Fun with Funding: AHRC

If you are an arts or humanities student and planning on applying for PhDs and funding in the UK, then the AHRC is one of your first ports of call. The AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) are a government body that provide support for advancing research in the Arts and Humanities. The main method of application is through block grant schemes, where participating universities and their departments are given a certain number of awards to cover postgraduate research fees, maintenance, or both for any arts/humanities subject. Other routes involve applying to a programme that has already secured AHRC funding, and these are usually advertised as funded PhD programmes. Block grants are the most common route for funding in the Arts and Humanities.

To apply to the block grant, you apply through your prospective department, usually at the same time as or after you apply for a PhD place at the university. A word of warning: getting offer of a place is not a guarantee you will get funding! The two processes are completely separate. The main section of the application form is a research proposal, no longer than 500 words, on your prospective research. The advantage of applying to this scheme is that you have the possibility of researching your specific interests-- if they like your idea, the council will fund you. But it's not this easy.

Departments usually have a very high number of applications, usually double the places they have on offer, often more. Therefore your proposal must really stand out in order to get noticed. Get your current supervisor to read your draft and work on it until it as brilliant as possible. The proposal is like a sales pitch, you have to make your idea as attractive as possible, so the department you are applying to will want to fund that area of research. It is, as with university applications more generally, helpful to have your interests fit nicely with those of the department you are applying to.

One thing must be stressed before I continue: competition is fierce. Due to the high number of people continuing in postgraduate research, there are many outstanding people fighting for a small number of places. Departments can get 2-6 fully funded positions, it depends what subject you do and which department you are applying to.

I'm sorry to say, your chances are considerably increased if you have a top-notch academic record. This means first class results throughout your undergraduate degree, or a distinction for your masters, preferably both. I know it's tough, but there are so many good people applying for the same position as you with these requirements that if you have even the highest of 2i's, you are at a disadvantage. Trust me, this is from personal experience! Don't let this put you off, however. Some people with 2i's do get funding, it's just less common.

The application process is long-winded, and deadlines for submission of proposals start from February. Once your form is in, you may then be invited for interview. Departments rank candidate applications in order of suitability, and then interview the top ten applications, say. After interviews they then rank these candidates again, and suggest the people who are most suitable for an award to the AHRC. This process takes months, and you may fall at any hurdle. It's not a failure if you don't get even to the interview stage. You're application was probably very good, but as I said, competition is intense.

This post is based on my personal experience of the block grant scheme. I hope it helps those of you who are thinking about AHRC funding, so you know what to expect. Any comments or other experiences are certainly welcome!

Until next time,
Kate