Training & Cohort Development Programme 2025/26

LAHP provides PhD students with an extensive programme of training in practical research skills and offers opportunities to experience first-hand the workings of some of London’s greatest cultural institutions. The few years you spend as a doctoral student are a time to experiment, innovate, and make connections that may be fundamental and long-lasting as you go forward with your research and future career. We hope the courses and events that we offer will stimulate this process.

The LAHP Training & Cohort Development Programme is open to all arts & humanities postgraduate research students at KCL, LSE, QMUL, RCA, RCM, RCSSD, SAS and UCL. Priority booking is given to LAHP AHRC-funded students.

Training & Cohort Development Programme 2025/26

The 2025/26 LAHP Training and Cohort Development programme will be built around six core study days scheduled throughout the year. Alongside these, are offering additional themed sessions designed to complement the core provision. To support flexible learning, we also plan to introduce asynchronous sessions, allowing students to complete training at times that suit them best. You can view and book all sessions via the event calendar below.

Our programme engages students across the following areas of activity:

• Core study, covering generic skills applicable to all students irrespective of their disciplinary focus
• Subject-specific and interdisciplinary training delivered through student- alumni- and/or staff-led activities (including seminars, reading groups, conferences – see LAHP Student-, Staff- and Alumni-led Activities Fund)
• Professionalisation, with opportunities to develop new professional skills (podcasting, knowledge-exchange, getting published)
• Supplementary studies, including a range of language-acquisition options (22 courses including Arabic, Mandarin and Japanese for beginners, delivered by Kings Language Centre – details on this below)
• Cohort-focused development skills, including allyship training, peer-support, good mental-health in research and resilience training, as well as networking opportunities

LAHP students are expected to complete 10 days of LAHP training during their studentship in addition to fulfilling the independent requirements of their own HEI.

LAHP invites all students within our member institutions to take part in training events. We also welcome students from other UKRI-funded DTPs, where space permits, to join our training and events. Enquiries for participation in any LAHP event can be made by emailing lahp@ucl.ac.uk

• Language learning via King’s Language Centre

  King’s Language Centre (LC) at King’s College London is the largest language centre in the UK, teaching 9,000 students a year. The LC, as part of its collaboration with LAHP, CHASE, SWW, M4C, and SGSAH has developed language modules specifically tailored to cater for research students. Courses are designed to meet the needs of students based on their PhD studies, and students are invited to bring in class materials linked to their research or special interests. For full details and to register, visit the King’s Language Centre website

  The registration deadline for 2025/25 language courses is 30^th September 2025.

  LAHP-funded students may also apply for separate language training funding through the LAHP Language Fund.

• Public Engagement Competition 2025-26

  LAHP funded students are eligible to enter LAHP’s Public Engagement Competition. Submissions should be for a PE project directly related to their primary research or in collaboration with other students around a mutual interest resonant with their research. The submission can take one of the following forms:

  (1) Documentation or a sample of an individual piece of public engagement in relation to LAHP-funded research;

  (2) Documentation or a sample of a group/ collaborative project undertaken in response to the training sessions;

  (Samples for the above two submission formats could include a short film or a sample podcast for example)

  (3) A detailed proposal of 3-5 pages for a planned public engagement project related to LAHP-funded research.

  All submissions must also be accompanied by a one-page project summary that explains how the PE activity relates to and/or extends your research; which particular audience you wanted to reach and why; and what impacts you anticipate it having.

  Submissions will be assessed on the following criteria:

  – Clarity of the project, including aims and outcomes

  – Link to current LAHP research

  – Specificity of target audience, and how the project hopes to reach these groups

  – Appropriateness of engagement method for aims and public

  – Quality of evaluation plans.

  The deadline for applications is 30th April 2026 and the winner and runners-up will be announced at LAHP’s Annual Research Day on 12^th May 2026. The first prize will be £200 in book tokens, with two runner-up prizes of £50 in book tokens.

  Questions and competition submissions should be sent to info.lahp@london.ac.uk

Event Calendar – Training & Cohort Development Programme 2025/26

You can view and book sessions in the Training & Cohort Development Programme via the calendar below:

• Select the month (sessions run from October 2025 – June 2026)
• Dates with a training session will have a blue dot underneath – click the date and follow the arrow on the left-hand side to the main event page where you will be able to register via Eventbrite

Dr Tom Six’s Office hours for LAHP PhD students

LAHP students who have queries regarding training have the option to book an appointment with Dr Tom Six, LAHP Deputy Director for Training and Cohort Development.