Placement Opportunities Available

Below you can find all the recent placement opportunities currently available to LAHP students.

To apply, please follow the application guidelines noted in each opportunity. Some placement hosts will have their own application process and will require you to apply directly to them, and others will ask you to complete the expression of interest and return it to lahp.partners@london.ac.uk.

If you apply directly to a placement host and are successful, please notify lahp.partners@london.ac.uk and complete a Placement Agreement Form.

  • V&A – Applications for 2025/26 Doctoral Placements Now Open

    To provide opportunities for early-career training for PhD students, the V&A has made
    available a range of doctoral placements based in collections departments, archives, the
    National Art Library, research, and collections care and access.

    Each placement is a discrete project designed by members of V&A staff (who will also act as
    the placement’s supervisor), involving collaborative as well as independent research. They
    contribute to live research projects and existing priorities, and their outputs and value to the
    Museum are varied; projects may lead to new insights into our collections and archives,
    influence Museum policy and procedures, contribute to public engagement and/or support
    funded projects.

    In addition to the on-the-job experience of each placement and mentoring from supervisors,
    doctoral placement students will have access to the Museum’s wider range of workshops,
    talks and postgraduate training events/opportunities, alongside a bespoke training package
    designed for the placement student cohort.

    V&A Doctoral Placements are only open to students currently studying on a funded PhD.
    Full details of eligibility criteria can be found in the Guidance Notes for Applicants.
    We are delighted to offer the following opportunities for projects to start in Autumn 2025:

    1. Cataloguing a Contemporary Music Archive- V&A Doctoral Placement
    2. Cataloguing Printed Scores and Libretti in the Bunnet Muir Musical Theatre Trust
    Archive – V&A Doctoral Placement
    3. Craft and Natural Materials in Exhibition Design – V&A Doctoral Placement
    4. Developing a Digital Research Repository for the V&A – V&A Doctoral Placement
    5. Developing Frameworks for Born-Digital and Hybrid Collections V&A Doctoral
    Placement
    6. Henry Cole’s travel diaries: knowledge, acquisitions and networks. V&A Doctoral
    Placement
    7. Investigating Functional and Multi-Sensory Objects in the Young V&A Collection –
    V&A Doctoral Placement
    8. Ludwig Gruner: Art Advisor to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Cataloguing and
    contextualising a collection of drawings and photographs – V&A Doctoral Placement
    9. Methodologies of audience-led collections research with children, young people and
    families – V&A Doctoral Placement
    10.Provenance Research on Ethiopian Objects – V&A Doctoral Placement
    11.Provenance Research on Southeast Asian Art Collections at the V&A – V&A Doctoral
    Placement
    12.Provenance Research on the NAL’s Acquisition of German Books During the Nazi Era
    – V&A Doctoral Placement
    13.Surveying and Cataloguing Roger Fenton’s Photography Collection – V&A Doctoral
    Placement
    14.Zero Waste Approaches to Exhibition Making – V&A Doctoral Placement

    Please check back regularly on the V&A Vacancies Page, as additional placement
    opportunities will be added over the coming weeks.

    Applications must be submitted online through the V&A Vacancies webpage. The closing date for each placement opportunity is listed on the advert.

    For any questions, please contact Dr Oliver Cox (Head of Academic Partnerships,
    o.cox@vam.ac.uk (until 2nd June 2025)) and thereafter Erin Sun (Academic Programmes
    Coordinator, e.sun@vam.ac.uk).

  • Southend Museums – Museum Store Move Coordinator/Assistant

    Start Date: ASAP following selection process.

    Hours: Open to negotiation with a minimum placement length of 2 months (an ability to commit to longer would be advantageous).

    Location: Southend Museums, due to the nature of the role and the requirement to access and work with collection in-person, the successful applicant would need to primarily work on site however we are open to discuss potential accommodations and can accommodate one day a week working from home/offsite.

    Background: Southend Museums are responsible for four buildings: Southend Central Museum and Planetarium which hosts internationally significant collections including the Prittlewell Princely burial and London Shipwreck, The Beecroft Art Gallery which hosts Southend’s fine art collection, extensive historic fashion collection and regularly rotating exhibitions, The Prittlewell Priory, our 12th century Cluniac Priory and Southchurch Hall, a rare example of a surviving medieval moated manor house.

