AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award

What the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award gives you

You get a fully funded PhD place in the arts and humanities at a UK university. This is a studentship, which means the university covers your tuition fees and pays you a monthly living allowance (called a stipend) for the length of your doctorate. The amount follows the standard UKRI rates for doctoral funding. These rates are set nationally and adjusted each year. The money comes from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). AHRC has given 50 UK universities 15 studentships each, spread over five years. The first students start in October 2026.

Who can apply

• Degree level: You want to do a PhD (a doctorate).
• Field of study: Any arts and humanities subject. Each university sets its own PhD topics, and some involve partners outside academia, including industry.
• Where you study: You study at one of the 50 UK universities that got an allocation. These include Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff and Queen's University Belfast, plus many others across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Selection: Each university recruits and chooses its own students.

How to apply

You do not apply to AHRC directly. You apply to the university where you want to do your PhD, following its own admissions process and deadlines. Look for AHRC studentships in the arts and humanities departments of the 50 participating universities.

How realistic are your chances?

Each university awards only three of these studentships per year, so places are limited and competition is strong at the top institutions. Your prospects depend on a well-matched, high-quality PhD proposal and a supervisor who backs it. Apply early and target universities whose research fits your topic.