Collaborative Doctoral Projects FAQs

The award is funded through the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards scheme. The awards are designed to support the next generation of arts and humanities researchers through partnerships between higher education institutions (HEIs) and non-HEI organisations such as galleries, libraries, archives and museums. The training partnerships aim to identify and address short and long-term skills challenges and foster interdisciplinarity between the cultural, creative and heritage sectors, academia and other employers.

Unlike other funding schemes for PhD studentships in the UK, the award holding organisation (in this case the V&A Museum Group), makes the decision on which projects to support. This decision is based upon the strategic relevance of the project proposal (see below).

The funding provides a PhD researcher with an annual stipend for four years full time (or up to eight-years if part-time); pays university tuition fees for undertaking the PhD programme at the partner HEI; and provides additional support through a Researcher Training Support Grant. The V&A Museum Group provides an additional £1250 per studentship for research expenses. The funding is to enable the PhD researcher to produce a work of original research that is of strategic benefit to the VAMG.

Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards were previously known as Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships, and were renamed as part of AHRC’s new Doctoral Training Investment Framework.

The V&A Museum Group comprises:

The HEI is responsible for administering the studentship in line with the AHRC’s terms and conditions, including receiving funds from the AHRC to cover the PhD researcher’s maintenance stipend and university fees.

Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award studentship projects will be set up as Doctoral Training Grants to the HEI involved in each project. The funding award will be made directly to the collaborating HEI rather than to the VAMG. The HEI partner for a CDP studentship can be anywhere in the UK.

The HEI supervisor is the lead supervisor for the studentship. They and their department should demonstrably provide the right expertise and support for the topic. All Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award studentships should have both a main HEI supervisor and a second HEI supervisor (based at the same HEI) to ensure continuity of supervision in the event of staff changes during the PhD period.

The VAMG supervisor is formally the co-supervisor for the studentship. The VAMG co-supervisor must be a member of VAMG staff and to that end, all project proposals should be jointly written between the proposed HEI supervisor(s) and the proposed VAMG co-supervisor(s). All Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award studentships should have both a main VAMG co-supervisor and a second VAMG co-supervisor to ensure continuity of supervision in the event of staff changes during the PhD period.

Staff from the V&A Research Institute (VARI) administer the VAMG’s Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award scheme, running the competition and selection process on behalf of (and in collaboration with) the wider VAMG.

On 30 June 2026 the AHRC announced the successful applicants to the Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award Scheme. The first intake year will be 2027 and the VAMG is funded for four cohort years. The VAMG was awarded 14 studentships.

The profiling of the award is as follows:

Each year, the VAMG holds an open competition designed to identify and select which funded studentship projects will be supported, in accordance with AHRC guidelines. Studentship proposals must be jointly submitted by a supervisory team comprised of VAMG staff and HEI staff. The studentship’s subject matter must be developed in close collaboration between the proposed supervisors.

Proposals chosen for funding will be:

The VAMG requires HEI partners to have clear equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies and to confirm they will work with the VAMG’s own EDI Action Plan, developed in line with AHRC guidance. More information will be available if your Expression of Interest is taken forward to full application (see FAQ no. 14).

Studentships funded receive four years of funding. The four-year duration is to enable PhD researchers to undertake development activities as part of their doctoral study. Professional development opportunities should be based on the PhD researcher’s needs, within AHRC's terms and conditions and agreed between the PhD researcher and their supervisors. Doctoral projects must be designed and supervised in such a way that PhD researchers are able to submit their thesis within the funded period, as defined at the outset of the project. It is also possible to undertake a project part time.

Each Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award studentship includes the HEI tuition fees and a student maintenance grant (the exact amount of which is in line with UKRI guidelines and includes the CDP-specific uplift), and additional funding for activities through a Researcher Training Support Grant. Connected to the AHRC award, the VAMG will also provide up to £1250 of research expenses over the duration of the four-year studentship (or part-time equivalent).

Studentships as part of Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards are open to UK and international students. However, please note that awards for stipend and fees will be based at UK (Home) level and therefore will not cover the additional student fees normally charged by HEIs to international students.

