Dr Roger Domeneghetti, Northumbria University, with The Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS)

A collaboration between Northumbria University and the Black Collective of Media in Sport, this project proposes the first detailed scholarly exploration of the amount of diversity at all levels within British sports journalism, the experience of members of the workforce from minority backgrounds, and the understandings of this issue among the industry’s senior management. The PhD will bring new knowledge to (1) academic researchers in the fields of media and cultural studies, the sociology of sport, and sports journalism; (2) practitioners in the UK sports media, and; (3) sports journalism educators.

Ethnographies of Border Mapping: Retracing the Field through the Geographical Archive

Prof. Philip Steinberg, Durham University, Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)

The researcher will draw on border expertise at Durham’s Centre for Borders Research and expertise in the history of cartography at Queen’s Belfast to analyse archival data from when the Royal Geographical Society’s was a leader in boundary delimitation (ca 19th-early 20th centuries). Through developing a methodology of ‘cartographic ethnography’, the researcher will produce insights on: relations between cartographic and other knowledge systems; how boundary maps are produced through processes that articulate across a range of media; and how the intersection of maps, knowledge, and media are mobilised to construct ideals of state territory amidst the practicalities of political bordering.

The following projects have been recently announced. Candidate specifications and information on how and when to submit an expression of interest by will be published in due course:

LGBTQIA+ Culture in the North East: Mapping the Archives, Exploring their Potential

Prof. Kate Chedgzoy, Newcastle University, with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Candidate Specification

The North East has a rich and underexplored LGBTQIA+ cultural history. This project builds on existing partnerships between Newcastle University (NU), Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM), and other regional cultural organisations to map LGBTQIA+ presences in TWAM and other archives; address gaps in the archival representation of LGBTQIA+ cultural activity; share this learning with marginalised communities; and highlight untapped potential for research and engagement. This interdisciplinary archival, desk- and practice-based project will contribute new insights and critical reflections to research that aims to enhance understanding of, and improve practice relating to, queer content in and engagement with archives.

‘Where do we belong?’ Using innovative methods to explore working-class identities through Sunderland’s past, present, and future

Dr John Clayton, Northumbria University, with Redhills

Candidate Specification

In a context of uneven post-industrial development, Brexit, stigmatisation and recent unrest, this project explores working-class identities and belonging in Sunderland and the surrounding area. By examining memories of industrial life and emergent identities, connections between emplaced pasts and possible futures will be explored through partnership with Redhills (Durham Miners’ Association) and innovative public-facing methods including oral histories, photography and soundscapes. The project will capture the multi-sensorial character of complex space-times, allow the student to consider belonging as an affective orientation to time and place, and provide nuanced understandings of post-industrial places today and into the future.

Innovating Interface Architecture: Investigating the adaptive reuse of the abandoned buildings dividing Belfast’s communities

Dr David Coyles, Ulster University, with the Department of Justice

This project addresses an important but critically overlooked legacy of sectarian conflict in Belfast; the neglected and abandoned buildings residing within contested ‘interface zones’ dividing contentious Catholic and Protestant communities. Termed here as Interface Architecture, they range from buildings of noted historic interest such as Victorian-era linen mills and churches, to post-war school buildings, to nondescript functions such as telephone exchanges and warehouses. The PhD conceptualises this Interface Architecture as latent community assets, where innovative architectural design-based research examining adaptive reuse offers the opportunity to promote local social, economic and environmental transformation.

Technological choice and variability in prehistoric metalworking: a transdisciplinary investigation

Prof. Andrea Dolfini, Newcastle University, with ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

The project investigates variability and social choice in prehistoric metalworking through an innovative transdisciplinary approach that integrates experimental archaeology, materials science, and a critical review of social studies on craft practice. The student will develop a novel understanding of artisan skill, sensory perception, communities of practice, and craft specialisation in prehistoric bronzeworking. The research will provide new insights into the social context of early European metallurgy, reassessing the enduring link between metallurgy and the rise of social complexity. Through this work, the student will acquire a unique transdisciplinary skillset that will significantly enhance their intellectual profile and employability.

Decolonising Astronomical Science: Cultural & Historical Geographies of the ‘Golden Age’ of Irish Astronomy and its Legacy, 1785-1978

Dr Oliver Dunnett, Queen's University Belfast, with Armagh Observatory & Planetarium

Candidate Specification

This project takes the scholarship of ‘decolonising science’ in new directions by examining the Golden Age of Irish Astronomy in the long nineteenth century and its legacy in the twentieth century. It focuses on Ireland’s three historic astronomical observatories at Armagh, Birr and Dunsink, which are understudied institutions that are now coming together to apply for UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site. Through partnership with Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, the project will investigate the archival holdings at Armagh, Birr and Dunsink, while also tracing the global networks of these institutions as part of the re-evaluation of their scientific legacies.

