Postgraduate Funding

Reawakening the Living Landscape: Integrating Heritage and Sustainability at the Ulster Folk Museum.

Newcastle University (School of History, Classics & Archaeology) in partnership with National Museums NI, invites applications from suitably qualified applicants for a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) studentship, fully funded (fees and living allowance) by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, to conduct research leading to a PhD on, advancing the Ulster Folk Museum’s strategic Reawakening initiative by emphasising environmental restoration and promote sustainable practices. 

Start date: 1 October 2026.

Application Deadline: 20 April 2026 at 5pm

Applications received after this date cannot be considered. Candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application by the end of day on the 1 May 2026.

Interviews will take place on 11 May 2026. All interviews will be online.

This project will be jointly supervised by lead supervisors Prof. Annie Tindley (Newcastle University) and Dr Damian McFerran (Records Centre Manager, CEDaR, National Museums NI) and second supervisors Adrian Fitzpatrick (Sustainability Manager, National Museums NI) and Dr Clare Hickman (Newcastle University).

The student will be expected to spend time at both Newcastle University, National Museums NI HQ and Ulster Folk Museum (Northern Ireland), and be part of a wider cohort of CDP funded students across the UK.

The studentship can be studied either full time (4 years) or part time (8 years).

We encourage the widest range of potential students to study for this CDP studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from minority ethnic backgrounds as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this area.

Academic entry requirements

A minimum of a 2:1 honours degree and a Masters degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in a related subject (History, Heritage, Ecology); or equivalent professional experience. We will give specific consideration to any independent research you do as part of your studies and/or appropriate professional experience.
The studentship is open to both home and international applicants.

Project overview

The Ulster Folk Museum (UFM) hosts a remarkable range of ecological, historical, environmental and intangible cultural heritage data sets. Its landscapes, buildings and collections record centuries of environmental and social change, from traditional farming to modern sustainability challenges.

However, the museum’s wealth of data – biodiversity records, maps, oral histories, archives, and artefacts – remains largely untapped as a unified resource.

This PhD will reconnect those layers, telling a fuller story of how the landscape evolved, and how it can help shape a more sustainable future. Through an innovative blend of history, heritage and ecology, the research will integrate scientific and cultural evidence to comprehend the site’s history, contemporary challenges and future planning.

This approach will promote evidence-informed collaborative decision-making for the UFM and enhance understanding of best practice in heritage and environmental management and permit planning for a sustainable future.

This study will also address contemporary questions around sustainability and heritage, which will be developed and co-explored with visitors to the site. Working in collaboration with the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR), wider UFM staff and NMNI’s Sustainability Manager. The PhD will:

• Combine archival and ecological data to reveal and discuss temporal changes in land use, biodiversity and community practices.
  
  
• Explore how these insights can make the museum’s landscape more readable and engaging for visitors, comprehensively engaging with this community of stakeholders. This will permit the project to utilise their feedback to inform their expectations.
  
  
• Identify how UFM can act as a living laboratory for environmental awareness, permitting the project to inform and discuss contemporary and future perspectives.
  
  
• Provide opportunity for knowledge transfer, establishing UFM as the exemplar for subsequent studies.

The doctoral researcher will use a co-creative, interdisciplinary approach, drawing on archival research, GIS mapping, field observation, and community engagement. The study will culminate in display at the UFM, digital resources, and a policy-focused paper to inform UFM’s long-term sustainability planning.

The key research questions of the project are as follows:

1. What new insights can be gained by integrating evidence and methods and how do they underpin our understanding of the history and environment at UFM and inform collaborative decision-making and planning?
2. What contemporary questions around sustainability and heritage can be presented and co-explored with visitors and how can the research make the site more ‘readable’. What programmes do we need to roll-out to inform this conversation?
3. How can UFM play a role in re-visioning a Northern Ireland committed to leveraging heritage to benefit community cohesion and a sustainable future, one which has the tools to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss?

