Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDA) Scheme – Proposals by academics

Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) provide funding for doctoral studentship projects, developed as a partnership between an HEI-based academic in collaboration with an organisation outside higher education. They are intended to encourage and develop collaboration and build partnerships with a wide range of organisations in the public, private and third sector, including grass-roots and activist organisations.

CDA projects provide opportunities for doctoral students to gain first-hand experience of work outside the university environment and enhance the employment-related skills and training a research student gains during the course of their studies.

CDA projects also encourage and establish links that can have long-term benefits for both collaborating partners, providing access to resources and materials, knowledge and expertise that may not otherwise have been available, as well as social, cultural and economic benefits to wider society.

Prospective supervisors apply for a CDA, either with or without a nominated student. CDAs awarded without a nominated student are advertised in late November with an application deadline in late January. CDAs are funded for 3.5 years, recognizing the additional work involved in a collaborative studentship. CDA students are also able to apply for a funded extension of up to 6 months (with the same four-year submission deadline).

LAHP welcomes applications for projects across all subjects and approaches in the arts & humanities. It particularly encourages applications in four priority areas:

Exploration of under-represented collections, histories, knowledge, traditions, or practices across the arts and humanities;
Transformative methods of engagement and/or practice to address inequity, marginalisation and/or barriers to inclusion in the arts, culture and heritage sectors;
Collaborative arts & humanities research with a wide range of organizations (third sector, policy, voluntary, grassroots and/or activist) on under-representation, diversity and inclusion.
Arts & humanities focused research on sustainability, environment and climate crisis.

Applications for CDA project proposals to commence in the 2025/26 academic year are now open. Please see below under the ‘To apply’ section for full details on the application process.

Information Sessions

If you are interested in submitting an application for a CDA project proposal to commence in the 2025/26 academic year, please come along to our next online information session:

Monday 16 September 2024 1pm – 2pm: Book your place here

You can view the presentation slides from our first information session here

To Apply

Those wishing to propose a CDA project to commence in the 2025/26 academic year can find full details of the scheme below.

Eligibility

Applications must be made by an academic member of staff at one of LAHP’s eight HEIs working in collaboration with a non-HEI partner organisation.
Non-HEI-partner organisations and students wishing to submit a proposal should make contact with academic staff at one of the LAHP HEIs
An academic supervisor can submit a maximum of two separate applications.
Previously unsuccessful CDA projects can be re-submitted in the following year. The panel will assess the same project (i.e. same academic and partner institution) for a maximum of two years in a row.

Student eligibility (relevant for proposals with a named student)

LAHP welcomes applications which include a student:

With ‘home’ and ‘international’ (including EU) status (Please refer to ‘International Students‘);
The required qualifications to be eligible for the chosen doctoral programme (e.g. a Masters degree) and those with relevant professional and/or practitioner experience;
Wishing to study on a full-time or part-time basis;
From all ages and backgrounds.

Please note, if a student has already commenced doctoral study, they cannot apply to transfer to a Collaborative Doctoral Award.

Funding is available for both full-time and part-time students. Awards cannot normally be deferred. Successful candidates will be assumed to be starting their studies in October 2025 unless there are exceptional circumstances approved by LAHP and your Research institution. Successful candidates will need to submit their PhD application and a LAHP application via Flexigrant by 27 January 2025.

Application process

Submitted proposals will be reviewed by the LAHP CDA Award Panel and evaluated against the criteria set out below. The highest ranking proposals will be awarded funding. All studentships will be funded for 3.5 years with the opportunity to apply for a funding extension to 4 years (the stipend for 2024/25 is £21,237). This will depend on the additional skills and training needs identified by the supervisor together with the student and partner during the first year of the project. The awarded candidate will also be entitled to a £600 per annum stipend top-up.

Please submit your CDA Project proposal application via the online portal

As part of the application you will be required to submit the following:

Project description of no more than two sides of A4 (excluding references) as highlighted on page 2 of the proposal form.
Signed letter of support from the non-HEI partner
(where applicable) the CV of the student nominated in the proposal.

The deadline for proposals from HEI academic staff/non-HEI partners for CDA studentship projects (commencing in the 2025/26 academic year) is Friday 18th October 2024 at 13.00.

You can download the PDF version of the application form from this link. We advise you to prepare your answers in a Word document and then cut and paste them onto the online application via the portal. Applications will only be accepted by LAHP if they are submitted via the online portal.