Data, Race and Empire: African Health, Scottish Missions and the Information Strategies of Dr Archibald Hewan (1832-1883)

Prof. Matthew Eddy, Durham University, with the National Museum of Scotland

Candidate Specification

Data, Race and Empire offers an innovative methodology for knowledge-exchange and collaboration between Durham University and the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) on the extraordinary biomedical career of Dr Archibald Hewan (1832-1883), the first black missionary physician in West Africa. Focusing on recently discovered Hewan sources, and combining methods from Science and Technology Studies with training in the NMS collections, the student will explore Hewan’s career as a black physician who adapted imperial communication networks to proactively collect, interpret and disseminate biomedical information in ways that disrupted several of the European stereotypes about the people and culture of Africa.

Women donors and the making of the World Cultures collection in the care of Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums

Dr Areti Galani, Newcastle University, with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM), Great North Museum: Hancock

This project addresses the significant limitations in our knowledge about the role and agency of women collectors/donors in the formation of World Cultures collections in UK regional museums, by focusing on the extensive collection in the care of Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums/Great North Museum: Hancock. Using digital humanities, archival, cultural studies and digital storytelling methods, it will produce academic, museum and public facing outputs, which will generate new knowledge about women collectors/donors and their trans/national networks, and will advance the partner’s strategic goal to diversify and decolonise established museum narratives through collections research, audience engagement and community relationship-building.

Co-Designing Digital Tools for Physical Activity: Enhancing Engagement in Disadvantaged Communities Through Inclusive Design

Dr Daniel Harrison, Northumbria University, with Rise North East

Candidate Specification

This project, in collaboration with Rise North East, aims to increase physical activity among underrepresented groups in disadvantaged communities in the North East by applying inclusive design principles to sports technologies. Current technologies emphasise performance over inclusivity, failing to meet diverse needs. Our focus will be on inclusivity, broadened participation, and sustained engagement in sports. We will conduct ethnographic research to understand community dynamics and current technology use, then co-design and test digital tools within these communities. Outcomes will include design recommendations and a toolkit to promote equitable access to physical activity and address the digital divide, ensuring long-term impact.

Arts and Creativity: Raising Attainment, Attendance and Aspiration in Young People Facing Disadvantage

Dr Sophie Ward, Durham University, with Hand Of Ltd.

While the benefits of high-quality arts education are frequently observed in practice, the evidence that support these benefits, across a young person’s educational experience and attainment, is limited. Not only is arts learning insufficiently evaluated, but inequably distributed: young people facing disadvantage are less likely to receive the advantages it confers. By working with the educational charity Hand Of, the CDA researcher and project team will analyse, evaluate and, in due course, model a set of interventions that can raise attainment, attendance and aspiration in young people marginalised by mainstream education and make a significant intervention into policy and the research field.

The role of women’s organisations in social dialogue for gender just transitions in global food supply chains

Prof. Katy Jenkins, Northumbria University, with the Ethical Trading Initiative, and Women Working Worldwide

Candidate Specification

In partnership with Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and Women Working Worldwide (WWW), this research explores the involvement of diverse women’s organisations in collective organising and social dialogue to promote gender just transitions in global food supply chains. Through archival research, stakeholder interviews, oral history interviews and participatory photography with women workers in the tea production and supply chain, the research brings together development studies, labour geographies, and historical geographies, to develop a multi-scalar understanding of the challenges in achieving gender just transitions, and the role of women’s organisations in social dialogue processes aiming to secure workers’ rights and affect change. The successful candidate will be based in Northumbria University's Centre for Global Development. 

Exploring the representation of peoples’ experiences of living with MBS (weight-loss surgery) through creative practice

Prof. Andrew Livingstone, University of Sunderland, with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, Bariatric Surgical Unit, and the European Coalition for People Living with Obesity

This proposed CDA aims to investigate peoples’ experiences of living with MBS through creative practice to support and improve the health and wellbeing of those who live with bodies altered by surgery. Through a collaborative creative lens, it aims to contribute to the development of a positive understanding of those who have undergone MBS, towards challenging societal judgement and stigma. Collaborative research and co constructed ways of working aim to support those living with MBS and develop new knowledge within this space.