Project disciplinary scope & partners

This PhD is intrinsically interdisciplinary, drawing on three academic fields: History, Heritage & Ecology, combining their methodologies to orientate towards a place-based agenda and a long (c1600-2025) chronological span.

The PhD will do this by building upon existing UFM partnerships and collaborations, informed by CEDaR, and including the curatorial and farming teams, The Conservation Volunteers and the co-operative farming group. It will integrate Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), where the archival and mapping primary data is collated, into this network, creating synergies. Underpinning these approaches is a commitment to inclusive research practices, principally through co-productive and co-creative methods, drawing on expertise of UFM’s colleagues, members and volunteers. These approaches will support multiple perspectives on how the environment and its history intersect with contemporary identities and the cultural diversity.

Objectives

1. To build an integrated understanding of the wide range of evidence sources that underpin the history and future of UFM.
2. To apply these findings to the intellectual and strategic planning underpinning the reawakening agenda, ensuring it captures and presents a coherent vision of on-site natural and cultural heritage.

Outputs

This project will produce a full doctoral thesis, alongside a suite of public and professional outcomes that align with National Museum NI’s strategic priorities for Environment and Identity and deliver a public impact. In a fully supported partnership, and scaffolded by bespoke training and placement time, the student will:

1. Plan, research and design a display on their research findings, both for physical display / conference presentation(s) and as a digital resource.
2. Write a briefing paper, followed up with a workshop, to outline the key findings, contextualise those against best practice across the heritage / institutional fields and make recommendations for future steps from the research.
3. Liaise with Natural Science Curators, CEDaR staff and the wider Education Department to devise a programme of engagement for various stakeholders. This will involve a widening of the remit of the current Walk and Talk programme, coupled with practical site-based courses demonstrating the links between biodiversity, culture and sustainability. This aspect will pay a particular reference to the current Corporate Strategy 2025–30 and associated Ecological Management and Biodiversity plans.
4. Establish a monitoring and evaluation framework to connect the research with wider environmental initiatives led by Northern Ireland Environment Agency / Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and other eNGOs.

Application procedure

Candidates should submit an online Newcastle University PhD application:  https://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate-research/how-to-apply/studentships/  
Please use reference: HCA015

For the application process, candidates should prepare: 

• a research proposal: write around 1000 words outlining from an academic perspective the independent research that you anticipate undertaking in relation to this project – avoid repeating the formal project description but rather identify and extrapolate those aspects that you find particularly interesting.
• a statement of purpose: write up to 750 words explaining how your academic and/or professional experience has prepared you to fulfil the terms of this project (250 words) and your personal and/or academic motivation for pursuing this Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (500 words).
• a current academic/professional CV.
• two references, which should normally be by academics (or other professionals) who are familiar with your recent work in relevant fields.
• your degree certificate and university transcripts.
• For non-native English speakers an International English Language Testing System minimum of 6.5 overall, with at least 5.5 in each of the four sub-skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).

Research with National Museums NI

This research studentship is one allocated to Newcastle University by the AHRC to support the work of National Museums NI. Given the site-specific nature of the PhD, the successful student will be expected to spend a significant proportion of their time carrying out research and gaining relevant experience at National Museums NI as part of the studentship.

Details of Award

CDP doctoral training grants fund full-time studentships for 4 years or part-time equivalent up to a maximum of 8 years.

The award pays tuition fees up to the value of the full-time home UKRI rate for PhD degrees. Research Councils UK Indicative Fee Level for 2026-27 is £5,238.

The award pays full maintenance for all students both home and international students. The UKRI National Minimum Doctoral Stipend for 2026-27 is £21,805, plus a CDP maintenance payment of £600/year.

During the timespan of the PhD, and courtesy of National Museums NI, the student is eligible to receive an additional travel and related expenses grant. This is worth up to £2,000 per year for 4 years (pro-rated for part-time students).