    Our extensive collections cover archaeology, natural history, social history, fine art, photography and fashion and textiles. Being a civic museum service, we are at the heart of our community and we are committed to working with our local community partners to champion health and wellbeing and diversity and inclusion.

    Context: We are undertaking an exciting and large-scale collections move that will allow us to bring our significant collection from disparate sites to one central Collections Centre which will in turn increase accessibility to the collection for staff, the public and researchers. Whilst the primary focus of this role will be to assist with the collections move project, there will be additional opportunities to assist with projects ranging from public engagement and digital engagement through to social media and communications.

    Placement Outline 

    • Liaising and organising operational logistics: contacting contractors and companies, placing orders etc (office)

    • Packing and preparing objects: readying objects for transfer which will include labelling

    • Documentation: support with documentation, accessioning and location management of objects.

    • Paper archive: preparation and packing of the paper archive

    • Undertaking collections move: alongside our curatorial specialists, handling, packing and moving objects. Assisting with the transfer of crates and boxes between sites.

    • Supporting the transfer of the paper archive.

    • Location management: updating locations for the new site, helping with the creation of a new location monitoring plan.

    • Accessioning: accessioning of a backlog of objects that needs accessioning or digitising

    Skills gained:  

    • Curatorial skills.

    • General documentation,

    • Organisational skills,

    • Project  Management

    • Object handling

    This placement will provide you with experience of assisting a large-scale collections move, you will be at the heart of the project working to museum standards and participating in a hands-on and fast-paced environment to achieve safe and efficient completion of a large-scale project. This is an opportunity to gain hands on experience with a public collection including social history, archaeology and natural history. This placement will allow you to utilise your academic learning to deliver practice-based collection work .

    To apply please submit a copy of your CV and a short covering letter to vittorioricchetti@southend.gov.uk or robertsharp@southend.gov.uk, explaining why you feel you would be suitable for the placement and what inspired you to apply.

    Requirements for the role:

    • High level of manual and physical dexterity

    • Focus and concentration

    • High degrees of accuracy and attention to detail.

    • Comfortable with using nitrile gloves and masks

    • Interpersonal skills

    • Reliable and adaptable

    If you wish to have an informal conversation with regards to this opportunity prior to applying, please contact vittorioricchetti@southend.gov.uk or robertsharp@southend.gov.uk and we will be happy to arrange a call.

  • World History Encyclopedia

    World History Encyclopedia is looking for PhD students as part of the LAHP placement scheme to provide remote work experience opportunities. Join us in our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide!

    World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organisation publishing the world’s most-read history encyclopedia. The work of our international team helps millions of people around the globe learn about history every single month, entirely free of charge.

    Your work will help students, teachers, and the general public appreciate cultural heritage, widen their horizons, and enable them to better understand the globalised world we live in today.

    Placement Tracks

    We offer the following placement tracks to LAHP students:

    • Editorial, Research & Writing: Directly contribute to the encyclopedia by researching and writing encyclopedic articles, with the guidance and review of the editorial team. You will improve your skills in historical research, writing for the general public, search engine optimisation and editorial processes. To qualify for this track, the student’s university degree must be in a relevant Social Studies subject such as History, Archaeology, Art History, Politics, or Economics.
    • Graphic Design: Create infographics, maps, and other visual media to help illustrate the encyclopedia and explain historical concepts. You will work closely with the editorial team in order to produce high-quality material suitable for the encyclopedia. You must have experience with Adobe Photoshop or similar software.
    • Translation: Translate history articles into another language, working with the translation team to ensure that articles are translated to our standards and meet the needs of our readers. You will learn about translation processes in the age of artificial intelligence, editing other people’s translations, and providing feedback. This track is typically suited to degree programs such as Translation, Languages, or History.
    • Grant Writing & Fundraising: Engage donors and write grant funding applications. You will distil our organisation’s mission and values into convincing grant applications. You will work closely with our management team to come up with projects suitable for funding, finding funding opportunities and exploring partnerships with like-minded organisations.

