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Environmental Humanities PhD Scholarships

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Durham University invites applications for four doctoral scholarships in Environmental Humanities. Applicants must hold an offer for a PhD programme from one of the Faculty's Departments:

  • Classics and Ancient History,
  • English Studies,
  • History,
  • Modern Languages and Cultures,
  • Music,
  • Philosophy or
  • Theology and Religion. 

Summary

The scholarship has been created by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Durham University to generate a cohort of doctoral students in the area of Environmental Humanities for the 2024/25 year. 

Environmental Humanities, understood broadly in terms of explorations of the interaction of nature and society and focussed on transformative research that brings the humanities – including the research carried out by all of our departments - to our most pressing problems in this area (such as the climate emergency).

 

Amount

The awards will match current AHRC rates of maintenance and provide a full fee waiver at the home fee rate.  
Awards increase every year, typically with inflation. As an indicator, the level for 
2023/2024 was £18,622.

Year of Entry Applicants for programmes commencing in October 2024
Number of awards available

4

One of the awards will be ringfenced for Black British, British Asian, UK domiciled candidates of mixed Black or Asian heritage and / or Irish Traveller applicants who qualify for home fee status.

Level of study PhD
Mode of study Full-time only
Programmes PhD programmes of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Duration 42 months full-time (3.5 years)

Eligibility

Home and International Students

  • Home and International students are welcome to apply.
  • In the case of Home students: the scholarship will cover home tuition fees and an annual maintenance allowance.
  • In the case of International students: the scholarship will only cover home tuition fees and an annual maintenance allowance, not the international rate tuition fees.
  • Successful international applicants need to fund the difference between the home and international tuition fee rate by alternative means.

Applicants must

  • Hold either an unconditional or conditional offer for a full-time PhD programme at the Arts & Humanities Faculty

Please note:

  • Students who have already commenced their doctoral degree at Durham or elsewhere, or if they have previously been awarded a PhD are not eligible.
  • It is a condition of an award that at the time of commencing the award (1 October 2024) the applicant is not in full-time employment. Applicants in full-time employment are not eligible for an award.

To be eligible for the one ring-fenced scholarship, the candidates must be of the following backgrounds:

  1. Black British
  2. British Asian
  3. UK domiciled candidates of mixed Black or Asian heritage
  4. Irish Traveller

How to apply

  1. Apply for a course

    You will need to complete Durham University's online application form and to state that you wish to be considered for the Environmental Humanities Scholarship when the form asks you to indicate how you intend to fund your studies. (Please select 'other' from the drop-down menu and insert Environmental Humanities Scholarship in the text box.)

    Please ensure that you submit your academic application and provide all relevant documents including transcripts, study certificates, academic references and English Language certificates to Durham University as soon as possible and you will need to hold an offer for a PhD programme from an Arts & Humanities Faculty Department by 5pm on 22 April 2024.

    If you have already submitted an application previously and received an offer from one of the Arts & Humanities Faculty's Departments, you can self-nominate for the Environmental Humanities studentship, if your research proposal fits in the Environmental Humanities cluster.

     

     

    Online application form
  2. Nomination process

    Applicants are encouraged to self-nominate for the Environmental Humanities PhD Scholarship but are required to be in receipt of an offer (either conditional or unconditional) for a PhD programme of the Arts & Humanities Faculty for the October 2024 intake at the time of application for the scholarship. They can discuss their research proposal with their supervisors well in advance of the deadline.

  3. Submit an application form with a personal statement

    Applicants will need to submit a completed Environmental Humanities applications form, including their CV, research proposal (up to 2,000 words) and offer letter from Durham University as an attachment by 5pm on 22 April 2024. The completed form and attachments will need to be submitted by e-mailing arts.assocdean.pgr@durham.ac.uk

    The application form includes a short statement on how they would benefit from being part of a cohort of students exploring challenges in the area of Environmental Humanities (up to 1,000 words). 

     

    Environmental Humanities application form

Guidance

Selection Process

A Selection Panel headed by the Deputy Executive Dean (Postgraduate) in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities will meet soon after the application deadline to consider the submitted proposal and their relevance to the research parameters of the Scholarship. The successful candidate will be contacted in the first instance by email, and unsuccessful applicants will be advised of the outcome soon afterwards.

Durham University makes every effort to ensure that the information published or contained on its website is accurate. However, the University cannot guarantee the information may not subsequently be altered owing to circumstances beyond the University's reasonable control. Such circumstances include (but are not limited to) changes in Government policy or change of law. Whilst any changes will be incorporated into the University's website any person wishing to clarify the details of a particular scholarship/s should contact the Arts and Humanities Faculty.

 

Get in touch

If you have any questions about whether you are eligible for a scholarship or the application process, get in touch with the Faculty Postgraduate Research Coordinator:

Scholarships and Student Funding Office