Postgraduate research funding in the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Select the headings for more information
The studentship is for 3 years and covers full fees for UK students, plus maintenance of £15,000 per year (subject to an inflationary increase in each year).
The Department of Politics invite applications for a PhD studentship in any aspect of democratisation, nationalism, and ethnicity studies (broadly understood) relating to Central and Eastern Europe or comparative studies with other regions.
The studentship starts from October 2026 (start date negotiable). It is intended for individuals of outstanding potential as future scholars and academic researchers who wish to pursue a PhD at Liverpool.
The applications will be assessed by a committee and evaluated against the research excellence of the proposed project and the existing academic achievements of each candidate. Applicants should have a good first degree and hold (or be about to complete) a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline.
Please submit your initial application to Professor Erika Harris, e.harris@liverpool.ac.uk and copy in (cc) hlcscholarships@liverpool.ac.uk by 30 June 2026.
Please include the following:
Shortlisted candidates will be informed by the end of July and invited for an online interview.
Finally, the successful candidate will be invited to a formal application via https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/applying/online/
For further inquiries, please write to Professor Erika Harris: e.harris@liverpool.ac.uk
Applications are invited for one E. Allison Peers Doctoral Scholarship in Iberian and Latin American Studies, to begin in October 2026.
The scholarship provides full fees at the Home student rate (approx. £5,000) for students undertaking the PhD in Hispanic Studies, PhD in Latin American Studies or PhD in Modern Languages, plus a £6,000 yearly stipend.
Teaching and research in Iberian and Latin American Studies at Liverpool is informed by a plurilingual, pluricultural understanding of the Luso-Hispanic world. We welcome applications from students wishing to undertake research in any one or more of Basque Studies, Catalan Studies, Galician Studies, Portuguese Studies (Brazilian and European), Spanish Studies and Latin American Studies. We especially encourage applications that are comparative or relational, and which cross languages and national borders. Possible focuses for study include: cultural politics and the politics of culture, popular culture, film and visual culture, literary studies, digital culture, gender and sexuality, transnational, postnational and postcolonial studies, migration and diaspora, memory and representation.
Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of demonstrated academic excellence. Applicants are required to make contact with a potential supervisor for assistance in formulating a research proposal. Please see research specialisms on our Department of Languages, Cultures and Film staff pages. Completed expressions of interest should reach the department by 1 April 2026. Applicants for an E. Allison Peers Scholarship must also make a formal application for admittance to the PhD in Modern Languages (Hispanic and Latin American Studies pathways) at the University of Liverpool by that same date. See postgraduate research application guidance and a link to our online application portal.
To apply for the E. Allison Peers Doctoral Scholarship, please complete and return the E. Allison Peers Scholarship Expression of Interest Form (PDF, 29KB).
For consideration, applications must be submitted to hlcscholarships@liverpool.ac.uk.
Application deadline: 1 April 2026.
For more information about the scheme or an informal discussion, please email Professor Claire Taylor: c.l.taylor@liverpool.ac.uk.
The Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool is pleased to invite applications for 4 PhD studentships. The studentships are funded by the Blair Chair in Irish Studies at a rate of £17,500 pa for three years for each successful applicant. This encompasses home tuition fees (£5,238) and a £12,262 Award. School funding will also be available for Research expenses.
Paid teaching opportunities may be available during the PhD, subject to satisfactory progress and completion of internal training. The studentships are offered in conjunction with, and can be co-supervised by, staff at other Departments at the University of Liverpool.
Applications are open to students eligible for home fees who will start their Irish Studies PhD in 2026. Applications from International students are welcome, but the total amount offered by the studentship is £17,500 per year, for 3 years.
For queries related to Irish Studies PhD applications and/or studentships, please contact Dr Niall Carson, Departmental Lead for Postgraduate Studies: Niall.Carson@liverpool.ac.uk
The Studentship is named after Ramsay Muir (1872-1941), who studied History at the then University College Liverpool and served the new University of Liverpool as Professor of History between 1906 and 1913, before resigning to work in higher education in colonial India.