    You will have a dedicated mentor who will be your primary person of contact and with whom you will have regular video calls. You will however work with various members of the team depending on your track.

    Duration & Dates

    LAHP placements at WHE are flexible and can be either full-time or part-time, of limited duration (minimum 6 months) or longer. Students will work remotely as part of our globally distributed team.

    We offer two LAHP placements per track per year:

    • January/February start date, application deadline: 5 December 2024
    • June/July start date, application deadline: 30 April 2024

    Please apply using this online application form on the World History Encyclopedia website.

  • The National Archives – Working with the High Court of Admiralty’s records

    As the archive of Crown and State government, The National Archives (TNA) holds a vast range of records on life in the British Isles and beyond over the past 1000 years. TNA is pleased to invite students on a placement for six to twelve weeks, full or part time, depending on student requirements.

    We currently have a placement opportunity in the Collections Expertise and Engagement department, working with the diverse and largely unexplored records of the High Court of Admiralty. The placement will focus on letters, papers and legal records relating to early modern piracy, prize-taking, colonialism and overseas exchange, 1536–1783. The successful candidate has the option to work with a number of collections depending on their historical or linguistic interests, including, but is not limited to, early miscellanea (c.1536–c.1660) and the Prize Papers, which are documents seized from ships (c.1652-1815). The records are in English, but with a significant number in other European languages, particularly French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish and Danish.

    The post holder will conduct an initial survey of uncatalogued materials and work to enhance existing information about their contents, with the aim of improving access to these records. For the length of the placement, the candidate will be embedded in a small team of experienced specialists who work on the High Court of Admiralty’s records. The placement will also be tailored to the candidate’s interests and future career aims, with the potential to work on related projects with other departments at TNA, such as public engagement, education and digital content with the intention of broadening engagement with these records beyond established academic and research communities, in support of our role as archive sector lead.

    Start & end date of placement: dates to be agreed with the student, please contact research@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

    Hours of work:

    To be agreed with the student. The placement will involve working with original documents onsite, but with the potential for some work to be conducted at home.

    Essential criteria:

    The placement will suit students with an interest in academic and public history, collaborative research, cultural heritage or the GLAM sector.

    There are no minimum skills requirements, but a successful placement student will be able to demonstrate:

    • A keen interest in the histories of early modern colonialism, seafaring, maritime law, linguistics, overseas migration and diasporas, international trade, and/or piracy.
    • As this placement is focussed on original documents written in 16th, 17th and 18th century handwriting, it would be desirable for the placement student to have some experience of reading handwriting from these periods already. If not, the successful candidate will need to be willing and able to learn how to do so quickly, with support from the placement supervisor and team.
    • Experience of archival research desirable.
    • Competencies in French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish and/or Danish also desirable.

    Expected project outcomes:

    The results of the student’s findings will primarily be used to:

    • Enhance our online cataloguing for the specified collection.
    • Utilise some of the records for publication, perhaps as blogs or educational resources, intended for public and academic engagement.
    • Other expected outcomes will depend on the student’s interests and any resulting work that they undertake with other departments at TNA.

    For further details, please contact: research@nationalarchives.gov.uk

  • The National Archives – Visualising naval networks in the Admiralty China Station records

    The Admiralty China Station was a naval command of the British Royal Navy that operated in China and the Far East from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. The station was responsible for protecting British interests in the region, including trade routes, British colonies and territories, and British citizens living in China and surrounding areas. The China Station played a significant role in various conflicts, including the Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion, and both World Wars, through both formal and informal diplomacy. The series of correspondence from the Station headquarters (ADM 125), is a valuable, but very underused resource for exploring the history of the region from a variety of angles.

    The National Archives has historical military records which contain ideas, text and imagery which reflect the viewpoints and attitudes prevalent at the time the records were written, and may now be considered offensive. Original language is preserved to accurately represent our records and to help us fully understand the past.

