AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) 2026

The AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) is a UK doctoral funding scheme run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It supports PhD studentships designed and supervised jointly by a university and a major cultural, heritage, archive, library, museum, or research organisation. Each studentship is tied to a specific research project rather than being a single central scholarship competition for any topic.

Across the reference postings, CDP studentships are hosted by UK universities in partnership with organisations such as museums, galleries, archives, libraries, and heritage bodies. Projects span arts, humanities, cultural heritage, archives, history, media, museum studies, conservation, and related interdisciplinary areas. Students typically join a wider national CDP cohort and divide their time between the university and the partner organisation, gaining both academic training and hands-on experience with collections, archives, or public-facing research.

Funding is generally fully funded for doctoral study. Typical support includes tuition fees and a maintenance stipend under UKRI/AHRC terms, and some projects also mention extra research, travel, or CDP maintenance allowances. However, funding details can vary by project. Some postings indicate that international applicants are eligible, while in certain cases international candidates may need to pay the difference between home and international tuition fees. Applicants should therefore always check the terms of the specific advertised studentship.

CDP opportunities are intended for applicants ready to undertake doctoral research, usually with a strong academic background in a relevant field. Many projects ask for a relevant master’s degree or equivalent professional experience, although some accept applicants with a strong undergraduate degree and appropriate research potential.

Applications are normally made through the host university for an individual advertised CDP project, not through a single AHRC-wide application portal. Deadlines vary by project, but many opportunities in the reference postings close in spring for autumn starts, commonly around October.