If you have an idea for a PhD research project which could be carried out in collaboration with a non-academic body in the arts and humanities, the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDA) scheme could provide funding. The purpose of the scheme is to promote partnerships and knowledge transfer between the HE sector and organisations in the industrial, commercial or charitable sectors.

You can find further details here:

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Awards

In the AHRC’s words:

The aim of the CDA scheme is to promote partnerships and research collaboration between academic researchers in the arts and humanities and other non-academic bodies. It also enables doctoral students to conduct their research in collaboration with a non-academic organisation, and to gain experience of work outside the academic sphere. Applications to the scheme are made annually by the relevant academic department in partnership with a collaborating organisation. Those partnerships successful in being allocated one or more collaborative studentships will then be responsible for appointing appropriately qualified research students.

The CDA scheme is similar to EPSRC’s CASE awards, although the AHRC recognises that the needs and financial position of organisations in the arts and humanities sector differ substantially. As with CASE awards, the AHRC requires a contribution to the studentship from the non-academic partner. It recommends £1,000 per year, but there may be room for a reduction of this amount depending on the situation of the organisation concerned.

Success rates for CDAs have been high in the past. In last year’s round, 111 applications were received and 60 awards made, giving a success rate of over 50%, as compared to the ~30% success rates for the standard open doctoral competition. Unlike the AHRC open doctoral competition, institutions aren’t capped on the number of proposals they can submit for CDAs.

The application forms for the fifth round of the CDAs should be available on Je-S soon. Last year the deadline for applications was 29th November, but as yet there has been no announcement of a deadline for the current round. However, it is likely that it will be late November/early December.