    In this three-month placement we are inviting a student with interests in transnational history, and digital humanities to uncover some of the stories from this correspondence series using social network analysis. Over three months the student would be supported to:

    1. Explore the structure and content of the series to identify a topic of interest. These could include the histories of enslaved people in Asia and other countries/continents, naval geopolitics, environmental history (the effect of the Navy on ecologies in Asia in creating demand for foods, fuel or other natural resources), history of technology (e.g. transfer of steam technologies and industrialisation in the region), trade and social customs, and the laws of the sea and piracy.
    2. Identify three volumes of correspondence to ‘map’ using social networks analysis technologies such as Palladio.
    3. Analyse the significance of the findings from that mapping.
    4. Engage the public with those records/histories in imaginative ways through contributing to ETNA, and writing a blog post for The National Archives or (e.g. Global Maritime History)

    The student would be hosted in the Collections Expertise and Engagement department, by Pad Kumlertsakul, who is a records adviser with extensive experience in researching transnational histories in The National Archives’ collections, and particularly Asian history. These have included using the Admiralty China Station records in a blog post on The First Sino-Japanese War and the ‘Kowshing’ Incident, international research collaborations on the ‘Curating Crisis’ project and exploring digital humanities technologies.

    Bruno Pappalardo, Principal Records Specialist in Naval Records and Bernard Ogden, Research Software Engineer, will provide further support. Bruno’s many publications on ADM records at TNA are standard reference points and he has worked on a variety of projects exploring digital collaborations using naval records. Bernard has extensive software experience, including work on digital humanities projects at The National Archives.

    The hosts would provide the student with support in developing skills in a variety of areas including archival research, metadata creation, and data visualisation. They would also be supported by the placement hosts in developing skills in curatorial writing and have the opportunity to write about their work on the project for the TNA blog and to support TNA staff in production of evergreen curatorial content for the website.

    The National Archives will benefit in a number of ways from this project. It will provide better understanding of this record series and contribute to ongoing work to find ways to build international research projects/collaborations and allow us to further surface voices and experiences of historical actors from East and South-East Asia.

    Start & end date of placement

    Three-month project, start date to be negotiated with placement student any time from November onwards. The placement would be full-time over a three-month period.

    Hours of work

    The placement would be full-time over a three-month period. In order to work closely with the records, the placement would be predominantly onsite.

    Essential criteria

    • In order to do this work a student would need to have ONE of (i) experience of working with archival records; OR (ii) some experience of working with Social Network Analysis. The student would be provided with support for developing skills in both of those areas. However, some level of experience in one of them is essential.
    • Enthusiasm for thinking through transnational/transcultural histories in the region of East/South East Asia. Within that broad scope, this project offers the opportunity to explore a wide selection of thematic areas.
    • Interest in the possibilities of digital tools and techniques to uncover and analyse historical narratives from archival records.
    • Willing to engage sensitively to cultural and linguistic diversity, particularly in the context of British imperialism and its impact on the local populations in China and the Far East.

    Expected project outcomes

    Outputs

    • Dataset exploring one thematic aspect of the Admiralty Station records
    • Write a TNA blog reflecting on your research
    • Support TNA staff in production of evergreen curatorial content for the website

    Outcomes for student

    • Development of research and archival practice skills (as above)
    • Development of digital humanities techniques
    • Development of skills in writing
    • Dataset/data visualisation that can be presented in other contexts

    For further details, please contact: research@nationalarchives.gov.uk

  • Royal College of Physicians – Recording the 20th century library

    The project intends to make the provenance information in an early-20th century accessions register accessible today. It can be completed remotely, and would fall into three parts, which can run concurrently:

    1. Transcribing the handwritten ledger entries in summary. They record the author, title and date of the book, and details of who donated it or where we bought it, and when we acquired it. Most of this data hasn’t previously been included in our main library catalogue.
    2. Matching the entries to books in the library catalogue today, and updating the catalogue entry with the provenance info.
    3. Researching interesting or major donations – who gave the books, what books were given – and writing that up for library website and social media channels.

    Start & end date of placement: Ad hoc placements to be agreed with the student.

    Hours of work: Negotiable, part-time preferred

    Essential criteria: Ability to read or to learn to read early 20th century handwriting.

    Deadline: No specific deadline, placements are available throughout the academic year.

    To apply, please complete the expression of interest and return it to lahp.partners@london.ac.uk

    For further details, please contact Katie Birkwood (Rare books and special collections Librarian) katie.birkwood@rcp.ac.uk

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