Arts & Humanities Research Council funding
Royal Holloway is the lead member of the technē Doctoral Training Partnership, which offers Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) studentships.
technē currently comprises nine universities and is one of the 10 AHRC Doctoral Training Partnerships. technē's vision is to produce scholars who are highly motivated and prepared for academic, public or professional life. Its students will benefit from a diverse range of training workshops and opportunities to engage with partners in the arts and cultural sector.
Students may apply to technē for a doctoral award by submitting a technē application through Royal Holloway. If you are interested in applying for a technē award, the first step is to speak to a prospective supervisor or the Director of Postgraduate Education in the relevant department. The deadline for applications to be submitted to Royal Holloway's technē competition is 27 January 2020, but departments will set their own earlier application deadlines so you must check with the department you wish to apply through.
It is not possible to submit an application directly to technē and so you must apply through one of the member universities. Overseas students are not eligible for AHRC awards, and EU students are eligible for fees only.
There are around 45 awards per annum in the open competition for students who are applying to undertake PhD study. Students in the first year of their PhD study can apply for funding for the second and third year. Studentships include maintenance and fees for 3.5 or 4 years for a full time student, or 7 or 8 years for a part-time student (pro rata if you have already started your PhD).
Three collaborative Doctoral Awards are also available at Royal Holloway to work on projects with non-HEI partners. See the technē website for details.
technē awards are available in the following subjects at Royal Holloway. Please discuss how your research proposal fits with the work of the department with the Director of Postgraduate Education or your potential supervisor.
Please see below for a brief description of the application process for a technē AHRC award for September 2020 entry.
Further details are available in the Techne Application Guidance Notes.
Students need to submit both a Royal Holloway application to the College and an application on the Techne online portal.
All AHRC awards are subject to the AHRC and RCUK Terms and Conditions. Please ensure that you are familiar with them. They are set out in three documents which can be accessed via the 'Current Award Holders' page on the AHRC website:
- UKRI Terms and Conditions of Training Grants
- UKRI Training Grant Guide
- AHRC's Training Grant Funding Guide
Note that overseas students are not eligible for AHRC awards and in most cases EU students are eligible for fees only. You can find current maintenance and fee rates at the bottom of the 'Current Award Holders' page on the AHRC website.
To contact your prospective academic department, please consult the list of Directors of Postgraduate Education at Royal Holloway.
Application process for doctoral awards
- Contact the Director of Postgraduate Education or potential supervisor in the relevant department to discuss your research proposal, the supervision that may be available, and whether you might be considered a suitable candidate for a technē award.
- If the Director of Postgraduate Education agrees that you may be a suitable candidate for a Techne award you should apply via the Techne online portal and submit a College application. Please check with the department on their selection process.
Assessment process
If the department agrees to put your application forward to the Royal Holloway open competition it will be considered by internal panels of subject experts at Royal Holloway. You should hear in March whether your application will go forward to the technē stage of the competition. If your application does go forward you will hear in April whether or not it has been successful. Unsuccessful applicants from both stages will be considered automatically for College scholarships by a School Panel and you should hear the outcome in early May.
Further details of the assessment process can be found on the technē website.
Enquiries are best addressed to the relevant department, but general questions may be sent to techneRHUL@royalholloway.ac.uk.
Doctoral students funded by the AHRC can apply to the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences to access the AHRC Research Training Support Grant to support study visits or overseas conferences.
Please email techneRHULroyalholloway.ac.uk if you have any enquiries about the technē application process.
Find out about College funding for doctoral study