting statement from your named supervisor will be part of the selection process. To help find an appropriate supervisor please look at the staff pages of departmental websites or use the Research Expertise search function on our Postgraduate Study pages: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/pg-research.

Applicants would be expected to start their studies in September 2026.
Recipients are expected to commit to engagement with the research environment of their discipline, the Faculty and the AHRC regional Hub by participating in research activities, accessing skills development training and opportunities and career development etc. Continued funding would be dependent on satisfactory evidence of this engagement having taken place.

Please note that these studentships are only open to applicants who will start their study in September 2026, not those who have already started.

Applications for full-time or part-time study are welcome however applications will only be supported for campus-based programmes as this studentship is not open to Distance-Learning programmes.

UKRI have opened up UKRI studentships to International students from 2021/22 entry onwards. Successful students will receive a full award, to include a stipend and fees at the home level. Exeter will cover the difference between the UK home fee and the International fee. The proportion of international students that may be appointed each year is limited to one studentship.

Residency Entry Requirements

1) UK and International

This studentship, including full tuition fees and maintenance allowance, is available to UK and International candidates.

How to apply

To apply, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button above. You will be asked to submit the following by 12:00 (Noon) GMT Monday 23 February 2026:

A research proposal of 1,500-2,000 words (exclusive of bibliography), with supervisors agreed in principle. Guidance about how to write a research proposal is available here.
We encourage you to include in your research proposal a 250-word (max) statement outlining how your background will enrich our diverse and inclusive research community. You are encouraged to reflect on your own experience, interests and/or proposed research for the statement. Please note this is optional.
A 200-500 word statement on your fit with the department/Faculty research culture and your prospective supervision team. You should also name which programme of study you are applying for
A CV
Proof of academic track record (transcripts/certificates)
Two references, at least one to be an academic reference
Proof of your English language proficiency, if relevant

Please submit all documents, apart from your references and degree transcripts, as one combined file and submit this against the research proposal section of the application form.

All application documents must be submitted in English. Certified translated copies of academic qualifications must also be provided.

Please note that we will seek a supporting statement from named prospective supervisors for all shortlisted candidates as part of the final assessment process.

Please quote reference 5722 on your application and in any correspondence about this studentship.

Reference information
It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees email their references to PGRApplicants@exeter.ac.uk, as we will not make requests for references directly; you must arrange for them to be submitted by 23 February 2026. Please note that applications with missing documentation will not progress to shortlisting.

References should be in the form of a letter. Referees must email their references to us from their institutional email accounts. We cannot accept references from personal/private email accounts, unless it is a scanned document on institutional headed paper and signed by the referee.

No interviews will be held for these studentships. We expect to be able to communicate outcomes to all applicants by the end of April 2026.

Summary

Application deadline:	23rd February 2026
Number of awards:	3
Value:	Home (UK) or International tuition fees and an annual maintenance allowance at current Research Council rate of £20,780 per year (2025/26 rate).
Duration of award:	per year
Contact: PGR Admissions Team	pgrapplicants@exeter.ac.uk