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AHRC Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership

Nottingham Trent University is proud to be a part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (M4C).

M4C studentships

M4C supports arts and humanities students with AHRC funding for studentships, as well as placements, supervision and training opportunities. Last year M4C awarded studentships to both UK and international applicants and 13 Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDA) through a linked competition with partner organisations in the cultural, creative and heritage sector.

The scheme brings together eight leading universities across the Midlands to support the professional and personal development of the next generation of arts and humanities doctoral researchers:

Midlands 4 Cities logo
  • Birmingham City University
  • Coventry University
  • De Montfort University
  • Nottingham Trent University
  • The University of Nottingham
  • University of Birmingham
  • University of Leicester
  • University of Warwick

Visit the M4C website to find out more details about the training partnership. The next application round opens in October 2023.

What is the Open Doctoral Award?

The eight universities of Midlands4Cities provide doctoral researchers with access to world-class supervisory expertise and support across the breadth of arts and humanities subjects. The Open Doctoral Award invites you to design and agree a research project with academic supervisors within the M4C partnership.

  • Your supervisory team should include at least two academic supervisors.
  • You can draw on supervisory expertise from across the eight universities that comprise M4C.
  • Where relevant, your supervisory team may also include a member from a non-university partner organisation, for example from the cultural, creative or heritage sector.

Nottingham Trent University offers supervisory expertise in the following areas, departments, research centres, and research groups:

Artistic Research Centre

An interdisciplinary collegiate research environment with the ambition to continue to be at the forefront of innovation in artistic research processes.

Centre for Business and Insolvency Law

The Centre for Business and Insolvency Law (CBIL) was founded in 2012 and brings together expertise in legal and business practice, both nationally and internationally, addressing important challenges and contributing to debates.

Centre for Legal Education

Nottingham Law School's Centre for Legal Education drives the Law School's excellence and innovation in academic and professional legal education.

Centre for Research in History, Heritage and Memory Studies

The Centre connects NTU researchers and projects in policy, religion, conflict, race, gender, memory & welfare through varied methodologies & knowledge exchange

Centre for Research in Literature Linguistics and Culture

The Centre for Research in Literature, Linguistics and Culture is a multi- and interdisciplinary hub that promotes research innovation across Literary Studies, Linguistics, and Media, Film and TV Studies.

Centre for Rights and Justice

The Centre for Rights and Justice (CRJ) was established in 2013. It is an inclusive Centre with a diverse membership, bringing together research, practice and scholarship, in the broad areas of human rights and criminal justice.

Design Research Centre

A world leading interdisciplinary group of researchers fostering new approaches to design and the use of the latest design techniques and technologies.

Fashion and Textile Research Centre

Representing a complex field in a global context, research in this centre focuses on cultures, heritage, design, business. clothing sustainability, and advanced textiles.

Collaborative Doctoral Award

These awards are jointly developed and co-supervised between Nottingham Trent University and an external partner organisation. CDAs offer diverse and unique research projects that support the work of the partner organisation.

We have two CDA projects available. Find out more below and apply here:

A Poetical Science: Exploring Art, Feminism and Technology through Contemporary Curatorial Practice

This practice-based research project explores the intersections of art, technology and feminism, inspired by Ada Lovelace’s legacy and Nottingham’s industrial textile history. In collaboration with Nottingham Contemporary and Nottingham Trent University, the research highlights historical contributions of women artists working with technology and situated within global artistic production.

Read the full project description

Bathroom to Bedroom: interpreting early modern bodily functions

Recent work in Early Modern studies aims to pay critical attention to material cultures. But there remains a taboo surrounding the representations of bodily processes / hygiene / sewage etc. This work will relocate the critical focus on the literary representations of bodies and bodily processes as they appear in the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Read the full project description

'I wanted to do a PhD that had ‘real world’ impact. The Collaborative Doctoral Awards offered by Midlands4Cities, in partnership with organisations that have pre-determined research needs, felt like it was the best of both worlds' - Laura Ewart