What's the Crack? Mapping Radical Social Justice Histories in the North East of England (1985-2025)

Dr Gareth Longstaff, Newcastle University, with The Crack Magazine

Candidate Specification

The Crack (1985 -) magazine offers an unparalleled account of activism in the North East over the past 40 years. This PhD project will construct the first radical social justice history of the North East – intersectionally centred around gender, sexuality, race, and class - using the archives of The Crack. This project offers an opportunity for engagement with the largest untouched archive of community-based social justice in the country and will aim to develop a new cultural record of the region centred around themes of social justice, paving the way for future scholarship in this area.

Using creative arts and design practice to visualise the experience and needs of patients with head and neck cancer

Dr Christopher McHugh, Ulster University, with Cancer Focus NI

Following treatment for head and neck cancer, evidence demonstrates this population has greater psychosocial dysfunction than other cancer survivors. Furthermore, global studies consistently highlight people with head and neck cancer are at greater risk of suicide ideation and death by suicide than any other tumour group. The World Health Organisation (2019) amongst other policymakers increasingly recognise the important role creativity, social interaction and learning new skills plays in wellbeing. This project presents a unique opportunity to explore the role of creative arts in helping to improve the wellbeing of head and neck cancer patients, particularly those suffering from suicidal ideation.

Developing inclusive models of sustainable engagement with protected cultural and natural heritage through socially engaged artmaking with multisensory (XR) technologies and open data

Dr Suzy O’Hara, University of Sunderland, with the National Trust

A collaboration with University of Sunderland and National Trust, this practice-based project researches sustainable tourism, natural heritage & biodiversity in the context of the Inner and Outer Farne Islands. Using the methods of socially engaged art practice, embodied experiences and immersive, multisensory (XR) technologies, this project investigates the role of digital and creative approaches in reimagining sustainable and inclusive futures for tourism. Inclusive engagement and audience development models will be co-created with the island residents (both human and non-human), stakeholders and visitors to the island network while supporting marine conservation efforts and widening access to diverse communities.

Images and Empire in British Military Collections: The Photographic Archive of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI)

Prof. Christina Riggs, Durham University, with The Story, and The Trustees of the Durham Light Infantry Collection

Candidate Specification

The project uses the photographic archive of the Durham Light Infantry (1881-1968) to interrogate the role of photography in this regiment, headquartered in Northeast England and deployed throughout the British Empire. Based in the DLI Collection at The Story, Durham, it centres photography as a way to examine histories of empire, masculinity, and military life through the 50,000 images produced by and for a single regiment. How did photographic events shape the unit’s identity in peacetime and conflict – and how can decolonial approaches to imperial photography and contemporary military collections help inform the future of this important archive?

The Tudor Organ: Practice-led Research on its Changing Repertoire and Use over Time

Prof. David J. Smith, Northumbria University, with the Royal College of Organists, and Newcastle Cathedral

Candidate Specification

The studentship involves practice-led research in music performance using an organ reconstructed from a surviving fragment, now owned by the Royal College of Organists (RCO), which will be housed in Newcastle Cathedral during the project. No complete instruments survive from the period, and there remain pressing questions surrounding use of organs in F and their repertoire. They remained in use after the Reformation, so the focus is changing use over time. The project will generate new knowledge for performances at Newcastle Cathedral and dissemination of its results fit into the RCO’s core objective of performance enhanced by scholarship.

AIDS, inequality and religious ethics of care in 1980s and 90s Britain

Prof. Julie-Marie Strange, Durham University, with The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre

Candidate Specification

This project radically rethinks the place of religion in shaping public responses to AIDS. The project complicates narratives of secularisation in modern Britain, examines how new viruses expose and entrench inequalities, and expands a queer ethics of care. In a context where stigma and shame were so powerful, any act of recovery is important: this project highlights unique and almost unknown documents on AIDS, while creating a new AIDS archive through ethnographic interviews. The Salvation Army’s intervention in HIV/AIDS is little known. Its potential to illuminate the broadest historical and most resonant dynamics of the AIDS crisis demands its telling.

The Carl Rosa Opera Company (1873-1960): Provincial Experiences and Performance Practices of a British Touring Opera Troupe

Dr Francesca Vella, Northumbria University, with the Carl Rosa Trust Ltd

Candidate Specification

This project explores touring opera in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Britain, using the Carl Rosa Opera Company (1873-1960) as a case study. Drawing on the vast and critically underexamined Carl Rosa Trust collection at Liverpool Central Library, it will produce the first academic study of the longest-running opera troupe to have toured the UK, contextualising its activities in the broader landscape of touring opera, in Britain and beyond. This CDA offers a unique opportunity to combine cutting-edge historical work on cultural regionalism with bid-writing and engagement activities aimed at reshaping public understandings of opera’s use and relevance in UK regions today.