About AHRC - East Midlands Sustainable Living and Mental Wellbeing (EM-SLAM)
De Montfort University (DMU) is one of 4 universities across the UK, and one of 7 universities in the Midlands, to receive funding for 4 PhD students over the next 5 years through a new initiative by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Each institution will be allocated studentships annually over the 6-year duration of the award.
The scheme is designed to strengthen and nurture arts and humanities doctoral research across the UK. It will enable students to train as researchers, develop their skills and experience, and prepare for careers in academia as well as the public and private sectors, as well as join a vibrant, diverse and inclusive community of researchers.
About the funder
AHRC is one of a number of UKRI research councils, each with a different range of research priorities. The AHRC supports and develops outstanding researchers specifically across arts and humanities, who pursue research with imagination, creativity and interdisciplinarity, and seek to tackle socio-cultural challenges of the past and present, whilst envisaging and designing possibilities for the future. This is underpinned by the AHRC’s deep commitment to the values of equality, diversity and inclusion. Allocating funding for doctoral study through the Landscape Awards is key to nurturing such research and the future generation of researchers.
Specialist areas
We are inviting proposals for innovative PhD projects connected with the following themes:
- Creative methods and nature connectedness
- Green spaces and wellbeing
- Wellbeing and its relationship to sustainability activities
- Creative methodological innovations, using the techniques and insights of the arts and humanities to explore questions around sustainability, and nature connectedness.
Training and Development
Researchers at DMU will benefit from a rich and varied programme of activities that deal with all aspects of PhD success, including the nature and structure of the thesis, as well as De Montfort’s expertise in the role of the arts and humanities in health, interdisciplinary research, creative methods and EDI issues in research. PhD researchers have access to sector-leading facilities through which to develop their research.
Being part of EM-SLAM, researchers will belong to a cohort drawn from across the East Midlands, benefiting from:
- a dynamic cross-institutional, interdisciplinary training environment;
- a wide network of researchers across the region;
- exciting collaborative possibilities;
- access to professional development opportunities.
- researching through Creative and cross-disciplinary research methods
- working with partners in the arts, health, and environmental sectors to design and co-produce knowledge that leads to real-world change
Funding and support
For 2026, we are offering up to 4 funded PhD studentships in arts and humanities as part of this significant commitment to the development and training of talented researchers. The scheme will support ambitious, innovative arts and humanities researchers who will contribute to a vibrant, inclusive and diverse research culture and community at DMU.
Funding includes:
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- A full tuition fee waiver for Home or International students, for full-time or part-time study;
- A grant for the successful applicants’ sustenance and living expenses at current UKRI rates, as well as covering university fees for a period of fouryears.
How to apply
Please view the finer details of this opportunity on our Funded Opportunities page. We invite a first stage application by filling in the Doctoral Focal Awards funding application form and returning to:
- Professor Raghu Raghavan Rraghavan@dmu.ac.uk
- Professor Brown Brown@dmu.ac.uk
You will need to develop your own research proposal in conjunction with a relevant supervisor at DMU that aligns to one or more of the following themes:
- Creative methods and nature connectedness
- Green spaces and wellbeing
- Wellbeing and its relationship to sustainability activities
- Creative methodological innovations, using the techniques and insights of the arts and humanities to explore questions around sustainability, and nature connectedness.
Supporting documentation