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Faculty of Arts and Humanities
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PhD Studentships in Transformative Humanities

We are delighted to announce the competition for eight PhD Studentships in Transformative Humanities, supported by our AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award and the Faculties of Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences. This scheme will support outstanding candidates beginning a PhD programme in October 2026 on projects related to the themes of our Transformative Humanities framework.

Applications for this scheme will open on 3 November 2025.

Each award will offer a tuition fee waiver, a stipend for 3.5 years (full time) or 7 years (part time) at the level set by UKRI, additional funding opportunities, and access to training and placement resources.

Eligibility. Only PhD students accepted to Durham University with a supervisory team lead by Arts & Humanities or Social Sciences will be considered for this scheme. The competition is open to both home and overseas students: seven awards are open to home students and will cover tuition fees at home level; one award is open to overseas students and will cover tuition fees at overseas level. In line with the cross-disciplinary nature of the scheme, supervision must include collaboration across at least two departments.

Application Process. Applicants are encouraged to contact potential supervisor(s) to discuss their project before applying. Applications can be submitted through our online application portal at this link; in the funding section, under 'Scholarship details,' please select "PGR - Transformative Humanities" from the drop-down menu. The application deadline for this scheme is 23.59 (UK time) on 16 January 2026.

As part of the application, applicants are asked to submit:

  • a research proposal (max. 1,000 words including footnotes, but excluding bibliography, if any) that clearly defines research questions and context, the intended approach and methods, the relevance of the project to transformative humanities, and the fit with Durham University.
  • a CV
  • an equal opportunities monitoring form (link to follow)
  • the names of two referees. Upon submission of the application, referees will receive an automated message and will have two weeks to submit their references.

Prospective applicants are welcome to join an information and Q&A session at 3pm (UK time) on 10 November 2025. Please use this link to join the event.

Successful applicants will be notified in March 2026.

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office at artsandhumanities.pgrteam@durham.ac.uk.