Collaborative Doctoral Partnership

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership - Call for Proposals 2024

Historic England and English Heritage are delighted to announce our 2024 Call for Proposals for Round 4 of our AHRC funded Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) programme. The CDP programme provides funding for collaborative PhD studentship projects which support the work of our organisations.

Proposals should be made by a university-based researcher in collaboration with a named member of staff from Historic England or English Heritage, who will act as first non-HEI co-supervisor. Two, second co-supervisors - one from the university and one from Historic England or English Heritage – must also be named in the proposal, making a supervisory team of four.

We are not looking for project ideas directly from potential students.

Proposals must match one of our published CDP Priority Research Areas 2024 and we encourage a range of proposals across these areas that can demonstrate academic originality, are appropriate for collaborative study at doctoral level, and fall within the AHRC subject remit. Proposals must also demonstrate that they can provide the students with career development opportunities (for three to six months) outside of their main research within the funded four-year period.

The CDP Priority Research Areas for this call have been selected for their alignment with the organisational corporate plans and research strategies, listed in the Priority Research Areas document.

Full details on each Priority Research Area and the Proposal Form and Guidance can be downloaded below.

A panel consisting of internal and external experts will assess the proposals. Those that are successful will be advertised as PhD studentships to find suitably qualified candidates who will commence their research in October 2025.

To discuss please contact:

• Historic England: [email protected]
• English Heritage: [email protected]

How we identify CDP research topics

Each year, we open a call for proposals which invites university academics to develop a PhD project proposal, in collaboration with a named member of Historic England or English Heritage staff who will act as the co-supervisor for the eventual PhD student. 

These project proposals must match one of the CDP Research Areas we have identified for that year's call; and will:

• Advance the protection of the historic environment
• Advance understanding and interpretation of the nationally important sites in the care of English Heritage (for English Heritage partnership projects)
• Be an area where we would not otherwise be able to carry out research ourselves alone.  

An expert panel assesses all proposals received, and three successful proposals will be taken forward as PhD studentships, which are then advertised to potential students to start in October of the 2024/25 academic year.

The CDP programme provides the perfect opportunity to align practical research with heritage protection outcomes. It also provides skills-sharing to students planning careers in heritage research and management. By doing that, it helps to address skills shortages in the heritage profession.

Summaries of PhD research projects already in progress can be found at the bottom of the page.

Published PhD theses from our CDP students

• Archaeological palaeoenvironmental archives: challenges and potential. Paul Flintoft, University of Reading, September 2023
• Livestock and Landscape: Livestock Improvement and Landscape Enclosure in Late and Post-Medieval England. Tamsyn Fraser, University of Sheffield. August 2020
• Monarchy, power, and place in the Victorian age: a historical geography of Osborne House, circa 1845-1901. Lee Butcher, Kings College London. November 2019
• Re-evaluating the use of dental wear as a tool for estimating age at death in British archaeological skeletal remains. Sammy Field, University of Southampton. September 2019
• Factors Affecting The Survival Of Metal Ploughsoil Assemblages: An Assessment Of Lead Bullets From 17th-Century Fields Of Conflict. Sam Rowe, University of Huddersfield. June 2017
• Lithic Scatters and Landscape Occupation in the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic: A Case Study from Eastern England Lawrence Billington, University of Manchester. August 2017
• Religious Heritage in Transition: Sikh Places of Worship in England Clare Canning, University of Leicester. June 2017

CDP Cohort One (2013 to 2015)

Defining the Potential of Ploughzone Lithic Scatters for Interpretation of the Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Landscape
Research Student: Lawrence Billington
Lead Supervisors: Dr Jonathan Last, Landscape Strategy Manager (Historic England) and Dr Chantal Conneller, Dept. of Archaeology (University of Manchester)

Application of Covers to Conserve Historic Marble and Metal Monuments
Research Student: Melanie Keable
Lead Supervisors: David Thickett, Senior Conservation Scientist (English Heritage) and Dr Matija Strlic, Institute for Sustainable Heritage (University College London)

Religious Heritage in Transition: Sikh Places of Worship in England
Research Student: Clare Canning
Lead Supervisors: Dr Linda Monckton, Historic Environment Intelligence Analyst: Social Impacts (Historic England) and Dr Ruth Young & Miss Deirdre O'Sullivan, Dept. of Archaeology (University of Leicester)

CDP Cohort Two (2014 to 2017)

