Collaborative Doctoral Awards (Staff-led)
Projects Recruiting for Entry in 2024/2025
A level playing field? Understanding diversity in the British sports media
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.
Prof. Nic Whitton, Northumbria University, with the International Centre for Life (Life)
Thinking creatively and managing setbacks are crucial for all young people. Playful digital tinkering in family groups can help develop creativity and build resilience by reducing fear of failure. However, play can unintentionally exclude families from disadvantaged backgrounds, and we need more evidence of how to support children to learn from their mistakes. In collaboration with the International Centre for Life, a science visitor centre in Newcastle, the research will explore how to maximise inclusivity in playful design, how best to facilitate learning through failure, and provide evidence of the impacts of this approach on fear of failure and creativity.
See further details: https://nustem.uk/connect/studentship/
The final competition is now open to all academic staff at every Northern Bridge Consortium partner institution developing a PhD project proposal in collaboration with a non-HE organisation.
Staff may develop a project with more than one non-HE partner, and partners may be based in the UK and/or - in exceptional cases - abroad. Up to 13 awards are available each year.
A CDA application workshop for all academic staff at NBC institutions interested in pursuing a CDA was held in June 2022. For those who were unable to make it, you'll find below a video recording of the workshop and the presentation slides.
Timeline for the 2024/2025 Competition
Thursday 18 July 2024
The Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) competition opens. Academics working with non-HE organisations are invited to begin work on their project proposals.
By 30 September 2024
The list of subject areas and Subject Area Lead contact details updated and published to the Northern Bridge Consortium (NBC) website.
Subject Area Leads are confirmed as CDA competition Subject Area co-assessors and advised on their roles in the assessment of applications.
By 16:00 Tuesday 8 October 2024
Deadline for the submission of CDA applications to the NBC.
Academics, NBC partners, and other non-HE organisations submit their proposals to the NBC using the application form provided.
CDA Project Proposal Application
(With apologies, we are only able to provide a copy of the application form in Microsoft Word Document (.docx) and cannot guarantee its compatibility with other systems and devices.)
Wednesday 9 October 2024
NBC administrators at Newcastle log and prepare the assessment documentation.
Thursday 10 October 2024 (PM)
NBC administrators at Newcastle release applications to the relevant Subject Area cross-institutional panels.
All applications and related documentation will also be made available to the CDA Studentship Committee members.
By 16:00 on Friday 1 November 2024
Deadline for the submission of cross-institutional panel scores and comments to the NBC.
Monday 4 November 2024
NBC Administrators at Newcastle collate and prepare a ranked list of all applications and circulate to CDA Studentship Committee members.
Monday 11 November 2024
The CDA Studentship Committee meet to moderate and agree the outcome of the CDA competition.
The top ranked 13 applications will be awarded. Normally, the remaining applications form a Reserve List in ranked order.
Tuesday 12 November 2024
CDA competition results announced
NBC administrators at Newcastle notify all applicants of the outcome, copying in the administrator at relevant NBC partner institution.
NBC Administrators at Newcastle update the NBC website and advertise successful projects on the NBC website only. Further advertising is devolved to local schools/departments/subject areas.
Supervisors and partner organisations begin their recruitment campaigns. Local schools/departments can choose their own deadlines for the internal receipt of Expressions of Interest and any supporting documentation required, (bearing in mind the deadline for sending details of the selected candidate to NBC), and are encouraged to use NBC marking criteria for selection.
The following dates are to be confirmed, and will fall in line with the timeline for the open competition, to be announced in October 2024:
Deadline for the submission of CDA Candidate Details forms to the NBC.
(The CDA Candidate Details form will be available here once finalised. Please note it will be available in Word .doc format only following feedback from participants in previous competitions.)
CDA projects and candidates are not reassessed, but will be ratified by the Studentships Committee. A formal studentship offer will be issued by the student’s host institution in line with the dates of the open Studentship Competition, which are to be finalised.
Supervisors instruct their successful CDA student applicant to submit a standard postgraduate application form to their host institution.
Meeting of the NBC Studentships Committee.
Studentship offer letters will be issued to the successful CDA candidates by the relevant department in the student's home institution shortly following the committee.
How to Apply - Information for Staff (including exemplar applications from previous years)
CDA Project Proposal Application
Please note that, following feedback from the previous competition, the application is only available in Microsoft Word Document (.docx) format and we can't guarantee its compatibility with other systems and devices.
Please ensure that the form is submitted by 16:00 Tuesday 8 October 2024. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered under any circumstances.
Resources:
- For further information about CDAs issued by the AHRC: AHRC Guidance on Collaborative Working
(This includes important guidance on developing projects with non-HE partners based overseas.)
