Open Studentship Competition

How to Apply for a LAHP Studentship (2025-26 entry)

The LAHP Open Studentship Competition for 2025/26 entry is now open. Candidates must submit their application via FlexiGrant by the deadline at 5pm on Friday, 31 January 2025 (GMT). Late applications will not be considered.

Please read the information on this page and our FAQs as you prepare your application.

An FAQ section for supervisors is available here, at the end of the FAQ page.

Apply now via FlexiGrant

Information sessions

We held two information sessions in November and December 2024. Please see below the recording of the session held on 5 December 2024:

Recording of LAHP Open Studentship Competition Information Session – 5 December 2024

This includes a briefing about the application process, top tips for how to strengthen your application and a Q&A with LAHP staff and student ambassadors.

Application form

Applications for the LAHP Open Studentship Competition for 2025/26 entry are now open and must be submitted via FlexiGrant. You can find below a preview of the LAHP Open Studentship Competition application form for reference.

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

LAHP Open Studentship Competition 2025/26 application form preview

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.

Apply now via FlexiGrant

Student eligibility

LAHP welcomes applications:

• From ‘home’ and ‘international’ (including EU) applicants (Please refer to ‘International Students‘ section below);
• Across all of LAHP’s subject areas and approaches in the arts & humanities, including for inter-disciplinary and practice-based research;
• From applicants who have completed the required qualifications to be eligible for your chosen doctoral programme (e.g. a Masters degree) and those with relevant professional and/or practitioner experience;
• From those wishing to study on a full-time or part-time basis;
• From applicants of all ages and backgrounds.

To be eligible for a LAHP open studentship in the forthcoming recruitment round you must either:

• Have submitted an application to commence a programme of postgraduate study at a LAHP partner institution in the 2025/26 academic year (i.e. to start in October 2025), or
• If you have already commenced doctoral study or will do so before September 2025, you may apply for funding for the remainder of your study, providing that, at the start of the AHRC award (1st October 2025), you will have at least 50% of the period of study remaining (excluding the ‘writing-up period’). If unsure, please contact us on info.lahp@london.ac.uk.

Funding is available for both full-time and part-time students. Awards must be taken up in the 2025/26 academic year and cannot 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.

Students in full-time employment are not eligible for an award of any kind from UKRI.  Students in part time employment may be eligible for a part time award, which should not be less than 50% of full time.

LAHP studentships may not normally be held alongside any other studentships or awards except where it is jointly funded.

LAHP Black and Global Majority studentships

Structural inequalities in education have resulted in the under-representation of Black and Global Majority doctoral students. LAHP is committed to increasing the number of awards made to Black and Global Majority doctoral students. A minimum of five studentships across LAHP’s open competition will be awarded to Home status Black and Global Majority students for entry in October 2025. The award of these studentships will be confirmed by LAHP’s Studentship Award Panel.

Students who identify as People of Colour, BAME and/or part of Black and Global Majority racial and ethnic groups will be eligible to be considered for one of these studentships. We aim to award a minimum of three of these studentships to Black British students (Black or Black British African, Black or Black British Caribbean, Black or Black British other or Mixed Black or Black British) because these students are disproportionately under-represented at LAHP.

All students should apply to LAHP’s open competition in the normal way. There will be a tickbox to indicate your eligibility to be considered for one of these studentships.

We welcome applications for all studentships:

• across all of LAHP’s subject areas and approaches, including for inter-disciplinary and practice-based research;
• from those who have recently completed their Masters’ programmes and those with relevant professional and/or practitioner experience;
• from those wishing to study on a full- or part-time basis;

from applicants of all ages and backgrounds.

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. However, applicants should discuss this further with their prospective institutions and supervisors.

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

Deadline

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday, 31 January 2025. Late applications will not be accepted, so please ensure that you allow sufficient time to prepare your application and for your first named supervisor to complete the ‘Supervisor statement.’ You will only be able to submit your application if your supervisor has completed the ‘Supervisor statement’ via the online portal.

Studentship competition timeline

Timeline for OSC studentships starting in 2025/26

November – December 2024

• 7 November 2024: OSC scheme opens for applications

January – May 2025

• Friday, 31st January 2025 17:00 (GMT): Deadline for OSC candidates’ applications to be submitted (including the supervisor’s supporting statement). 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.
• Friday, 15th March 2025: First round of shortlisting completed, unsuccessful candidates informed.
• Friday, 2nd May 2025: Outcome of students to be awarded an OSC studentship conveyed to supervisors and successful candidates informed.

October 2025

• 1 October: Student commences PhD study

Before you apply

Before applying for a LAHP open studentship you must either have applied to commence a programme of postgraduate study in the 2025/26 academic year or be a continuing student on an eligible programme at one of LAHP’s partner institutions (see ‘Eligibility’ section for details). 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.

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 already commenced doctoral study, please enter your existing student ID number.

Applications for joint-funded studentships

If your project crosses the remit of the AHRC and another UKRI Research Council, it is possible for you to apply to both LAHP and another DTP funded by a different Research Council. Note that LAHP does not forward your application to other DTPs for consideration. You must apply separately to each DTP. If you are successful in both the LAHP competition and that of the other DTP, AND you are applying through a university that is a member of both DTPs, LAHP may approach the other DTP to discuss possible joint funding of your studentship.

You would need to be successful in both the LAHP competition and the other DTP competition in order to be considered for a joint studentship. Joint funding would not affect the value of your stipend. You would be registered in the institution of your first supervisor, receive a degree from that institution and be subject to its regulations. One DTP would be identified as your ‘home’ DTP for administrative purposes, but you would be a member of both DTPs and have full access to their training and events programmes.

Assessment criteria

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

• Quality of the research proposal (worth 50%): significance, originality and clarity of the research proposal; underpinning ideas, aims and research questions; research design, methodology and/or sources; suitability of the proposal for doctoral research; dissemination and potential impact of the research.
• Preparedness of the student (worth 25%): previous academic achievements in relevant subject areas and/or relevant professional / practitioner experience (particularly for applicants with non standard academic trajectories); relevant knowledge, skills and/or training – and identification of training needs
  for proposed research.
• Feasibility of proposed research (worth 25%): likely completion within the timeframe; identification of training needs; justification of fieldwork and study visits; synergy with proposed supervisors’ research and wider intellectual culture of the department, HEI and LAHP.

The Assessment process

There is a three-stage assessment process (assessment process – visual representation):

• Stage 1: applications will be assigned to one of 25 Subject Area Groups (SAGs). The SAG members are from each of LAHP’s HEIs that accepts PhD students in that subject area. Each SAG agrees a ranked list of applications to forward to the next stage of the competition.
• Stage 2: the ranked lists of applications from each SAG will be assessed by one of four Disciplinary Clusters (DCs). The chair from each SAG will sit on one DC. The DCs are chaired by LAHP’s Director and Deputy Director (Training & Cohort Development). Each DC agrees a ranked list of applications to forward to the next stage of the competition.
• Stage 3: ranked lists of applications from each DC will be assessed by the Studentship Award Panel (SAP). The academic members from LAHP’s Core Management Group (from each of its eight HEI partners) sit on SAP. SAP is chaired by LAHP’s Director. SAP will confirm the award of a minimum number of Black and Global Majority studentships.
  Please note that applications will be read by subject specialists in Stage 1, and then by assessors across a range of subject areas. It is important to frame your research proposal in a way that conveys its quality and originality both to subject specialists and those across different subject areas in the arts and humanities.