Interpreting Loss of Data from Metal Artefact Decay (rates, reasons and conservation management implications)
Research Student: Samantha Rowe
Lead Supervisors: Dr Amanda Chadburn, Senior National Rural & Environmental Adviser (Historic England) and Dr Glenn Foard, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Huddersfield

English Office Buildings c1900 to 1939
Research Student: Jon Clarke
Lead Supervisors: Kathryn Morrison, formerly Assessment Team Manager East (Historic England) and Dr Frank Salmon, Dept. of History of Art, University of Cambridge

Westminster on Sea: the political and cultural significance of Osborne House, Isle of Wight
Research Student: Lee Butcher
Lead Supervisors: Dr Andrew Hann, Properties Historian's Team Leader (English Heritage) and Professor David Green, Dept. of Geography, Kings College London

CDP Cohort Three (2015 to 2018)

A Reassessment of Tooth Wear for Determining Age at Death in British Archaeological Remains
Research Student: Sammy Field
Lead Supervisors: Dr Simon Mays, Human Skeletal Biologist (Historic England) and Dr Sonia Zakrzewski, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Southampton

Livestock and Landscape: changing husbandry, livestock improvement and landscape enclosure in late and post-medieval England
Research Student: Tamsyn Fraser
Lead Supervisors: David McOmish, Development Analyst and Polydora Baker, Senior Zooarchaeologist (Historic England); and Dr Umberto Albarella, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Sheffield

Paving a Way for Deaf Heritage
Research Student: Gemma Shannahan
Lead Supervisors: Rosie Sherrington, Policy Adviser-Social Inclusion and Diversity (Historic England); Dr Claire Shaw, Dept. of History, University of Warwick and Dr Mike Gulliver, Dept. of History, University of Bristol

CDP Cohort Four (2016 to 2020)

Heritage BIM: new ways of digital data management for the historic built environment
Research Student: Joanna Hull
Lead Supervisors: Paul Bryan, Geospatial Imaging Manager (Historic England) and Dr Ian J. Ewart, School of the Built Environment, University of Reading

'Beyond the List': critical examination of impact of statutory and non-statutory heritage lists on the national management of heritage in England
Research Student: Claire Smith
Lead Supervisors: Dr Joseph Flatman, Head of Listing Programmes (Historic England) and Dr Gill Chitty, Dept. of Archaeology, University of York

Army communities at Roman Richborough: an analysis of the Roman military assemblage
Research Student: Philip Smither
Lead Supervisors: Joanne Gray, Collections Curator: Dover (English Heritage) and Dr Ellen Swift, Dept. of Classical & Archaeological Studies, University of Kent

CDP Cohort Five (2017 to 2021)

Archaeological Palaeoenvironmental Archives: Challenges and Potential
Research Student: Paul Flintoft
Lead Supervisors: Duncan H Brown - Head of Archaeological Archives (Historic England), Dr Zoë Hazell – Senior Palaeoecologist, Investigative Science Team, Historic England and Professor Martin Bell, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Reading, with Dr Rhi Smith, Director of UMASCS Academic Learning and Engagement, University Museums and Special Collections Services, University of Reading.

The Evolution of Audley End
Research Student: Caitlin Scott
Lead Supervisors: Charlotte Newman, Collections Curator (English Heritage) and Dr Hugh Willmott, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Sheffield)

Optimisation of Environmental Control in Museum Collections of Bone and Ivory 
Research Student: Chloe Pearce
Lead Supervisors: Dr David Thickett, Senior Conservation Scientist (English Heritage) and Dr Marianne Odlyha, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck College London

CDP Cohort Six (2018 to 2022)

Heritage Data Analytics - Sustainable Strategies for large and complex stratigraphic and chronometric data
Research Student: Bryony Moody
Lead Supervisors: Keith May, Heritage Information Strategy Advisor (Historic England); and Prof. Caitlin Buck Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield

Managing archaeological loss in the face of coastal change
Research Student: Tanya Venture
Lead Supervisors: Dr Hannah Fluck, Head of Environmental Research (Historic England) and Dr Caitlin DeSilvey, Dept. of Geography, University of Exeter

Roman Coins from Hadrian's Wall and the Northern Frontier Zone 
Research Student: Doug Carr
Lead Supervisors: Frances McIntosh, Curator of Collections, Corbridge (English Heritage); Dr James Gerrard, Dept. of Archaeology, Newcastle University and Dr Peter Guest, Dept of Archaeology, Cardiff University