The successful candidate will be eligible to participate in events organised for all Collaborative Doctoral Partnership students who are registered with different universities and studying with cultural and heritage organisations across the UK.

Eligibility

• This studentship is open to both home and international applicants.
• To be classed as a home student, candidates must meet the following criteria:
  • Be a UK or Irish National (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have settled status, or 
  • Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
  • Have indefinite leave to remain or enter.
• Further guidance can be found here based on revisions to Training Grant Terms and Conditions for projects starting in October 2026 -  Policy statement: review of the training grant conditions – UKRI.
• International students are eligible to receive the full award for maintenance as are home students. A successful international student may be required to pay the difference between what the AHRC provide to the university for tuition and the charge made by the university for tuition fees for international students studying for a doctoral degree. The project will be forwarded for consideration at Newcastle University for a waiver of that tuition fee difference. The full annual international tuition fee for 2026-27 at Newcastle University is £24,400 for full time international students, and £12,200 for part time international students.
• We encourage the widest range of potential students to study for this CDP studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply, even if you are not certain that you meet every criterion.  We are keen to hear from individuals with varied expertise who can bring unique perspectives to the studentships. Experiences beyond academia, including other experience in a professional setting are also highly valued, this includes diverse lived experiences and those with an understanding of diverse research practices, outputs, impacts and engagement practice.
• Applicants may come from diverse disciplines, including History, Heritage and Ecology.
• It is expected that the successful applicant will be able to clearly explain the relationship between their existing training/experience and the topic of this CDP, and to indicate how their present research interests relate to the proposed project.
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest in the GLAM sector and potential and enthusiasm for developing skills more widely in related areas.
• As a collaborative award, students will be expected to spend time at both the University and National Museums NI.

NB. All applicants must meet UKRI terms and conditions for funding. See: 
https://www.ukri.org/funding/information-for-award-holders/grant-terms-and-conditions/ 

We ask all applicants to complete a voluntary EDI monitoring form. All responses are anonymous.

All CDP projects are part of a nationwide programme called the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership consortium. The CDP consortium will host an online webinar for prospective applicants on 13 April 2026 at 11:00.

These webinars will provide an overview of the CDP funding scheme. To sign up for a webinar, please email cdp@vam.ac.uk with the subject line “Prospective Applicant Webinar” from the email address you would like to join the online meeting from. Sign up will close on 10 April 2026 at 17:00.

Please note, the webinars will not focus on individual projects.

Further information

If you have questions about the project funding and practicalities, please contact cdp@nationalmuseumsni.org

If you would like to ask any questions in relation to your research proposal or statement of purpose, please email the main supervisory team jointly:

• Prof Annie Tindley, Newcastle University: Annie.Tindley@newcastle.ac.uk 
• Dr Damian McFerran, Ulster Folk Museum: damian.mcferran@nationalmuseumsni.org 

The Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership (NINE DTP) is a new and exciting collaborative enterprise. It comprises seven universities across Northern Ireland and the North East of England. The Economic and Social Research Council, with support from the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland (DfENI), funds the partnership.

NINE DTP provides outstanding students with fantastic opportunities to conduct their doctoral studies and develop core research skills in an exciting and creative environment. 

More than 50 PhD studentships are available across the universities of: 

• Newcastle
• Durham
• Queen's Belfast
• Ulster
• Northumbria
• Teesside
• Sunderland

Newcastle University awards NINE DTP studentships to learning pathways in the following areas: 

• Economic and Social History
• Education
• Environmental Planning (includes Planning, Environment, Food and Rural Development)
• Human Geography
• Language-based Area Studies
• Law and Society
• Linguistics
• Management, Business and Economics
• Psychology (PhD only)
• Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work
• Children, Youth and Families
• Conflict, Security and Justice a
• Health, Well-being and Society
• Media and Society

Find out how to apply.

Find out about Postdoctoral Fellowships with NINE DTP.