AHRC Studentship for Doctoral Researchers in the Arts and Humanities

Lives of medieval books in the National Trust Libraries

The Open University has available an AHRC funded PhD studentship through the Open-Oxford-Cambridge DTP consortium to start 2023/2024. It is a collaboration award with the National Trust.

This project aims to reveal the potential for joining up people, places and pages, led by the material histories of medieval books in National Trust collections.

The Open University is internationally recognized for innovative research across the Arts and Humanities. We host a number of major AHRC- and ESRC-funded research projects. We have a strong commitment to cross-disciplinary work, to national and international public engagement, and to creative partnerships with a range of non-university partners.

Available from October 2023, this fully-funded studentship includes: payment of university fees throughout the funded period; a tax-free maintenance grant for your living costs at the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) minimum rate (£17,668 for 2022/23); an additional AHRC stipend of £550 per annum to support costs incurred by working with the partner organisation. Further details about the benefits of an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP award are available on the DTP’s studentships page.

The project will adopt an object biography approach, established within material culture studies. The scope will be inter-disciplinary and appropriate methods of enquiry will include: access to archaeological surveys, for monastic sites; enhanced cataloguing of medieval books in the collections; manuscript studies methods for questions of production, patronage and provenance; architectural research methods for associated ‘spaces for books’. The research challenge is to identify and explain the significance of the medieval book for the National Trust, by confirming the holdings, exploring them for the first time as a discrete group within the Trust’s library collections, and raising awareness of their significance.

How to apply

• Review the advert on the DTP website: Lives of Medieval Books in the National Trust Libraries | Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (oocdtp.ac.uk).
• Download the Further Particulars here.
• Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Susie West (Susie.west@open.ac.uk) with questions and for any guidance before submitting their application.
• For general enquiries concerning doctoral study at The Open University, please contact Dr Sara Haslam, Director of Research Degrees, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences: FASS-PhD-Applications@open.ac.uk.
• Completed application forms, together with a Research Proposal and a covering letter indicating your suitability and reasons for applying must be sent to FASS-PhD-Applications@open.ac.uk
• Application forms are available from http://www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate/research-degrees/how-to-apply and OOC DTP Application Form for funding from 2023/2024.

Closing date: noon 11 January 2023

Equal opportunity is University Policy.