In partnership with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Kingston's Department of Architecture and Landscape.
Kingston School of Art and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, welcome applications for an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship: Plants on the move: Kew and the circulation of people, knowledge and plants between Britain and continental Europe. This is offered under the TECHNE Doctoral Training Partnership Scheme, to begin in October 2022.
Deadline for expressions of interest:
- Sunday 23 January 2022, midnight (GMT).
- Interviews with shortlisted applicants: 1 February 2022.
Project supervisors:
Dr Kristof Fatsar and Dr Éadaoin Agnew of Kingston University, in collaboration with Professor Mark Nesbitt and Ms Kiri Ross-Jones of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Project vision
In Georgian Britain, the Royal Gardens at Kew were a principal destination for plants newly collected by the expanding global network of British botanists and plant hunters. The ‘discovery' and appropriation of economic plants by Kew, and its connections with other botanic gardens within the British Empire, have been the subject of intense scholarly investigation in the last decades. However, the role of Kew Gardens as an international hub for distribution of new ornamental plants to other designed landscapes, particularly within Europe, has received little attention. Placing Kew at its centre, this project aims to address this knowledge gap by focusing on how the more inland parts of Europe became 'secondary beneficiaries' of Britain's global level of colonialism in exchanging plant material, staff, and knowledge.
This research aims to understand:
- How, and to what extent, professional and personal connections channelled botanical and horticultural knowledge and living plants across the European continent, reaching even its peripheries.
- How this interconnection affected continental Europe, playing a part in eventually transforming many European landscapes.
- What the implications of these findings are for understanding the role of gardens in circulating and receiving plants resulting from colonialism, within Europe, and what the implications of this might be for European gardens today.
These are ambitious questions, with a great deal of available evidence (described below). This will be handled first through a ‘big data' quantitative survey, using evidence from Kew's Plant Record books and other archives, but potentially also digitised books and journals, looking at a region chosen according to the student's interests and language skills (e.g. France or German-speaking Europe); and second, case studies requiring intensive research in selected overseas archives. We will support the student in developing a methodology appropriate to their interests; between Kew and Kingston we can support diverse analytical techniques, including digital visualisation and analysis of networks.
Kew is an exceptional base for the project, with one of the world's largest botanical libraries and archives. The focus will fall within the period 1760-1850, potentially allowing a study of change through time. Kew manuscripts include the Director's Correspondence, Kew Plant Record Books (detailing plant exchanges with institutions and individuals globally), and important sets of personal papers of Georgian botanists; supplementary material is held nearby at institutions including the Natural History Museum and Linnean Society. A major innovation in the project is the use of records made by travelling garden lovers, amateur botanists and gardening professionals from continental Europe, who wrote on the layout and systematic display of plants in the gardens, and their meetings with curators and gardeners of botanic gardens. These sources have been little used by British garden historians.
For informal enquires about the project contact Dr Kristof Fatsar: K.Fatsar@kingston.ac.uk or Professor Mark Nesbitt: M.Nesbitt@kew.org
Award details
Subject to AHRC eligibility criteria, the studentship covers tuition fees (home rate only) and a grant (stipend) towards living expenses. AHRC studentship rates for 2022-23 are yet to be announced - the doctoral stipend for 2021-22 was £17,609 (three and a half years full-time or part-time equivalent for seven years); levels are likely to rise slightly for 2022-23. Collaborative Doctoral Students also receive an additional stipend of £550. Students can apply for an additional six months stipend to engage in extended development activities such as work placements. See AHRC funding and training for full details.
As a TECHNE student, the selected applicant will have full access to the TECHNE Doctoral Training Partnership development activities and networking opportunities, joining a cohort of almost 60 students per year from across ten universities in the UK.
Student eligibility
We are open to applicants with varied Masters level (or equivalent) skills, for example in garden history, history of science, or historical geography, preferably with experience of archive research and an interest in public engagement.
Research-level expertise in a relevant European language will be necessary. The student will learn how to manage quantitative and qualitative data in several countries and languages, developing strong historical research skills. Working within a major research institute and world class library and archive on a topic of strong public interest, the student will also develop an understanding of institutional functioning, and skills in public history and engagement. There will be abundant opportunities to contribute to Kew's public engagement through different media, including blog posts, video, temporary events, workshops, exhibitions, and through Kew's long-term project to update all its interpretation. This PhD would lead to a wide range of possible careers in the heritage sector.
Applicants must satisfy AHRC eligibility requirements and terms and conditions.
Students who are fee assessed as 'international' are eligible for the stipend to support living costs and tuition fees at the UK rate. UKRI funding will not cover international fees set by universities.
The proposed studentship (subject to selection by the TECHNE Panel) will fund a full-time PhD studentship for three and a half years or part time study for up to seven years (50% FTE and above).
Application process
Please send your expression of interest for this project by email to: KSAresearch-applications@kingston.ac.uk
Please title your email 'CDA' and give the relevant partner institute's name.
Applications should comprise the following:
- 1-2 page statement outlining your interest in this research project.
- A copy of your first degree and postgraduate qualifications.
- A current CV (no more than 2 pages).
- A sample of your academic work.
Applications must be received by Kingston University no later than Sunday 23 January 2022, midnight (GMT).
Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be on 1 February 2022.
The selected candidate will then be supported by supervisors and partners to complete a TECHNE application for final submission to TECHNE by Monday 14 March 2022.
Results of this second stage competition will be known by May 2022.