Background
The AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award is a new funding scheme from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), launching in 2026. Its goal is to boost the UK’s capacity for doctoral research in the arts and humanities.
Through this award, 50 universities across the UK received funding for 15 doctoral studentships over five years. This long-term investment helps strengthen the national research community and provides stable support for new researchers.
The scheme puts a strong focus on equality, diversity, and inclusion. Participating universities are encouraged to attract students from a wide range of backgrounds and to support them throughout their PhD journey.
Beyond individual funding - covering tuition fee, stipend and research costs - the award supports the creation of regional training hubs. These hubs allow universities to share resources, offer joint training, and exchange best practices. As a result, students can benefit from a collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment.
The University of Cambridge is part of an AHRC Doctoral Landscape Hub:
- King's College London – Hub lead
- Birkbeck College
- Queen Mary University of London
- Royal College of Art
- SOAS University of London
- The University of East Anglia
- The University of Essex
- The University of Westminster
- University College London
- University of Hertfordshire
- University of the Arts, London
Award details
Number of Awards:
The AHRC allocated 3 full awards for each of the five intakes starting in 2026-27. The University of Cambridge is willing to partner fund 50% of these awards to double the cohort size therefore we are looking to award up to 6 fully funded studentships each year.
Eligibility:
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The AHRC DLA scheme is open to new applicants only. This programme will not be considering applications from current students.
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Eligible doctoral applicants can apply for AHRC DLA studentship funding. A limited number of awards—up to 30%—are available for international students each year.
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Eligibility criteria: AHRC subject remit - The Cambridge AHRC DLA will only consider applications which research focus fall within one of the AHRC’s primary research areas. See the list of eligible course and the AHRC subject remit at the bottom of this page in an expandable accordion.
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Interdisciplinary research: We welcome interdisciplinary research proposals. However, to be eligible for funding, at least 50% of your project must focus on an AHRC Primary Research Area, based on your research questions and aims. The main academic audience and impact should also fall within an AHRC discipline. Using Arts and Humanities methods alone is not enough—your project must primarily contribute to an AHRC subject area.
Value of the Award:
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Payment of university fees throughout the funded period;
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A tax-free maintenance grant at the UKRI minimum rate (£20,780 per annum for 2025/26) for the baseline period of 3.5 years;
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The opportunity to apply for an extension to studentship funding (up to 4 years in total) on the basis of individual training and research needs or to support a professional placement.
Funding is adjusted on a pro-rata basis for part-time students and where the award is for a period of less than 12 months in any year.
The AHRC DLA Hub also offers students training and researcher development opportunities, additional funding to support their individual research and training needs, and access to the resources and training offered by our partner universities.
All UKRI-funded doctoral students are eligible for a full award, comprising a stipend to support living costs and fees up to the home rate. The University of Cambridge Fee Bursary Scheme covers the gap between the home and overseas fee rates for international students.
Selection criteria
The key principle that underpins the Cambridge AHRC DLA recruitment and selection procedures is a commitment to selection by excellence while encouraging diversity.
Faculties and departments will review applications and consider how clearly you present your research idea, how realistic and well-planned it is, and whether you have the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to successfully carry out doctoral research in your chosen area.
How to apply
If you would like to be considered for this funding, please complete the AHRC DLA questions under the Funding Section on the Postgraduate Application Portal.
Contact
For further information, contact ahrcdla@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Please expand the following titles to find detailed information on eligible doctoral courses as well as on subject eligibility:
- PhD in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
- PhD in Archaeology
- PhD in Architecture
- PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
- PhD in Biological Anthropology
- PhD in Classics
- PhD in Digital Humanities
- PhD in Education
- PhD in English
- PhD in Film and Screen Studies
- PhD in French
- PhD in Geography
- PhD in German
- PhD in History
- PhD in History and Philosophy of Science
- PhD in History of Art
- PhD in Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence
- PhD in Italian
- PhD in Latin American Studies
- PhD in Law
- PhD in Linguistics: Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
- PhD in Literature, Culture and Thought
- PhD in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies
- PhD in Music
- PhD in Philosophy
- PhD in Polar Studies (Scott Polar Research Institute)
- PhD in Politics and International Studies
- PhD in Portuguese
- PhD in Slavonic Studies
- PhD in Social Anthropology
- PhD in Spanish
- PhD in Theology and Religious Studies
- Prehistoric Archaeology
- Archaeology of Literate Societies
- Archaeology of Human Origins
- Archaeological Theory
- Maritime Archaeology
- Landscape and Environmental Archaeology
- Industrial Archaeology
Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains. To be supported by the AHRC, the majority of a proposal’s research questions must address a substantive archaeological question, for example, about trade, cultural history or identity.
