Doctoral Landscape Award: Student-Led Competition

SGSAH Doctoral Landscape Award (Student-Led Competition) provides funding for arts and humanities students to conduct interdisciplinary research training.

Key facts

Fee status

All fee statuses

Your country/region

All nationalities

Level

Postgraduate (research)

Number of awards

2

Value of awards

See details

Deadline

15 Dec 2025

Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) Doctoral Landscape Award is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

In 2026, the AHRC will launch the Doctoral Landscape Award, a new funding scheme designed to invest in the arts and humanities and to enable outstanding students to pursue top-quality collaborative, cohort-based, and interdisciplinary research training. It will fund fifty British universities, organized within 7 regional Hubs, to offer fifteen doctoral studentships (3 per annum) between 2026-2030.

These highly-competitive and prestigious scholarships provide tuition fees, an annual stipend, access to state-of-the-art training and skills development, research funds, and opportunities to collaborate with peers within and beyond the academy. 

In Scotland, it is planned that the DLA will be delivered through the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH). The University of Stirling is one of 7 HEIs that make up the SGSAH Doctoral Landscape Award Hub. Other members include the University of Aberdeen, the University of Dundee, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde, and the University of St Andrews. 

Subjects of study

In order for a proposal to be eligible for consideration by AHRC, the choice of Primary Research Area must come from one of the recognized disciplines listed in the AHRC Funding Guide. The competition is open to students undertaking doctoral research in the following subjects taught within Stirling’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

Within the Division of Communications, Media, and Culture

  • Digital Media
  • Film and Media
  • Journalism
  • Public Relations

Within the Division of History, Heritage, and Politics

  • History
  • Heritage
  • Political History

Within the Division of Law and Philosophy

  • Law
  • Philosophy  * Philosophy applicants must first have been nominated through the St 
    Andrews and Stirling Graduate Programme (SASP). 

Within the Division of Literature and Languages

  • Creative Writing
  • Languages (Chinese, French & Francophone Studies, and Spanish & Latin American Studies) and Translation Studies
  • Linguistics
  • Literature
  • Publishing Studies
  • Religion

We also welcome applications for projects that work across, or in some cases, beyond these disciplines. See “Eligibility” for more on interdisciplinary projects.

Value of the Award

  • Full university fees at home rate during the funded period;
  • An annual stipend at the UKRI minimum rate (£20,780 per annum for 2025/26) for the baseline study period of 3.5 years;
  • Access to a DLA Training Programme that is projected to comprise of three components: the Cohort Leadership Programme; Skills Developments Spokes; and Knowledge Exchange Hubs;
  • An additional Individual Training Allowance that can be used to fund individual research and training activities (including internships, placements, international research visits, fieldwork, language learning, residencies) or up to an additional six months of research time.

Funding will be adjusted on a pro-rata basis for part-time students.

Eligibility and availability

  • Applicants must be new students who have not yet started their doctoral study
  • While international students are eligible to apply for a DLA studentship, please be aware that the AHRC studentship only covers home fees In 2026, the University of Stirling will require any international awardee to pay the difference between home and international fees (in 2025, home PhD tuition fees in Arts & Humanities were £5,006 and international PhD tuition fees were £19,500). Funding will not be available from the AHRC beyond the home fee level already covered.
  • Please note that for visa purposes, international awardees will have to demonstrate that they can pay the difference in fees.
  • Applicants already holding doctoral qualifications should not apply
  • Interdisciplinary projects are eligible for funding, but 50% of their research must fall within the AHRC’s disciplinary remit.

How to apply

As a crucial first step, applicants should identify a prospective supervisory team with whom they can develop their application. Use the “Find a Supervisor” tool on the How to Apply for Our Research Degrees webpage  to identify researchers working in your area and determine if they have capacity to supervise your project. You can also contact SGSAH Lead Professor Christine Ferguson for assistance in determining supervisor availability at Stirling. Enquiries can be sent to fah-pgr@stir.ac.uk Applications without a named supervisor will not be accepted.

Please consult the scheme application guidance.

We will run online information sessions for prospective applicants from 2-3pm GMT on Thursday, 2 October and from 2-4pm GMT on Wednesday, 22 October. For the Teams link, please contact fah-pgr@stir.ac.uk.

In the run up to the application deadline, you should download and draft the application on the MS Word (.doc) version of the DLA Student Led application form. An MS word  (.doc) version of the Student Led DLA supervisory statement of support is also available.

By 4pm, 15 December 2025 GMT, you should:

  1. Complete and submit the web Student Led Application Form 2026.
  2. Arrange for two letters of reference and your academic transcripts to be sent to FAH-PGR@stir.ac.uk Please provide full transcripts – copies of degree certificates alone do not provide sufficient evidence. Transcripts should be in English, and where necessary a certified translation should be provided.

By 4pm, 15 January 2025 GMT, your supervisor should:

  1. Complete and submit the web Supervisory Statement of Support.

Late submissions will not be accepted. We advise supervisors to submit their statements at least 48 hours before the portal closes to allow for any technical issues.