Birkbeck University of London AHRC Landscape Award Studentships 2027

An AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) at Birkbeck provides up to three fully funded studentships per year, over five cohorts, and we are welcoming the first cohort of students in October 2026. This web page provides information for prospective applicants interested in applying for the recruitment round for entry in October 2027, as well as for staff involved in the recruitment and selection process for these competitively awarded studentships.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Interview Process
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineJanuary 8, 2027
• Study LevelMasters , PhD
• SponsorBirkbeck University of London
• City to studyLondon
• School to studyBirkbeck University of London
• Course to studyArt and Humanities
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

• Stipend
• Tuition fees
• Research training support grant

Requirements

Residence criteria

AHRC DLA Awards are made on the basis of UKRI terms and conditions. Due to funder restrictions, most AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards will be made to Home candidates; we are able to offer up to 1/3 of the available awards to overseas candidates.

Home fee status is determined when you submit your PhD programme application but 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.

Both home and international students must be resident in the UK for the majority of their studies and any time spent overseas should be for the purposes of fieldwork/long-term attachment.

New doctoral student criteria

Due to AHRC conditions, students who have already commenced their doctoral study (i.e. current doctoral students) are not eligible for a Doctoral Landscape Award studentship. If you are due to begin study earlier than October 2027 (e.g., if you have an offer to start a programme in April 2027), then you must defer the start to October 2027 to be eligible for this award.

Note: You must be applying to study on a Birkbeck programme that is based at our Bloomsbury campus in London (this includes programmes delivered online).

Selection Process

The grading criteria will be used at all stages of the selection process. Where there are tied scores the following will be considered:

• Widening participation assessment
• Relevance to Birkbeck’s research strategy

How will preliminary applications be considered?

Preliminary applications will be considered by the School in which the PhD programme is based. Each School will be asked to provide a ranked list of all applications, and must assign each application to one of the following bandings:

• Highly competitive
• Competitive
• Not competitive (with a clear description of why).

All applications assessed as Highly Competitive may be nominated to progress to the full application stage. Schools may also nominate applications assessed as Competitive.

Where the total number of nominations would exceed one-third of the preliminary applications received by the School, the School panel must provide a clear written justification for each Competitive application nominated above that threshold. The justification must refer to the published assessment criteria and, where relevant, the applicant’s widening participation category.

How will full applications be considered?

• Full applications will then be considered by a central College panel, Chaired by the DVC (Research) (or nominee), with membership representing the breadth of Birkbeck disciplines in remit to identify the strongest three candidates each year.
• College panel members will be selected annually to balance the experience of former members and introduce new representatives to ensure expertise and opportunity to contribute are coordinated.

Selection criteria: Scoring matrix

View the details of the scoring matrix used for AHRC Landscape Awards.

Application Deadline

How To Apply

For more information, visit Birkbeck University of London scholarship webpage.