CHASE AHRC Studentship

Key information

Deadline date

Scholarship overview

Up to 56 Arts and Humanities studentships available from CHASE Doctoral Training Partnership. CHASE Studentships are for PhD-level study only and successful applicants will have their fees paid, as well as receiving a stipend to cover living expenses (where eligible, see below) and access to further funds for skills training and research.

The Consortium of the Humanities and the Arts South-East England (CHASE) invites applications for its sixth round of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) PhD Studentship awards. CHASE is one of 10 Doctoral Training Partnerships in the UK awarded funding by the AHRC.

SOAS, University of London is proud to be part of CHASE which brings together 8 leading institutions engaged in collaborative research activities including an AHRC doctoral training partnership. These are the Universities of East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, Birkbeck, University of London and SOAS, University of London.

Selection criteria for applications

Selection panels will grade applications according to the following criteria:

1. Research proposal

  • The proposal is clearly-written and demonstrates engagement with an academic field at a high level of sophistication. 
  • The project demonstrates original thinking in its field (or fields) 
  • The project is clearly situated in its field (or fields)
  • The methodology proposed clearly demonstrates the viability of the planned research. 
  • The planned research is described in a way that inspires confidence that it will definitely be completed within the funded period.
  • The application demonstrates excellent motivation for the research project. 
  • The proposed research may be timely or urgent in nature, but not all excellent projects will be time-critical or topical.

2. Preparedness for research

  • The applicant demonstrates understanding of appropriate research skills required for successful completion of the project. 
  • The applicant has appropriate training at Master’s level or equivalent (including experience gained outside of higher education) to undertake the project. 
  • The applicant’s references fully support the applicant’s preparedness for doctoral study. 
  • The applicant demonstrates outstanding competency in organisational skills and initiative through their previous activities, and a capacity to overcome obstacles. 

Where widening participation information is provided, it gives context on aspects of the candidate’s preparedness and on their motivation to undertake doctoral study. CHASE is committed to addressing inequalities in participation in our DTP, and encourages applications from all under-represented groups, including people with disabilities, ethnic minorities (especially Black British), lower income families and mature students. 

Assessors should consider widening participation information alongside other answers in this section at any point where applications are compared.

3. Suitability of research environment

  • The research environment (as constituted by the proposed supervision, the home department(s) or equivalent, the institutional support (including available archives, sources, research centres), any external organisations) is appropriate to the project. 
  • The applicant has given clear thought to the fit between their project and their proposed research environment. 
  • The supervisor statement fully supports the project’s fit with the proposed research environment.

Applications shortlisted by the institution will be put forward to the relevant CHASE selection panel. The scope of each selection panel is as follows:

  • History, Thought and Systems of Belief - Applications to: History; Law and Legal Studies; Philosophy; Theology, Divinity and Religion; Archaeology; Classics; Political Science and International Studies
  • Art History and Visual Cultures - Applications to: Art History; Conservation; Visual Art History and Theory; Digital Arts & Photography History, Theory and Practice; Visual Arts (covering Art Theory & Aesthetics; Community Art including Art and Health); Museum Studies; Ethnography and Anthropology; History and Theory of Architecture; Cultural Geography
  • Media and Creative Practice - Applications to: Design; Creative Writing; Music (Practice-based, composition, musicology); Visual art practice; Installation and Sound Art History, Theory and Practice; Film-Based and Time-Based History, Theory and Practice; Media: New Media/Web-Based Studies; Media: Film History, Theory and Criticism; Media: Television History, Theory and Criticism; Drama and Theatre Studies Practice; Information and Communications Technologies; Media and communication studies; Journalism and Publishing;
  • Literature, Language and Culture - Applications to: Drama and Theatre Studies Theory; Languages and Literature (including American Studies, Life writing, History and Development of English Language, Literary and Cultural Theory, Post Colonial Studies, Comparative Literature, Medieval Literature, Comparative Studies, Gender and Sexuality); English Language and Literature; Popular Culture; Cultural Studies (Policy, Arts Management and Creative Industries); Interpreting and Translation; Linguistics; French Studies; German Studies (including Dutch and Yiddish); Italian Studies; Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies; Asiatic & Oriental Studies; Middle Eastern and African Studies; Russian, Slavonic and Eastern European Studies; Cultural Studies and Popular Culture

Eligibility

Most CHASE awards will be made to Home candidates. To be classed as a Home candidate, you must meet the following criteria: 

  • Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or 
  • Have settled status, or 
  • Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or 
  • Have indefinite leave to remain or enter 

CHASE is also able to make a limited number of awards to International/Oversea students. 

