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
Your country/region
Level
Postgraduate (research)
Number of awards
2
Value of awards
Deadline
for the application and supporting materials from student
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Landscape Award is a funding scheme designed to invest in the arts and humanities and to enable outstanding students to pursue top-quality cohort-based research training, including collaborative and interdisciplinary work. It funds fifty British universities, organized within 7 regional Hubs, to offer fifteen doctoral studentships (3 per annum) between 2026-2030. These highly-competitive and prestigious studentships 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, the DLA is 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 AHRC funding, its Primary Research Area must come from one of the recognised 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, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
Within the School of Communications:
- Digital Media
- Film and Media
- Journalism
- Languages (Chinese, French & Francophone Studies, Spanish and Latin American Studies)
- Public Relations
- Translation Studies
Within the School of Law, Politics, and Social Studies
- Cultural Geography
- Diplomacy and International Relations
- Law
- Politics
Within the School of Humanities
- Creative Writing
- Heritage
- History
- Linguistics
- Literature
- Philosophy (Philosophy applicants must first have been nominated through the St Andrews and Stirling Graduate Programme; deadline 10 November 2026)
- Publishing Studies
We also welcome applications for projects that work across, or in some cases, beyond these disciplines. See the eligibility section 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 (in 2026/27, £21,805 for Full Time study) during the funded period.
- Access to a SGSAH DLA Hub Training Programme made up of three components: the Cohort Leadership Programme; Skills Developments Spokes; and Knowledge Exchange Networks.
- Access to a Research Training Support Grant to fund direct research activities.
- If the baseline study period is less than 48 months, access to an Individual Training Allowance that can be used to fund individual research and training activities (including international research visits, fieldwork, language learning, residencies) or additional research time.
- Access to a Collaboration Fund that will enable students to work with partner organisations beyond the university sector.
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 2027, the University of Stirling will require any international awardee to pay the difference between home and international fees (in 2026, home PhD tuition fees in Arts & Humanities were £5,238 and international PhD tuition fees were £21,500). Funding will not be available from the AHRC beyond the home fee level already covered.
- Students already holding doctoral qualifications are ineligible.
- Interdisciplinary projects are eligible for funding, but 50% of their research must fall within the AHRC’s disciplinary domains.
- Unsuccessful applicants to a previous round may make a single re-application to the DLA competition. Beyond this point, reapplication is not permitted.
How to apply
As a crucial first step, applicants should identify and contact 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 see which members of our staff are working in your proposed research area. You can also contact SGSAH Lead Professor Christine Ferguson at christine.ferguson@stir.ac.uk for assistance in finding a good match for your project. You may also wish to seek guidance from the postgraduate convener of the school in which your project will be based. In 2026-27, these will be:
- Communications: Dr Fiona Noble at fiona.noble@stir.ac.uk
- Humanities: Professor Claire Squires at claire.squires@stir.ac.uk
- Law, Politics, and Social Studies: Dr Damian Etone at damian.etone@stir.ac.uk
If you do not have a supervisor, or if you have not contacted and developed your application with them before listing their name, your application will not be successful.
View the 2026-27 Student Led Application Guidance.
We will run a hybrid information session for prospective applicants on Monday, October 5 2026 from 14:00 to 15:30. For the Teams link, please contact FAHSS-PGR@stir.ac.uk
Student applicants should download and draft their application on the MS Word (.doc) template version of the webform.
Supervisors can find a .doc template of the Supervisory Statement of Support form.
By 16:00, 16 December 2026 GMT, student applicants should:
- Complete and submit the web Student Led Application Form 2026.
- Send academic transcripts to FAHSS-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.
- Arrange for two academic referees (usually former dissertation supervisors and/or tutors) to send in letters of reference directly to FAHSS-PGR@stir.ac.uk.
Academic references are preferred in the first instance; in some cases, it may be possible to substitute one with a professional reference. Please email FAHSS-PGR@stir.ac.uk with any questions on this point.
By 16:00, 15 January 2027 GMT, your supervisory team should:
- Complete and submit the web Supervisory Statement of Support.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview in the week of 22 March 2027.
Offers will be sent out by 31 March 2027. After receiving a formal offer letter, awardees must accept and apply to their target UoS PhD programme via PGR admissions.
Late submissions will not be accepted. We advise students and supervisors to submit their forms in advance of the deadline so as to allow time to address any technical problems.