- For guidance on how applications are assessed: CDA Marking and Assessment Criteria
Examples of previously successful CDA application forms:
Please note that we do not anticipate that new applicants will directly copy language from the applications below, and it would not be appropriate to copy a project methods outline.
Constitution-making in Sudan
Research Analysts Department, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Rift Valley Institute, and Professor Justin Willis, Durham University
Defending the Nation or Violating Human Rights? The Autobiographical Memory of Former Border
Soldiers of the GDR after 1990
Stiftung Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Foundation), Berlin, Germany and Professor Daniel Siemens, Newcastle University
Developing an Inclusive Conception of Skilful Action
Difference North East and Dr Katherine Puddifoot, Durham University
Experimental Fiction and the Literary Museum: The Legacy of Laurence Sterne
The Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall and Dr Helen Williams, Northumbria University
Glass: In Search of Creative Environmental Histories
National Glass Centre and Dr Noam Leshem, Durham University
Historicising Nerys Johnson
The Laing Art Gallery and Dr Victoria Horne, Northumbria University
Histories, Collections and Practice: Gender and the Regional Art Gallery
The Laing Art Gallery and Dr Claudine van Hensbergen, Northumbria University
The Importance of Youth in the Early Modern Economy: Apprentices and their peer-networks, 1605-1800
The Stationers’ Company (The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers) and Professor Jeremy Boulton, Newcastle University
Managing ‘Wildness’: Creative Writing and Landscape Restoration
Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Assistant Professor Tony Williams, Northumbria University
Mapping the Cultural Geography of Sam Henry’s Irish Song Archive
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services, and Dr Frank Ferguson, Ulster University
Mapping Irish Erth: using deep mapping to curate an historic landed estate as a three-dimensional educational and cultural resource
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and Professor Annie Tindley, Newcastle University
Museum Exhibitions ‘in Flight’: Displaying and Conserving Aircraft as Suspended Objects
Royal Air Force Museum and Professor Andrew Newman, Newcastle University
Nostalgia and the transformation of working-class heritage
Beamish: the Living Museum of the North and Professor Julie-Marie Strange, Durham University
Peer Power: Scotland and northern England under the 5th and 6th dukes of Buccleuch, c.1820-c.1914
Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust and Professor Annie Tindley, Newcastle University
Placing Astronomy: Landscape, Space and Science at Armagh Observatory, 1790-1916
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, and Dr Oliver Dunnett, Queen’s University Belfast
Systemic Inclusion: Representation and Diversity in UK Literary Festivals
Sabotage Reviews and Dr Jenna Clake, Teesside University
Trauma, textiles, and technologies: participatory sewing of electronic-textiles as a metaphor for post-traumatic healing
Changing Lives (CL) Women’s Services and Dr Angelika Strohmayer, Northumbria University
Student Recruitment
Supervisors of successful projects are expected to undertake a recruitment process, rather than nominate a student at the point of application to the CDA competition.
Successful projects and an accompanying Candidate Specification will be advertised on these pages following the announcement of the results of the competition, from Tuesday 12 November 2024. If you wish to make any changes to the Candidate Specification (e.g. the deadline for the Expression of Interest), please contact northernbridge.admin@newcastle.ac.uk.
Northern Bridge Consortium cannot fund any further advertising. This is devolved to supervisors and projects leads, individual schools and departments, and the non-HE partner organisations, who are welcome to promote their award via their own networks, etc.
Project leads can choose their own deadlines for the internal receipt of Expressions of Interest and can request any supporting documentation they require, such as references. When short-listing and selecting applicants for interview, please refer to the Northern Bridge Consortium's marking and assessment criteria for applicants: Applicant Assessment Aide
Once you have selected the successful student applicant:
1) Details should be sent to northernbridge.admin@newcastle.ac.uk by a date to be confirmed (usually March), using the CDA Candidate Details form. Please attach a copy of the candidate's CV - maximum 2-pages. There is no requirement to send references or evidence of qualifications (though you may request these as part of your selection process).
2) The selected candidate should also complete an Equal Opportunities Monitoring form and send this themselves to northernbridge.admin@newcastle.ac.uk by a date to be confirmed. The data will only be used for general statistical and monitoring purposes. The form will be viewed by the Education Assistant Manager (Northern Bridge Consortium DTP) only. The data collected are anonymised and are processed and held separately.
3) You can informally advise the candidate of their award.
4) If they have not done so already, please remind the candidate that they must submit a postgraduate application form to their host institution's Postgraduate Admissions Service. Collaborative Doctoral Studentship Awards are conditional upon the successful candidate receiving a formal unconditional offer to study the appropriate PhD programme by their host University, and on the student's subsequent registration.