Any queries should be directed to cda.lahp@london.ac.uk

Timeline for CDA studentships starting in 2025/26
July 2024
- 1st July 2024: CDA scheme opens for project proposals
October – December 2024
- Friday 18th October at 13.00: CDA scheme closes for project proposals
- November: Suitable proposals are selected for recruitment by the LAHP CDA Awards Panel
- November: Outcomes of proposals communicated to supervisory teams
- December: Open for CDA candidates’ applications (for CDA projects without nominated candidates). Designated students for CDA projects also to submit an application via Flexigrant, LAHP’s application portal.
January – May 2025
- Monday 27th January 2025 at 17.00: Deadline for CDA candidates’ applications for CDA projects with and without designated candidates. All applicants also to have submitted an application to commence their PhD study at a LAHP partner institution in the 2025/26 academic year by this date.
- January – April: Recruitment of students to projects without nominated students
- April/May: LAHP Studentship Award Panel approves nominated students as recipients of a LAHP CDA studentship.
- April/May: Outcome of students to be awarded a CDA studentship conveyed to supervisors
October 2025
- 1 October: Student commences PhD study
Assessment Criteria
The four criteria for assessment of LAHP2 DTP Collaborative Doctoral Award proposals, and their percentage weightings, are listed below. All applications will be assessed by the LAHP CDA Award Panel using the same criteria.
1. Quality and originality of the proposed research – Significance, originality and clarity of research proposal; Underpinning ideas, aims and research questions; Research design, methodology and/or sources; Suitability of proposal for doctoral research. (30% weighting)
2. Quality of the proposed collaboration – Added value of the research collaboration; Active involvement of partner organization in shaping the research process; Additional developmental or training opportunities that will arise through the collaboration between the student/academic team, their broader academic environment and the partner organization; Distinctive forms of experience in areas related to research design and methodology, analysis, dissemination, research management, networking, knowledge transfer offered by partner. (30% weighting)
3. Clearly defined potential for cultural, societal and / or economic impact in collaboration with the partner organisation – Benefits gained from the collaboration for the HEI, non-HEI partner and student; Benefits in terms of wider impact; Role of partner organization in realizing the potential impact; Collaborative opportunities that will lead to cultural, societal and / or economic impact.(20% weighting)
4. Feasibility of the research – Relevance of the research areas of supervisors to the proposed work and appropriate supervisory experience; Synergy with the research priorities of the department, HEI and LAHP; Suitability of student (if identified) to undertake project; Planned recruitment of student (if applicable), including promotion of the studentship to prospective applicants from Black and Global Majority and other under-represented groups; Acknowledgement of potential ethical issues arising from the project, with clear approach to mitigate any risks. (20% weighting)
5. Relevance of proposed research to LAHP CDA priority areas (used only as a second stage ranking to differentiate between equally scoring applications – clearly defined link to one or more of LAHP’s priority research areas;
  Appropriate and clearly defined support in place for the student that takes into account any unique challenges presented by the research.
Download the full assessment criteria including the scoring scale here
Examples of successful project proposals

Below are some examples of project descriptions, taken from successful applications submitted previously:

‘The system enabled it’: Sexual Violence and Contemporary UK Theatre Institutions since 2017 (submitted in 2022/23)

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in collaboration with Intimacy for Stage and Screen (private sector partner)

Primary academic supervisor: Tom Six

Secondary academic supervisor: Diana Damian- Martin

Collaborative partner supervisor: Elizabeth Talbot

This proposal was co-written by the nominated student, Rachel Vogler.

CDA Project Description_’The system enabled it’

‘Mother’ or ‘Other’: Exploring the Narratives of Queer Pregnancy

(submitted in 2023/24)

Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with London LGBTQ+ Community Centre (third sector partner)

Primary academic supervisor: Sophie Holmes-Elliott

Secondary academic supervisor: Olivia Knapton

Collaborative partner supervisor: Bisila Noha

CDA Project Description_’Mother’ or ‘Other’
Routes to Collaborative Doctoral Awards
The London Arts & Humanities Partnership DTP (LAHP DTP) Collaborative Doctoral Award Scheme promotes partnerships between researchers within the partnership and end-user (cultural, public, private or third sector) organisations (‘partner organisation’). The partner organisation should be committed to realising mutual benefit from the project in recognition of which it agrees to provide supervisory support to the student and the wider research environment through additional funding and/or in-kind support (which might include things such as: access to archives and collections, office/work space, seminar or industry experts and groups, data, etc). The involvement of the partner organisation should be a genuinely collaborative enterprise, providing real added value to the studentship while also advancing the activities of the partner organisation.

The London Arts & Humanities Partnership offers three routes to Collaborative Doctoral Awards:
1. Annual Supervisor-led route
  LAHP runs an annual supervisor-led project call open to all supervisors across the Partnership. This route enables a supervisor or supervisory team to develop a project in partnership with non-HEI partner. Suitable projects will be selected for recruitment by the LAHP Collaborations & Partnerships Committee.
2. Annual Non-HEI Partner-led route
  LAHP runs an annual non-HEI partner-led project call open to non-HEI organisations. This route enables an external non-HEI partner to develop a project in partnership with a supervisor at one of the LAHP partner institutions. Suitable projects will be selected for recruitment by the LAHP Collaborations & Partnerships Committee. Non-HEI-partner organisations wishing to submit a proposal should make contact with academic staff at one of the LAHP HEIs.
3. Student-led routes
  Student-led co-generated project route
  As part of the annual LAHP CDA call a potential student candidate can develop a project in partnership with a selected supervisor from one of the LAHP partners and a non-HEI organisation. Suitable projects and candidates will be selected for recruitment by the LAHP Collaborations & Partnerships Committee. Students wishing to submit a proposal should make contact with academic staff at one of the LAHP HEIs.
Funded Collaborative Doctoral Award Projects

See here for a list of CDA studentships funded by LAHP since 2018.
Collaborative Doctoral Award Projects Case Studies

See here for our Collaborative Doctoral Award Case Studies.

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