For more information on eligibility criteria, please see the UKRI website.

It is anticipated that the PhD researcher will spend a significant amount of time researching at one (or more) of institutions within the VAMG as well as attending training and other VAMG-based activities. Depending on the PhD researcher and their project, they may also be encouraged to spend some time undertaking professional development opportunities during the course of their four years of funding (eight years part time).

There is no limit to the number of applications an individual HEI might make in partnership with the VAMG at the Expression of Interest phase. However, please note that competition for the VAMG’s available studentships is strong each year.

No. In line with AHRC guidance, the VAMG does not support named/nominated PhD researchers on Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award projects. This is in order to increase accessibility to VAMG’s studentships by ensuring equal access to the funding and opportunities these studentships afford. All projects must be subject to an open application and recruitment procedure in line with the VAMG’s EDI action plan (see FAQ no. 16).

The VAMG is especially keen to encourage proposals that respond to the three pillars of our new Research Strategy.

Ecologies of design and production:

Identity and agency in the lives of our objects:

Nurturing the sustainable future of creativity:

Responses to these research priorities can be rooted in any area of the V&A’s expansive collections at any V&A site. Discover more about the V&A’s collections through Explore the Collections, the National Art Library Catalogue, and the Archives.

The VAMG runs a two-stage selection process. In the first instance, HEI colleagues are invited to submit an initial Expression of Interest (EoI). This EoI must be written in collaboration with colleagues at an institution within the VAMG.

If you have a project idea and need an introduction to a potential co-supervisor at the V&A, please email ahrcresearch@vam.ac.uk with a summary of your idea before 14 September 2026.

Our key assessment criteria for this first stage are:

If the EoI is suitable, you will be asked to submit a formal, more detailed second-stage proposal form in collaboration with colleagues at an institution within the VAMG.

A selection panel, consisting of staff from across the VAMG, HEIs and other heritage organisation representatives, meets in January 2027 to consider all the eligible proposals. Panel members will not take part in the review of any proposals where there could be a conflict of interest. Some proposals may be recommended subject to improvements or conditions by the panel. The panel will provide feedback on all proposals.

If a proposal is successful, the VAMG will formally nominate the project to the AHRC. The HEI supervisor will then need to submit a CDP ‘application’ form via The Funding Service to allow the AHRC to undertake basic eligibility checks and to set up awards. Once this is completed, the studentship can be advertised, and the HEI will then administer it in line with standard AHRC studentships.

The Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award Selection Panel will assess and rank each eligible application against the following criteria:

Section 1 – Core Team

Section 2 – Vision

Section 3 – Approach

Section 4 – Supervisory Arrangements

Section 5 – Recruitment, Selection and EDI

Section 6 – Intellectual Property Management and Communication

Section 7 – Ethics and Responsible Research and Innovation

The most successful Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award proposals often develop from already established relationships between academics and VAMG-based staff, and ongoing dialogues between them concerning new research.

Museum-based research usually has a different focus and approach from PhD research taking place in HEIs. It often (although not always) relates directly to collections. Its methodology usually involves the in-depth material analysis of museum objects that will form a central body of evidence – along with other types of documentation – for the Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award studentship. Some of the research questions are raised by the objects and gaps in the museums’ knowledge about them; others come from the museums’ desire to explore new ways to engage diverse audiences. The focus for all Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award studentships is the production of the thesis (or equivalent); additional outcomes may also be appropriate. The results of the research should contribute directly to the interpretation of the VAMG’s collections and the information we present to our audiences.

Both supervisors will need to consider the type of student who would be suited to the project. A successful proposal needs to meet the requirements of VAMG themes/priorities as well as relate to relevant academic research interests.

Collaborative PhD researchers work across two locations, with two sets of supervisors, in two different organisations. This enables PhD researchers to gain valuable first-hand experience in different environments and enhances their employment-related skills and training. However, you should also be prepared to overcome potential challenges specifically related to the nature of collaborative PhDs. This includes working effectively with supervisors who, depending on the institutions involved, may also be geographically distant.

The VAMG's CDP studentships are advertised on the V&A's Collaborative Doctoral Projects page and university websites from spring each year.