Collaborative Doctoral Awards – Projects available

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 (£20,622 per annum – 2023/24 rate) plus fees for three and half years. The awarded candidate will also be entitled to a £550 per annum stipend top-up. 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.

Please note that LAHP only accepts applications for the Collaborative Doctoral Awards projects which will be listed below in w/c 4 December 2023. Candidates wishing to apply to more than one of the  listed CDA projects should submit separate applications. 

Student Eligibility

Applicants must meet the eligibility and residency criteria.

Residency requirements
LAHP studentships are open to UK and international students who meet the residency requirements as detailed on the UKRI Guidance document on EU and International eligibility. Please note that the AHRC will only fund the Home fee for international applicants. The funding to cover the difference between the Home and international fee must be sought elsewhere (i.e. from an institutional, external funder or student contributions). Students should discuss this further with their prospective supervisor.

LAHP encourages all international applicants to apply to other funding sources that could cover the difference between the Home and international fee.

Eligibility
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.

Please note that you will also be 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 2024) to the start of their writing up period.

Please contact the Admissions Office of the 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 normally be deferred. Successful candidates will be assumed to be starting their studies in October 2024 unless there are exceptional circumstances approved by LAHP and the HEI.

How to apply

All candidates must submit their application for a PhD place to the relevant HEI prior to submitting their CDA application to LAHP. You are advised to apply for your place of study well in advance of the LAHP application deadline to ensure that you have time to discuss your application with your proposed supervisor. (Please note application deadlines for individual institutions might be different. Please check directly with your own institution).

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

Please note that any selected candidate will also be subject to meeting the host university (i.e. the institution where the lead supervisor is based) admissions criteria, and any LAHP award is conditional on the candidate being offered a place to study at the host university.

Please also submit the LAHP CDA Studentship Application 2024-25 via the online portal (link to be made available in w/c 4 December 2023 when applications open).

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

• a LAHP Diversity Monitoring Form
• a copy of your CV
• copies of Transcripts for all relevant degrees
• 2 academic References, or 1 academic and 1 professional reference (through the online portal you will be able to send reference requests to your referees’ email addresses. Please ensure you enter these correctly and that you inform them that they will need to submit their reference via the online portal. It is your responsibility to ensure that both references are submitted on time for you to complete your application submission by the deadline below.

The full application will need to be submitted by 5pm on Friday 26th January 2024.

You will be able to download the Word version of the application form and diversity form when applications open. 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.

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

January 2024

• 26^th January 2024 at 5pm: LAHP CDA application deadline (including 2 references).
• CDA applicants must apply for a place to study within the institution of the first academic supervisor prior to submitting their CDA application to LAHP. (Please note application deadlines for individual institutions might be different. Please check directly with your own institution).

March – May 2024

• Mid-March: Selected students are invited to interview with the relevant CDA project team
• By end of April 2024 – 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)
• w/c 18th & 25th March: Interview period
• early May: LAHP Studentship Award Panel approves nominated students as recipients of a LAHP CDA studentship
• May: Outcome of students to be awarded a CDA studentship conveyed to supervisors

October 2024

• 1^st October: Student commences CDA PhD study