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.

• UKRI Policy Internships Scheme for 2025/26

  The scheme provides the opportunity for doctoral students funded by the Research Councils of UKRI to undertake a three-month placement at one of a selected group of highly influential policy organisations. During their internship, the student undertakes training and experience on a policy topic agreed with their host partner that is relevant to both parties. The intention of the scheme is to embed students in an environment where they can engage with the process of converting research outputs into policy. These internships equip students with transferable skills and training relevant to the future career paths that the student may choose.

  Full details of how to apply, including links to the online application form and guidance documents are available through the  UKRI Policy Internships Scheme webpage.

  The Policy Internships Scheme is coordinated by NERC on behalf of the other Research Councils of UKRI. Any queries relating to the application process should be directed to the NERC Talent and Skills team (researchcareers@nerc.ukri.org) or the relevant host partner.

  The deadline to apply is 4pm on 8th September 2025.

  Stipend and fees

  If you are successful in your application, you may apply for the LAHP Research Extension Fund to extend your studentship for the duration of the internship.

  Please note that the studentship funding end date will be extended by the length of the internship up to the maximum limit of 4 years’ funding (pro rata for part-time) – noting that this excludes any additional time added to offset sick leave or maternity/paternity leave etc. Therefore if a student has had less than 4 years’ funding, they would be entitled to a funded extension up to the 4 years limit. However, if the student has been awarded a 4 year studentship already, they would not be entitled to a further extension (and the internship would need to be carried out within the 4 year funding period).

  If you have any questions about this, please contact the LAHP team

• 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.

• 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