The V&A is delighted to have been awarded funding by the Arts and Humanities Research Council for four cohort years of Collaborative PhD research funding.
The V&A has been awarded 14 studentships in total over four cohort years (five for 2027 start, three in 2028, three in 2029 and three in 2030). The first intake of PhD researchers funded through this scheme will start in October 2027.
Unlike other funding schemes for PhD studentships in the UK, the V&A makes the decision on which projects to support. This decision is based upon the strategic relevance of the project proposal.
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 provides £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 V&A. The project is designed by a V&A member of staff in collaboration with an academic based at a UK University, who will act as primary project supervisors. We also require secondary supervisors from the V&A and the partner university to ensure consistency of supervision across the duration of the project.
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.
Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards were previously known as Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships, and were renamed as part of AHRC’s new Doctoral Training Investment Framework.
How do I get involved?
We are now seeking project proposals from potential V&A and university-based supervisors for collaborative PhD projects to start in October 2027.
The application process is two-stage:
- An Expression of Interest, developed with a co-supervisor based at a UK university, to be submitted by 9 October 2026.
- Successful EOIs will be informed by 16 October 2026 and will be invited to submit full applications by 14 December 2026.
The Selection Panel meets on 12 January 2027 and will select five projects to start on 1 October 2027.
Expressions of Interest must be jointly submitted by a V&A staff member and an academic based at a UK university.
Please note that you only need to complete the Full Project Proposal Form if your Expression of Interest is successful.
Academics interested in submitting a proposal, but who do not yet have a potential co-supervisor at the V&A, are required to contact Dr OIiver Cox, Head of Academic Partnerships on email: o.cox@vam.ac.uk by 14 September 2026.
Expressions of Interest must respond to the V&A’s Priority Research Areas.
Priority Research Areas
1. Ecologies of design and production:
- What enables creative individuals and institutions to thrive?
- What drives and sustains the desire to make?
- What impact does human creativity have on society and the economy?
2. Identity and agency in the lives of our objects:
- Highlighting understudied, marginalised objects and makers in our collections
- Emphasising the political contexts of creativity and of the assignment of cultural value
- Questioning historical and contemporary conceptions of ownership and placing them in productive tension with issues of identity
3. Nurturing the sustainable future of creativity:
- Impact of new and emerging technologies on future of creative practice
- At a moment of economic and social uncertainty, how can the V&A nurture Britain’s creative strengths?
- Sustainability of the heritage built environment and processes in a changing climate
Responses to these research priorities can be rooted in any area of the V&A’s expansive collections at any V&A site. Projects can vary across chronologies and geographies.
What have previous projects explored?
Over the past three years, nine Collaborative PhD projects have selected by the V&A:
2024 Cohort:
- Visualising Networks: Rediscovering the Acquisition History of the V&A Asia Collection, 1852 – 2023. (Asia Department)
- The Extractive Museum: The Formation, evolution and dispersal of the Museum of Practical Geology Collections, 1835 – c.1901. (Decorative Arts and Sculpture Department)
- Second life: understanding deterioration of recycled plastics in Museum collections. (Conservation Department)
2025 Cohort:
- Plants and their Products: Biocultural collections at Kew Gardens and the South Kensington Museum during the long nineteenth century. (VARINALA)
- V&A East Storehouse: exploring the impact of dynamic approaches to stored collections on museum identity, user engagement and collections management. (V&A East)
- Social Inequality and British Documentary Style: Bert Hardy’s photographs for Picture Post magazine, 1940 – 1957. (AAPD)
2026 Cohort:
- Invisible Hands: Migrant Labour and British Craft in the Long Eighteenth Century. (PFTF)
- Paduan Renaissance Bronzes at the V&A. (DAS)
- Warps and Wefts: Textiles, Design and Scotland in Historical and Contemporary Contexts. (V&A Dundee)
Who do I talk to if I want more guidance?
We will hold application surgeries for V&A colleagues interested in submitting a project proposal to the scheme on. These surgeries are not mandatory but provide additional support to colleagues who may be new to the scheme.
Surgeries are available in 30-minute time slots on:
- 25 August 2026: 13:00 – 14:00
- 10 September 2026: 11:30 – 13:00
To book an application surgery, please email o.cox@vam.ac.uk with your preferred time slot in the email subject line.
Please contact Dr Oliver Cox with any other queries or questions.
Landscape is broad enough that this could lead to some really creative research ideas. granny
Facts Only
* The V&A received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for Collaborative PhD research.
* A total of 14 studentships are awarded over four cohort years: five for 2027, three for 2028, three for 2029, and three for 2030.
* The first intake of researchers begins in October 2027.
* Funding covers a four-year full-time (or eight-year part-time) annual stipend, university tuition fees, and a Researcher Training Support Grant.
* The V&A provides £1250 per studentship for research expenses.
* Projects must be designed by a V&A staff member and a UK university academic.
* Expressions of Interest (EOI) are due by 9 October 2026.
* Successful EOIs are notified on 16 October 2026, with full applications due by 14 December 2026.
* The selection panel meets on 12 January 2027.
* Priority Research Areas include ecologies of design and production, identity and agency in objects, and the sustainable future of creativity.
* Academics without a V&A co-supervisor must contact Dr Oliver Cox by 14 September 2026.
* Application surgeries are scheduled for 25 August 2026 and 10 September 2026.
Executive Summary
The V&A has secured funding through the UKRI AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards to support 14 PhD studentships between 2027 and 2030. This initiative fosters partnerships between higher education institutions and non-HEI organizations to address skills gaps and promote interdisciplinarity across the heritage, creative, and academic sectors. Unlike many UK schemes, the V&A maintains direct control over project selection based on strategic relevance to the institution.
Funding includes stipends, tuition, training grants, and a specific allowance for research expenses. To qualify, projects must align with three priority research areas: the ecologies of design, the identity and agency of objects (specifically marginalized makers and political contexts), and the sustainability of creativity in the face of emerging technology and climate change. Potential supervisors must follow a two-stage application process, beginning with an Expression of Interest due in October 2026. Support is available for V&A staff through application surgeries and direct consultation with the Head of Academic Partnerships.
Full Take
This announcement represents a strategic alignment between state-funded academic research and institutional curation. By exercising direct control over which projects are funded—rather than relying on a general application pool—the V&A is effectively using PhD candidates as a mechanism for institutional R&D. The focus on "strategic benefit" suggests that while the researchers earn a degree, the primary output is designed to serve the museum's long-term organizational goals.
The priority research areas reveal a clear shift toward "decolonizing" the archive and addressing climate urgency. The emphasis on marginalized makers and the political contexts of cultural value indicates an institutional effort to rectify historical blind spots. Simultaneously, the focus on "economic and social uncertainty" suggests a desire to reposition the museum as a vital hub for Britain's creative economy, rather than merely a repository of the past.
Patterns detected: none
The root cause is the evolving nature of the "museum" from a static collection to a dynamic research laboratory. The unstated assumption is that academic rigor is the most effective tool for institutional rebranding and collection management. This benefits the museum through low-cost, high-level expertise and benefits the researcher through funding and access. However, a potential second-order consequence is the narrowing of academic inquiry to only those topics that fit a corporate-institutional strategy.
Bridge Questions:
1. How does the V&A balance the academic independence of a PhD student with the "strategic benefit" required by the funding?
2. Which perspectives on the collections remain excluded if research must align with pre-defined priority areas?
Counterstrike Scan: A bad actor pushing this narrative would frame it as an "intellectual takeover" of the arts by state-funded bureaucracy to steer cultural history. The actual content is a standard administrative call for proposals and does not match this pattern.