5) Successful projects and their selected candidates are not reassessed, but those awards will be ratified by the Studentships Committee.
6) Candidates will receive a formal studentship offer from their host institution following the Studentships Committee. (Please note, the candidate's offer of a place on a doctoral programme will be managed separately by the host university's Postgraduate Admissions Service.)
Information for Prospective Applicants
For further information about these Collaborative Doctoral Awards (Staff-led), and to submit an Expression of Interest, student applicants will be required to review the "CDA Candidate Specification" on their project of interest and to contact the named lead by the stated date. Applicants may be required to submit accompanying documentation, which will be detailed in the specification, and to be interviewed.
Please note that the successful projects will be announced no sooner than Tuesday 12 November 2024, and will be available to view from that date, and not before.
Student applicants who are successfully recruited to a project are still required to meet the AHRC's eligibility criteria and to submit a postgraduate application form to their host university. This should be done as soon as they are informally notified by the project leads that they have been successful, and no later than a date to be confirmed.
Please note that Collaborative Doctoral Studentship Awards are conditional upon the successful student receiving a formal unconditional offer to study the appropriate PhD programme by their host University’s Postgraduate Admissions Service, and on the student's subsequent registration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please submit any queries to your local contact at the institution you are based. We'll list FAQs here as we receive them.
How are the applications assessed?
We ask applicants to state the proposal's primary subject area. Applications are assessed by a Cross-institutional Review Panel comprising the academic Subject Area Leads in each NBC partner institution, so an application in Archaeology for example would be jointly assessed by the Archaeology Subject Leads at Newcastle, Durham and Queen's University Belfast. A panel chair is responsible for recording the agreed marks and comments, and returning them to the NBCDTP. The assessment results are collated by the NBCDTP administrator at Newcastle, then moderated by a committee comprising the Northern Bridge Academic Directors from each partner institution to ensure consistency of marking, etc. The final results are then ranked.
Are there any research priorities or steers?
No, the only stipulation is that the proposal falls within the AHRC subject area remit. The CDA Marking and Assessment Criteria will guide you as to what the assessors are looking for in terms of quality.
Can the supervisory team comprise colleagues from NBC partner institutions?
Yes, cross-institutional supervision is permitted but is not a requirement and does not effect eligibility. A supervisory team based solely at the host institution will not disadvantage the application. The composition of the proposed supervisory team must comply with the host institution’s Code of Practice for Postgraduate Research Students (or equivalent). In most cases that will usually mean the primary and secondary, or joint-primary, supervisors will be members of academic staff at the host institution, (as well as the external advisor(s) from the non-HE partner organisation). Additional supervisors may be appointed from an NBC partner institution, or any other HE or non-HE organisation if appropriate to the research proposal, and if permitted by the host institution. Please note, however, there is no financial remuneration for external supervisors and advisors via the NBC. A financial arrangement, if any, will be at discretion of the host institution, and cannot be funded by the NBC by any means.
What is the value of the award?
- Tuition fees paid at a rate equivalent to the Home UK fee. Successful international candidates should be prepared to fund the difference between the Home and International tuition fee rate by alternative means. Under no circumstances can this be funded by the NBC. An applicant’s host institution may offer an additional scholarship to the value of this difference, but this is not guaranteed. Applicants should check with their host institution for further guidance.
- A minimum stipend per year for living costs, which is paid in regular instalments. Awards increase every year, typically with inflation. As an indicator, the level for 2024/2025 is £19,237. CDA award-holders will receive an additional £600 per annum to help fund collaboration with the non-HE partner (for travel, accommodation, etc.).
- Award-holders are eligible to apply to a fund reserved to support primary research costs to include, for example, conference attendance, fieldwork, language training, overseas research visits and placements with a non-academic partner.
- Please note award-holders will not have a personal research account on which to draw.
- The duration of the award is 3.5 years full-time, or 7 years part-time.
Are there recommended partner institutions that NBC would like the proposers to use?
No. We do have a number of strategic partners, but applicants should not feel limited to this list. Previous and current collaborations include projects with a number of diverse organisations:
Research Analysts Department, FCDO and the Rift Valley Institute; Historic Environment Scotland; National Trust; The Literary and Philosophical Society; Changing Lives (CL) Women’s Services; The YMCA Newcastle; National Library of Wales; Berlin Wall Foundation; BALTIC; National Museums, NI; Open Clasp; Northumberland Wildlife Trust; Blackfriars Restaurant; Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Are there any terms and conditions preventing people already working for the partner organisation (as staff or volunteers) to apply for the staff-led CDA when it is advertised?
Staff or volunteers can apply, however they could not be appointed without evidence of no conflict of interest that could compromise completion of the PhD or any of the parties involved.