TECHNE Open Competition for October 2020 entry

TECHNE comprises nine universities and is one of the 10 AHRC Doctoral Training Partnerships awarded. TECHNE'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 and rich range of training workshops and opportunities to engage with partners in the arts and cultural sector.

TECHNE will offer around 57 doctoral awards per annum for students who are applying to undertake PhD study. This includes those who are applying initially as an MPhil student with the intention to upgrade to PhD study.

Collaborative Doctoral Awards

Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) are doctoral studentship projects which are developed as a collaboration between a university and an organisation outside higher education. The scheme is an equivalent to the AHRC's previous Collaborative Doctoral Awards scheme which the AHRC now wishes to be supported through Doctoral Training Partnerships such as TECHNE.

Kingston School of Art are inviting applications for the following collaborative PhD project:

Fashion at Speed: Spectacular histories of fashion, flying and motorsport from the twentieth century collections of Brooklands Museum

This fully-funded PhD explores the intersection of high speed motilities and fashion in the century of speed. Hosted jointly by Kingston University and Brooklands Museum, the successful candidate will situate items of dress from museum collections within wider histories of fashion, technology and international media spectacle using Brooklands' extensive and unique documentary, film and photographic archives. Working at the world's first purpose-built motor-racing circuit and one of its earliest aerodromes, the successful candidate will gain an in-depth understanding of histories of technology, fashion, media, sport, and spectacle. The project presents outstanding opportunities to apply your research insights to the future development of Brooklands award-winning exhibitions and educational programmes, working within a dynamic and exciting participatory learning environment.

Beginning in October 2020, the student will be supervised by Dr Chris Horrocks and Dr Helen Wickstead (Kingston University) and Virginia Smith (Director of Education and Participation, Brooklands Museum).

Applicants are encouraged to contact Dr Helen Wickstead to discuss the project in more detail: h.wickstead@kingston.ac.uk.

Deadline for draft CDA application Monday 2 December 4pm GMT.

Interviews will be the week beginning 9 December 2019.

More information is available on the faculty website.

Open Competition for Doctoral Awards

We are inviting applications to the TECHNE Open Competition for doctoral awards by submitting a TECHNE Open Competition application through Kingston University. Note that it is not possible to submit an application directly to TECHNE - you must apply through one of the member universities.

Learn more about the TECHNE research community.

TECHNE subject areas at Kingston University

• Architecture, urbanism and landscape - history, theory, reflective practice
• Archival practices - history, theory, practice
• Art history and critical theory
• Contemporary art practice
• Creative arts
• Creative writing
• Curating
• Dance
• Design history and material culture
• Design for healthcare
• Design for sustainability
• Designer maker spaces
• Drama
• English language
• English literature
• Film practice
• Film and television studies
• Heritage, museum and galleries
• History
• Illustration practice theory
• Media and culture/cultural studies
• Modern European philosophy
• Music
• Photography practice
• Photography, history, theory and culture
• Sound studies

Funding and eligibility

• UK applicants and EU applicants who have been resident in the UK for at least three years immediately preceding the start of their course are eligible for the full scholarship covering stipend and tuition fees. 
• EU applicants who have not been resident in the UK for three years immediately preceding the start of their course are eligible for a fees-only award. 
• Non-Home and non-EU applicants are not eligible to apply.

Please note: if you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you will not be eligible for this funding.

Awards are available for both full-time and part-time students. AHRC eligibility criteria apply and all AHRC awards are subject to the AHRC and UKRI 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:

• Research Council Terms and Conditions of Training Grants
• UKRI Training Grant Guide
• AHRC's Training Grant Funding Guide

The doctoral stipend for 2019/20 is £17,009 (three or four years full-time or part-time equivalent for six or eight years); levels are likely to rise slightly for 2020/21 but have not yet been confirmed.

Application process for doctoral awards

1. Read the TECHNE guidance notes (Word).

2. Contact the potential supervisor at Kingston University to discuss your research proposal, the supervision that may be available, and whether you might be considered a suitable candidate for a TECHNE award.  If you are not sure who to contact please see the 'How to Apply' section on the research webpages for Kingston School of Art.

Alternatively, please email the faculty research student co-ordinator for Kingston School of Art for advice, including 'TECHNE' in the subject line.

3. Submit a TECHNE application form (Word) and a Kingston University online application with supporting documentation.

Deadline: midnight GMT on Sunday 24 November 2019. Interviews will be held in the week commencing 2 December 2019.

Your draft application and supporting documentation should be emailed to the faculty research student co-ordinator for Kingston School of Art with 'TECHNE' in the subject line.

Applications received after the above deadline may not be supported.

We work closely with researchers to develop their applications so please leave plenty of time for this stage as you will not be able to amend your proposal or application after the final deadline.

Note for current PhD students in KSA: you do not need to complete a new KU online application form. You may, however, wish to obtain a reference from your supervisor discussing your progress so far.

4. Submit finalised application to Kingston University. 

• Final deadline: 4pm Monday 3 February 2020 GMT

You must submit:

• A Kingston University online application with supporting documentation, if you have not already done so.
• A TECHNE application form (Word) with any supporting documentation not already included with the Kingston application, and a TECHNE equal opportunities form (Word). (Note: 2020/21 versions coming soon).

These should be emailed to the Kingston School of Art faculty research student co-ordinator 'TECHNE' in the subject line.

Assessment process

Your application will be considered by an internal panel of subject experts at Kingston University. You will be informed by 12 February whether the university will forward your application for consideration by TECHNE.  If you are selected you will need to complete an online version of the same TECHNE application by 18 February. If your application does go forward you will hear by early May whether or not it has been successful.

Further details of the assessment process can be found on the TECHNE website.

Enquiries are best addressed to the relevant faculty or potential supervisor, but general questions may be sent to: rachel.graham@kingston.ac.uk.