Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards (2026-2030) 

Director's welcome

Professor Marcus Waithe University of Cambridge

 

As Director of Cambridge’s AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards scheme and institutional representative on the London and East Anglia DLA Hub (LEAH), I want to extend a warm welcome to our PhD students. For many, researching and writing a doctoral thesis is a life-changing experience – challenging and rewarding in equal measure. It will bring your skills up to the highest academic level, and in that respect is worthwhile in itself. But it will also prepare you for your future, whether that lies in teaching and research, or in another line of work where advanced skills and ability are prized. 

Cambridge is a special place to embark on this journey: you will learn much from working in such an academically rich environment, while the College system ensures a ready-made community and sources of support for those who need it. You will also learn a great deal from your peers, all of whom come to their studies with distinct experiences and insights, many drawn from around the world. 

The advantage of being a DLA student is that you will also benefit from offerings that are shared across the Hub, allowing you to meet students from different institutions, and to make use of specialist offerings available across a wider network. Let me take this opportunity to wish you well as you develop your research projects. We very much hope that you will enjoy your time here.

- Professor Marcus Waithe, Deputy Head of the School of Arts and Humanities (Research)

 

About the scheme

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, while sustaining our ongoing commitment to excellence. 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, LEAH DLA 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