One fully-funded (fees and maintenance) PhD studentship. The studentship provides three years of full-time funding, including tuition fees at the home-student rate and an annual maintenance stipend equal to the standard UKRI rate (£20,780 p.a. in 2025-26).
This studentship is open to all applicants. We strongly encourage applications from communities underrepresented in UK academic History, including people from Global Majority communities who are currently underrepresented in the department’s teaching and research.
To be eligible for this studentship, you will first need to have applied for a PhD place at the University of Liverpool before the deadline for this competition and be a Home fee status student. You do not need to wait for the outcome of your application before applying for funding.
The successful candidate will have either a first-class or a 2:1 undergraduate degree in a relevant subject and will have completed or be close to completing a Master's degree by September 2026.
The remit for this Studentship is deliberately broad, and we are very keen to hear from applicants how they would take ownership of the project for themselves. To apply, please send a CV (including degree transcripts), a sample of academic work (3,000-8,000 words in length), and a 500-1000 word summary of how you intend to approach the topic to hlcscholarships@liverpool.ac.uk by 5pm GMT on Friday 30 May 2026.
In developing your proposal, it is essential that you identify a potential supervisor/supervisors within the Department of History and that you make contact with those members of staff prior to submitting your application. You can find a list of staff in the Department of History here: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/history/staff/. General queries should be addressed to the co-editors of The Original Redbrick, Professor Roland Clark (clarkr@liverpool.ac.uk) or Professor Mark Towsey (towsey@liverpool.ac.uk).
The Studentship has been created to coincide with a major new book project celebrating 150 years of history at the University of Liverpool. The Original Redbrick: 150 Years of the University of Liverpool (to be published in the University’s anniversary year, 2031) takes an innovative approach to the history of higher education by telling the entangled story of Liverpool as a city and of the University of Liverpool as an institution as the two evolved together over time. Involving an interdisciplinary team of authors drawn from across the University’s three Faculties, the book will explore the campus as an urban space, a site of student life and activism, medical and scientific innovation, and cultural change, highlighting themes of politics, identity, environment and resilience across 150 transformative years.
The Studentship itself will run alongside the book project, producing original new research on a topic selected and developed by the successful candidate, who might choose to treat Liverpool as one of several case studies, or else focus entirely on the University of Liverpool itself.
Potential approaches to the topic may include, but are not limited to:
In addition to completing a doctoral dissertation, the successful candidate will also join the wider team developing The Original Redbrick book project, benefiting from hands-on practical experience and employability opportunities working alongside the academic editors, the project’s steering group and the publishing team at Liverpool University Press (LUP), who will act as Collaborative Doctoral Partner for the Studentship. The precise nature of these opportunities will be agreed between the successful candidate, their academic supervisors and the editorial team at LUP once the project has started, to be reviewed twice-annually.
As a PhD student, you will form part of an active postgraduate research community within the History Department, who hold Work-in-Progress seminars and organise an annual History postgraduate conference, which invites speakers from within and outside the University. You will have dedicated career development training from history staff, giving you guidance on subjects such as academic publishing and post-doctoral fellowships, as well as opportunities to apply for paid teaching experience on certain undergraduate modules.
PhD students are a central part of the department’s vibrant research culture. You will have access to a dedicated study space within the School of Histories, Languages & Cultures, enabling you to meet and form interdisciplinary collaborations with other early-career scholars during your time at Liverpool. The Department contributes to several highly active interdisciplinary research centres which offer further opportunities for collaboration, enrichment and career development, including the Liverpool Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Eighteenth-Century Worlds, the Centre for the Study of International Slavery, the Centre for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences, the Centre for Health, Arts, Science & Environment, and the Liverpool University Centre for Archive Studies. The University’s Libraries, Museums and Galleries department holds outstanding archival and heritage collections relating to the history of the University, the city and their connections nationally and internationally, while the Department also has excellent links with a wide range of museums and other institutions on Merseyside and beyond, including National Museums Liverpool, the International Slavery Museum, the Bluecoat contemporary arts centre, the Athenaeum and Unilever Archives.
The award will be made based on the academic merit of your application, including the fit between the proposed project, the supervisory team and wider research priorities within the Department.
Deadline: 5pm, Friday 30 May 2026.