Projects that are mainly concerned with technical or scientific questions that have an application within archaeology should be directed to NERC.
- Classical Literature
- Classical Reception
- Philosophy, Thought and Religion
- Epigraphy and Papyrology
- Languages and Linguistics
- Museum and Gallery Studies
- Cultural Studies and Pop Culture
- Cultural Geography
- Heritage Management
- Conservation of Art and Textiles
Gender studies: AHRC supports research that is concerned with sex and gender as they relate to the creative and performing arts, language, law, literature, religion and history of all periods. ESRC supports research that is concerned with sex and gender as they relate to contemporary society, the economy and politics.
Human geography: ESRC is the primary funding body for human geography. The AHRC supports research in certain aspects of cultural geography, e.g. interpretation of the cultural landscape; cultural constructions of nature and environment; creative and imaginative aspects of geographical thought and practice; and relationships between space, place and cultural identity.
Social anthropology: ESRC is the primary funding body for social anthropology. The AHRC supports anthropological research where the research questions and methods are significantly concerned with arts and humanities phenomena and critical, historical and practice-led approaches.
Support for cultural and museum studies is shared with ESRC. EPSRC funds Heritage Science and science-led research in conservation studies.
Area Studies are only eligible if primary concern is culture, history, language and/or religion of specific regions.
ESRC is the main funder for International Development. ESRC is the primary funder for Development Studies/International Development; Area Studies is categorised as part of Development Studies. Certain aspects of Area Studies falls within the AHRC remit. AHRC supports research that is concerned with the culture, history, language and religion of specific regions. ESRC supports research that is concerned with the society, economy, politics and human geography of specific regions.
- Cultural History
- Political History
- Imperial/Colonial History
- History of Science/Medicine/Technology
- War Studies
- Religious History
- Economic and Social History
- American Studies
- Post-Colonial Studies
AHRC supports historical research covering all periods of history from ancient times to modern, and in all parts of the world. AHRC takes modern history to end in the late twentieth century. Applicants whose research focuses primarily on the last two decades of that century will need to show in their proposal how and why their focus is indeed predominantly historical, for example how the study will focus on change over a defined period of time or will make predominant use of historical modes of analysis.
ESRC supports historical research that seeks to understand the development of social and economic arrangements over time and applies social and economic theories. Proposals dealing with topics within the last thirty years should explicitly demonstrate why their focus is predominantly historical rather than contemporary and thus part of the AHRC’s rather than the ESRC’s subject domain.
- Jurisprudence/Philosophy of Law
- Human Rights
- Criminal Law and Criminology
- International Law
- EU Law
- Public Law
- Comparative Law
- Common Law, including Commercial Law
- Law Regulated by Statute
- Law Relating to Property
- Legal History
Law may include doctrinal, theoretical, empirical, comparative or other studies of law and legal phenomena. The AHRC shares with the ESRC responsibility for studies in law. The AHRC supports research into the content, procedures, theory, philosophy and history of the law. This includes studies of legal systems and legislation in all periods of history and in all parts of the world.
The ESRC supports socio-legal studies, which are concerned with the social, political and economic influences on and impact of the law and the legal system.
- Political Philosophy
- Philosophy of Mind
- Aesthetics
- Metaphysics
- History of Ideas
- Language and Philosophical Logic
- Epistemology
- Ethics
- History of Philosophy
- Philosophy of Science and Mathematics and Mathematical Logic
- Philosophy of Religion
AHRC supports research in philosophy, covering all topics, methods and periods. This includes research into ethical theory and applied ethics, for example bio-ethics, professional ethics and environmental ethics.
