Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award

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National Museums NI awarded AHRC funding to lead new museums and heritage doctoral consortium

National Museums NI has been awarded a Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award through the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to establish and lead a new Northern Ireland Museums and Heritage Consortium.

The AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards scheme supports the next generation of arts and humanities researchers through partnerships between higher education institutions and organisations including museums, galleries, libraries and archives. The programme aims to address current and future skills needs while fostering collaboration between the cultural, creative and heritage sectors, academia and wider employers.

Dr Sarah Baccianti, Project Lead for the award, will provide strategic oversight of the programme's research vision and delivery in line with consortium and AHRC priorities.

The consortium brings together museums and heritage organisations from across Northern Ireland:

  • Armagh County Museum
  • Derry City and Strabane District Council Museums
  • F.E. McWilliam Gallery
  • Museum & Heritage Service, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
  • Newry, Mourne and Down Museums
  • Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)

The award will support 14 fully funded doctoral studentships, with the first cohort expected to begin in October 2027.

Research themes

The programme will support doctoral research that responds to key priorities for Northern Ireland's museums and heritage sector, including:

  • Peacebuilding
  • People and place
  • Environmental change
  • Inclusion and identity
  • Languages
  • Collections access
  • Skills development
  • The future of heritage practice

Through the award, doctoral researchers will be embedded within museum, archive and heritage settings, working with collections, staff and communities to generate new knowledge and public benefit. The programme will provide cohort training, placements, mentoring and professional development opportunities, helping to develop the next generation of researchers and heritage professionals.

By bringing partners together through a shared programme of doctoral research, the consortium will also create a more connected and sustainable research environment, enabling the exchange of expertise, infrastructure and opportunities across Northern Ireland's museum and heritage sector.

Next steps

The first studentship opportunities are expected to be developed with consortium partners in autumn 2026, with recruitment beginning ahead of the first cohort starting in October 2027.

An online HEI Town Hall (date to be confirmed) will introduce the consortium's research themes and project development process, bringing university and heritage partners together to begin co-designing collaborative doctoral projects for the first cohort.

Further information about the award, including studentship opportunities and partner updates, will be shared on this page as the consortium develops.

To request more information or express interest in potential collaborations, please use the contact button below: