AHRC Doctoral Focal Awards / Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP)

Benefit

These grants fund PhD training in the arts and humanities. They are not scholarships you apply for as a student. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), gives the money to universities and their partners. Those institutions then recruit and pay the doctoral researchers. Focal Awards target specific or emerging research fields, unlike the broader Landscape Awards. Once an award runs, the university pays each PhD student a stipend (a monthly living allowance) and covers their fees at the standard UKRI rates.

Two Focal Awards are currently open. The Multilingual Futures award funds up to 20 PhD students per award across four cohorts (groups of students who start together) in languages and cultural research. The first cohort starts in October 2028. The UKRI Venture Doctorates award focuses on entrepreneurship-oriented PhD training. It has a total fund of 29 million EUR (25 million GBP) and expects to fund one to three awards. UKRI covers 100% of eligible costs, but not estates or indirect costs.

Eligibility

• Who this is for: Universities and their partners, not individual students. If you want a PhD place, apply to a university that already holds one of these awards.
• Lead institution (Multilingual Futures): You are a UK higher education institution eligible for AHRC funding, with proven experience in languages research and postgraduate training.
• Consortium (Multilingual Futures): Your bid involves at least two UK universities plus at least one partner from outside academia. A single university cannot apply alone.
• By invitation (Multilingual Futures): You can only submit a full application if you were invited after a successful outline application.
• Who can lead (Venture Doctorates): UK organisations eligible for standard UKRI funding, or businesses and social enterprises accepted through a non-standard eligibility check. Each organisation can lead only one application.

How to apply

Applications go through the UKRI funding service. For Multilingual Futures, the full application closes on 21 January 2027, and only those invited after the outline stage can apply. For Venture Doctorates, an expression of interest is due by 21 September 2026 and the application closes on 22 October 2026.

How realistic are your chances?

This is institutional funding. It only matters if you represent a university or an eligible partner organisation, not if you are a student looking for a personal grant. The awards are few and highly competitive. Venture Doctorates expects just one to three awards from its whole budget, and Multilingual Futures is by invitation only. A strong consortium with a clear track record in the target field has a real chance, but the field is narrow and the bar is high.