National Museums Scotland is a member of the Scottish Cultural Heritage Consortium (SCHC). The Consortium is a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Doctoral research at National Museums Scotland is directed towards our collections in accordance with our Research Framework. Studentship projects are proposed by a member of our staff in collaboration with a colleague from a UK university. Proposals compete for funding on their academic strengths and on their orientation towards the Museum’s research and strategic objectives.

Current opportunities

Funded PhD Project: Collecting Australia: colonial consumption and the display of Australia in Scotland during the long nineteenth century
 

The ‘long nineteenth century’ (c.1768-1904) was a period of intense colonial activity and expansion, reflected in museum practices of collecting and classification. Crucially, it covers the formation and transformation of the national museum from an Industrial Museum, into a Museum of Science and Art, and the separation of once-conjoined collections in disciplinary, curatorial and institutional terms. National Museums Scotland offers extensive primary materials reflecting early colonial-era Scottish engagements with First Australians and their environments. National Museums Scotland's collection of approximately 3900 objects from Australia contains a significant proportion of First Australian cultural artefacts and important natural specimens with associated documentary archives, including correspondence, accession records, curatorial files, and other institutional records.

This PhD is funded by AHRC via the Scottish Graduate School in Arts and Humanities (SGSAH), and supervised by the University of Aberdeen and National Museums Scotland.

• The deadline for applications is 23:59 GMT on Sun 25 May.
• This award is funded by the AHRC via a SGSAH Collaborative Doctoral Award and is available for three years and six months (Full time) / Seven years (Part time).
•  The expected start date is Wed 1 Oct 2025.

Find out more and apply through the Find a PhD website.

About the Scottish Cultural Heritage Consortium (SCHC)

The SCHC brings together five of Scotland’s national collections plus its national heritage agency, all of whom are internationally respected for their work in researching, documenting and promoting understanding of material culture.

The Consortium was founded in 2013. The consortium supporting PhD research comprises National Museums Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.

Each year the Consortium awards up to six funded studentships which enable a Higher Education Institute and a Consortium member organisation to collaborate on a PhD project.

Further information about collaborative studentships funded by the AHRC can be found at the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Consortium website.

The aims of the Consortium are to:

• Deliver world-class research and high-quality studentships that promote collaboration between the academic community and our work and collections
• Encourage inter- and cross-disciplinary doctoral research on material culture that contributes to the strategic objectives of the institutions and has public impact
• Build a supportive training and professional development environment that shares skills across our institutions and promotes integrated access to our collections
• Maximise the impact and value of the research generated by working collaboratively to provide routes for sharing both between institutions and with a wider public
• Add economic value by providing training and opportunities that enhance the employability of the students.

The research undertaken by the studentships managed by the Scottish Cultural Heritage Consortium will fit within the following five research priorities, all of which are concerned with conserving, understanding and presenting Scotland’s cultural, material and artistic heritage in a national, UK and international context:

1. Creation, history and care of Scottish material culture
2. Analysis, interpretation and presentation of material culture
3. Impact and understanding of collections
4. Understanding and valuing the historic environment
5. Intangible heritage and the history of ideas.

These priorities are embraced within the individual research strategies and priorities of the five national bodies that make up the consortium. In addition, we support the themes prioritised by the Independent Research Organisations: Digital Futures; Heritage Science; Legacies of Empire; and research to support exhibitions, galleries and public programming.

SCHC Representatives

Historic Environment Scotland
Adam Jackson
Adam.Jackson@hes.scot

National Galleries of Scotland
Ailsa Roberts
aroberts@nationalgalleries.org

National Library of Scotland
Chris Taylor
c.taylor@nls.uk

National Museums Scotland
Andrea Cop
a.cop@nms.ac.uk

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Lorna Mitchell
LMitchell@rbge.org.uk

UK CPD Administrator
Sarah McEvoy (Victoria & Albert Museum)
cdpadmin@britishmuseum.org