Further guidance on residential eligibility is provided in Annex B of the UKRI Training Grant Guidance.

Awards are offered for 3 years (36 months) full-time, with the opportunity to extend up to 4 years (48 months) to include necessary skills training, or to incorporate placement projects. 

  • Languages skills training usually takes place at the start of the project, so you should include any necessary training in your application (see Task 3: Preparedness for research).  
  • Successful award holders may apply for an extension to cover other skills training identified in the first year of the project. 
  • Successful award holders may apply at any time during the studentship for an extension and costs to cover a collaborative placement project of up to 6 months with an external organisation. 

We encourage applications for part-time research. Part time awards are usually offered at 0.5 FTE for 6 years part time, with the opportunity to extend up to 8 years (96 months), or the maximum institutional registration period, whichever is shorter.

Stuart Hall Foundation studentships 

If you wish to apply for a Stuart Hall Foundation studentship, please indicate this in Question 6 of the Contact Details form. These studentships are available to Home candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, specifically encouraging applicants with an interest in the work and legacy of Stuart Hall. 

Your application will still be considered in the main competition as well.

How to apply

Applicants should follow two steps:

Step 1

Apply for Research Degrees at SOAS as soon as possible (ideally mid December 2024) but no later than 11.59pm (UK local time) on 10 January 2025.

  • Guidance for applying for MPhil/PhD and information on what makes an application complete can be found on how to apply (research).
  • Applicants must submit a complete admissions application by 10 January 2025 . However, we strongly advise you to apply by mid-December 2024.
  • The deadline is important as applicants must have an offer of admissions by the time selection takes place.

Step 2

Apply for the Scholarship by 12pm (UK local time) on 27 January 2025.

You should work with your proposed supervisor(s) to develop your application. They will need to provide a supervisor statement in support of your application, and can advise on the drafting of the project proposal. You will also need to identify two referees, one of whom may be your proposed supervisor.

You must apply for the CHASE studentships via the studentship application.

In order to apply you will need the following access code: CHASE-2025

If you wish to apply for a Stuart Hall Foundation studentship, please indicate this in Question 5 of the Contact details CHASE studentship application form. These studentships are available to candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, specifically encouraging applicants with an interest in the work and legacy of Stuart Hall. Your application will still be considered in the main competition as well.

Applicant Webinars

Applying for a CHASE AHRC PhD studentship

  • Friday 1 November, 12pm-1pm

Find out about what a CHASE AHRC Studentship can offer you, and get tips on applying from our student panel. This hour-long session will introduce the CHASE PhD studentship programme and offer advice to prospective applicants.

Applying for a Stuart Hall Foundation CHASE AHRC Studentship

  • Friday 25 October, 12pm-1pm

Find out about what a Stuart Hall Foundation CHASE AHRC Studentship can offer you, and get tips on applying from our student panel. This hour-long session will introduce the CHASE PhD studentship programme and offer advice to prospective applicants.

Collaborative Doctoral Award Online Briefings

  • Tuesday 12 November, 3:30pm-5pm

If you are considering applying for one of the Collaborative Doctoral Awards listed, join us for this webinar to find out about the available CHASE Collaborative Doctoral Awards and how to apply. 

The following projects will be featured in the webinar:

  • Domesticating ‘Invalid Furniture,’ c. 1850-1914
  • Re-storying the Sussex Weald Garden: Exotics, Empire and Ecobiography
  • Recovering the Submerged Graphosphere of Westminster Abbey, c. 1500 – c. 1650
  • Coastal Heritage and Socio-Economic Decline on the Isle of Sheppey: Learning from the lost village of Elmle

Informal enquiries

For enquiries about the application procedure, please contact the Scholarships department:

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