Collaborative Doctoral Awards – student recruitment

Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) provide funding for doctoral students to work on a project in collaboration with an organisation outside higher education. They are intended to encourage and develop collaboration and partnerships and to provide opportunities for doctoral students to gain first-hand experience of work outside the university environment. They enhance the employment-related skills and training available to the research student during the course of the award. Collaborative Doctoral Awards are not only a route into academia but also provide hands-on work experience in the cultural sector and transferrable skills.

The studentship includes a stipend at the Research Council UK Home/ EU rate (£21,237 per annum – 2024/25 rate) plus fees for three and half years. The awarded candidate will also be entitled to a £600 per annum stipend top-up (2024/25 rate). Studentships can be either full or part-time. As a LAHP student, the successful candidate will have full access to the LAHP Doctoral Training Partnership development activities and networking opportunities, joining a cohort of about 90 students per year.

Student Eligibility

• LAHP welcomes applications from ‘home’ and ‘international’ (including EU) applicants (Please refer to ‘International Students‘ section below);
• Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline, and a Masters-level qualification or equivalent which meets AHRC requirements for research training. Applicants with relevant work/professional experience who are considering doing a PhD are also encouraged to apply.
• Applicants are subject to meeting the host university’s (i.e. the institution where the lead supervisor of the CDA is based) admissions criteria, and any LAHP award is conditional on the candidate being offered a place to study at the host university.
• Students who are currently undertaking a PhD are not eligible to apply for these CDA projects. However they can consider applying to the LAHP open studentship competition, provided that they have at least 50% left of the PhD studies from the start of the award (i.e. October 2025) to the start of their writing up period.
• Please contact the Admissions Office of the CDA project’s lead institution where you are applying for a PhD place to determine your fee status. LAHP is not able to advise on fee status.
• Funding is available for both full-time and part-time students. Awards cannot be deferred. Successful candidates will be assumed to be starting their studies in October 2025.

International students

LAHP may award up to 30% of its studentships (including stipend) to international students. The AHRC will only fund the Home fee rate. The difference between the Home and International fee is either covered or waived by most of our partner institutions.

Please refer to the UKRI eligibility criteria (TGC 5.2) for further information about ‘Home’ and ‘International’ fee status.D

How to apply

The extended deadline for applications to the LAHP Collaborative Doctoral Awards 2025-26 projects listed above is 5pm Wednesday 26th February 2025.

Applications for these projects must be submitted via our online application portal: Apply Now – LAHP Collaborative Doctoral Awards 2025-26

You can find below a preview of the LAHP Collaborative Doctoral Award application form for reference:

LAHP Collaborative Doctoral Awards 2025-26 application form preview

Please ensure you read the guidelines at the beginning of the application form, as they contain important information about how to invite your referees to submit their references.

Before applying for a LAHP CDA you must have applied to the relevant lead institution for your PhD place (lead institutions for CDA projects are outlined in the ‘2025/26 Collaborative Doctoral Award Projects Recruiting’ section above).

After submitting an application for a programme of postgraduate research study at your chosen LAHP institution, you will receive an application ID number from the institution. Question 1 of the LAHP application form asks you to provide this ID number.

If you have any queries, please contact cda.lahp@london.ac.uk

Students with disabilities who need adjustments to the application process should contact us on cda.lahp@london.ac.uk and we can advise on alternative methods of applying.

Please note that the administrative lead for LAHP is UCL. While you will see UCL branding on the application form, this is the correct form to use for all LAHP studentship applications, regardless of the home university

Assessment criteria

Applications are assessed against clear criteria (Assessment Criteria). Scoring will be based on:

• Knowledge
• Experience
• Skills
• Training
• Suitability of student to work with named partners

Each element of criteria has equal weighting.

Timeline and assessment process following application deadline

February – March 2025

• LAHP completes eligibility checks with university partners
• CDA project teams shortlist applicants for interview against assessment criteria (see above)

March – May 2025

• w/c 24th and 31st March 2025: Selected students are invited to interview with the relevant CDA project team
• By mid-April 2025 – Students must be in receipt of an offer on their chosen PhD programme at a LAHP partner institution (LAHP conducts these checks directly with the HEI Admissions Offices)
• End of April 2025: LAHP Studentship Award Panel approves nominated students as recipients of a LAHP CDA studentship
• May 2025: Outcome of students to be awarded a CDA studentship conveyed to supervisors

October 2025

• 1^st October: Student commences CDA PhD study