ESRC supports research into the social political and economic influences on and effects of ethical positions of institutions and individuals.
- Diplomacy and International Relations
ESRC is the primary funding body for international relations, but AHRC supports research that is concerned with the relationship between international relations and the culture, history, language and religion of specific countries and regions.
- Old Testament
- Modern Theology
- Judaism
- Islam
- Liturgy
- Systematic Theology
- Church History and History of Theology
- New Testament
- East Asian Religions
- Buddhism
- Hinduism
- Jainism
- Sikhism
- Alternative Spiritualties/New Religious Movements
- Atheism/Secularism
- Inter-faith Relations
- Contemporary Religion
AHRC supports research into religions and belief systems of all kinds, in all periods of history and in all parts of the world. This includes research into the ethics of religions and belief systems, and their application in socio-economic, scientific and technological contexts.
ESRC supports research that is concerned with the social and economic influences on and the impacts of religious beliefs and groups.
- Architecture History, Theory and Practice
- Digital Art and Design
- Product Design
EPSRC funds research on the built environment.
- Theatre and Society
- Dramaturgy
- Scenography
- Performance and Live Art
- Theatre and History
- Theories of Theatre
- Drama and Theatre - Other
- Media and Communication Studies
- New Media/Web-Based Studies
- Film History, Theory and Criticism
AHRC supports research that seeks to understand communications, culture and media through the study of phenomena such as the visual arts, film and television, history, language, literature and performance. ESRC supports research that approaches communications, culture and media through the study of sociology, social theory, social anthropology, politics and economics. Note that there is also an important interface between AHRC, ESRC and EPSRC in this area where proposed research projects include a significant engagement with, or advancement of, communication technologies
- Traditional Music
- History of Music
- Music and Society
- Popular Music
- Composition
- Classical Music
- Musical Performance
- Musicology
- Fine Art History, Theory and Practice
- Photography History, Theory and Practice
- Art Theory and Aesthetics
- Community Art including Art and Health
- Installation and Sound Art History, Theory and Practice
- Ethnography and Anthropology
- Digital Arts History, Theory and Practice
- Applied Arts History, Theory and Practice
- Art History
- Design History, Theory and Practice
- Film-based media (History, Theory and Practice)
- Time-based media History, Theory and Practice
- American Studies
- Interpreting and Translation
- Lifewriting
- History and Development of the English Language
- Literary and Cultural Theory
- Post-Colonial Studies
- Scandinavian Studies
- Asiatic and Oriental Studies
- Middle Eastern and African
- Italian Studies
- Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin Studies
- English Language and Literature
- Creative Writing
- Comparative Literature
- French Studies
- Celtic Studies
- Medieval Literature
- Ethnography and Anthropology
- Comparative Studies
- German, including Dutch and Yiddish
- Russian, Slavonic and East European Languages and Literature
- Gender and Sexuality
- Textual Editing and Bibliography
- Syntax
- Semantics and Pragmatics
- Phonetics
- Language Variation and Change
- Lexicon
- Linguistic Theory
- Morphology and Phonology
- Applied Linguistics
- Linguistics (General)
AHRC supports research into the structure, history, theory and description of language and languages. This includes the development and exploration of theories of language, the elucidation of the historical development of languages and the production of descriptions of languages or features of languages. ESRC supports research in areas of computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and interdisciplinary social science research involving linguistics. Both Councils also fund research into phonetics and applied linguistics relating to the areas for which they are responsible.
ESRC funds research in areas of computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and interdisciplinary social science research involving linguistics.
ESRC is the primary funding body for educational research across all subjects, including the arts and humanities. AHRC supports research where the imperative for the research questions resides in the arts and humanities, but there may be an educational element. Examples include research into the history of education, children's literature, creative art and performance in (but not for) educational environments, religious teaching and scholarship, and the role of education in librarianship and museums practice.
ESRC is the primary funding body for research on innovation and the interdisciplinary study of science, technology and society. AHRC supports research into the history, law and philosophy of science, technology and medicine, as well as their interface with religion. AHRC also supports research into the interpretation and representation of, and engagement with, science, technology and medicine through art, literature, performance, museums, galleries, libraries and archives.