CDP Cohort Seven (2019 to 2023)

Making marks, changing values: The contemporary significance of graffiti at historic sites
Research Student: Emma Bryning
Lead Supervisors: Dr Megan Leyland, Senior Properties Historian (English Heritage) and Prof. John Schofield, Director of Studies and Cultural Heritage Management, University of York

Using chorography to shape diverse visiting experiences by revealing interpretive layers of Hadrian’s Wall
Research Student: Hannah Taylor
Lead Supervisors: Dr Andrew Roberts, Properties Historian (English Heritage) and Prof. Daniela Petrelli, Professor of Interaction Design, Sheffield Hallam University

Conservation of Late 19th and 20th Century Artillery Pieces
Research Student: William Smith
Lead Supervisors: Dr Paul Lankester, Climate Resilience Lead (English Heritage) and Prof. David Watkinson, Professor of Conservation (School of History, Archaeology and Religion) Cardiff University

CDP Cohort Eight (2020 to 2024)

Agency and Identity in the Urban Built Environment in the Histories and Heritage of Minority Religious Communities
Research Student: Jessie Clark
Lead Supervisors: Dr Linda Monckton, Head of Wellbeing and Inclusion Strategy (Historic England) and Prof. Robert Proctor, Dept. of Architecture and Civil Engineering (Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture), University of Bath

A window onto the medieval world: illuminating the role of the English glass industry in glazing between AD 1100 and 1600
Research Student: Bronwyn Stone
Lead Supervisors: Dr Sarah Paynter (Historic England), Senior Materials Scientist and Prof. Caroline Jackson, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Sheffield

Exploring the value of coastal heritage to different sectors of society using discrete choice experiments
Research Student: Hannah Cocks (Started 2022)
Lead Supervisors: Dr Antony Firth, Head of Marine Heritage Strategy (Historic England) and Prof. Danny Campbell, Dept. of Economics, University of Stirling

CDP Cohort Nine (2021 to 2025)

Mahogany, Enslaved Africans, Miskito Indigenous People at Chiswick House, Kenwood and Marble Hill, North London
Research Student: Hannah Cusworth
Lead Supervisors: Dr Tessa Kilgarriff, Curator of Collections and Interiors (North and West London) (Historic England) and Prof. Joy Porter, Professor of Indigenous History & PI, Treatied Spaces Research Cluster, University of Hull.

Geophysical surveys in England: Using digital data to inform heritage management and promote collaboration
Research Student: Lucy Parker
Lead Supervisors: Thomas Cromwell, Archaeologist (National Specialist Services) (Historic England) and Prof. Timothy Darvill OBE, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology (Faculty of Science and Technology) Bournemouth University.

Informing our Heritage Future(s): Preserving our Digital Past(s)
Research Student: Alfie Talks
Lead Supervisors: David Andrews, Geospatial Survey Analyst (Historic England) and Dr Kate Giles, Senior Lecturer (Department of Archaeology), Co-Director (Centre for the Study of Christianity & Culture) University of York.

CDP Cohort Ten (2022 to 2026)

Data-driven climate change risk assessment for heritage in England
Research Student: Helen Thomas
Lead Supervisors: Claire Hedley, Strategic Head of Climate Change (Historic England) and Dr Scott Orr, Programme Director for the MSc in Data Science for Cultural Heritage (Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources), University College London

Conserving ruined masonry: Managing water regimes to enhance resilience in the face of changing environmental conditions
Research Student: Vrinda Jariwala
Lead Supervisors: Karen Gwilliams, Senior Historic Building Surveyor (English Heritage) and Prof. Heather Viles, Resilient Buildings and Landscapes Lab Director, University of Oxford

Spaces of femininity: Making art and craft in the English country house, c.1750-1900
Research Student: Libby Horsfield
Lead Supervisors: Dr Peter Moore, Curator (Audley/Wrest) (English Heritage) and Prof. Kate Retford, Professor of History of Art, (Dept. of History of Art), Birkbeck, University of London

CDP Consortium

We are a member of the CDP Consortium. This is the group of museums, libraries, archives and heritage organisations who support collaborative doctoral research students funded through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme.

We work together to offer joint training and cohort development opportunities for our students, develop common procedures and promote the scheme.

You can find out more on the CDP Consortium website.

Contact us

Please contact [email protected] if you have any queries.