Category: Studentships

U Reading: PhD Studentship in Comparative and Intercultural Studies (UK)

“Studentships“PhD Studentship in Comparative and Intercultural Studies, University of Reading, UK. Deadline: 31 March 2026.

Project title: Young Refugees to Britain in the early Twentieth Century

Department/School: Department of Languages and Cultures, School of Humanities

Supervisors: Dr Ellen Pilsworth, Dr Monja Stahlberger

“2026 marks 75 years since the Refugee convention (1951) outlined the definition of a refugee and the minimum legal obligations of the States who receive them. This Convention was a response to the millions of people displaced by European conflicts in the early part of the twentieth century. We are interested in the histories of European refugees who came to Britain in the decades before the Convention, with a specific focus on the experiences of children and young people still engaged in education or training.

Governments have often viewed children as more easily assimilated and less of an economic or administrative burden than adult refugees. Yet, research shows that children’s experiences of exile are far more complex: language acquisition, identity formation, and senses of belonging can follow unpredictable paths. Studying children offers a vital lens onto the assumptions and realities of displacement.

We welcome applications interested in the British reception of Belgian refugees during and after the First World War, as well as Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czecho‑Slovakian and other refugee and displaced groups in Britain in the broader context of the Second World War. Please note, we are not accepting proposals to work on German-speaking refugees, as this group is already represented in our project. We are open to any other relevant national group(s). Projects may take a comparative approach across the period ca. 1910-1950, or choose a narrower temporal focus.

The PhD topic should be based on original historical research, using sources that could include state and personal archives, published or unpublished memoirs, and oral history. The successful student will work alongside the UKRI-funded project ‘Nation of Refuge’.

U London: Studentships in Policy and Global Affairs (UK)

“Studentships“Ph.D. Studentships in Policy and Global Affairs, City St. George’s University of London, UK. Deadline: 11 February 2026.

Four PhD studentships, and three fee waivers are available across the Departments of Sociology and Criminology, International Politics and, Economics.
Each Department will receive ONE studentship and ONE fee waiver, for home and international students. An additional studentship will be offered to a Black and British candidate, who can apply to any of these three Departments.

Södertörn U: Doctoral Studentships (Sweden)

“Studentships“Ph.D. Studentships, Baltic and East European Graduate School, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden. Deadline: 11 February 2026.

Multiple doctoral studentships are available in Sociology, Political Science, Social Work, Journalism, Business Studies, and Public Administration, all relating to the interdisciplinary topic of “Politics, Economy and the Organisation of Society.”

The planned research for these studentships must be relevant to the Baltic Sea region or Eastern Europe because they are affiliated with the Baltic and East European Graduate School (BEEGS), financed by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, and part of the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) at Södertörn University. Eastern Europe comprises post-communist central, south and east Europe. The Baltic Sea Region is the Baltic Sea and the surrounding countries. A specific list of eligible countries is here.

Open U: AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award Studentships (UK)

“Studentships“Ph.D. Studentship: AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award Studentships, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. Deadline: 13 February 2026.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has introduced two new doctoral funding schemes – the Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) and the Doctoral Focal Award (DFA) – as part of its Future Doctoral Programme. The new awards aim to provide more flexible, inclusive, and strategically aligned funding across the arts and humanities disciplines. The Open University has successfully secured an AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award for a five-year period, with the first cohort of doctoral students starting in 2026.

In addition to individual studentships, the Doctoral Landscape Award supports regional training hubs. The OU is a member of the South East Hub of nine HE institutions, along with Brighton, Kent, Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Reading, Royal Holloway, Southampton and Sussex. The Open University will work together with the other Hub members to improve training support and offer opportunities for cohort development.

The studentships are open to all PhD applicants who meet the entry criteria at the OU. Any PhD project under the AHRC subject areas – including those based outside of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences – are eligible. At the OU, disciplines under the AHRC include Art History, Classical Studies, English and Creative Writing, History, Languages and Linguistics, Law, Music, Philosophy, and Religious Studies.

They especially welcome interdisciplinary project proposals, and prospective supervisors may be drawn from more than one discipline.

Applications may be made for full-time or part-time study, but distance learning is not permissible under this scheme.

UNHCR: UNIV’R Programme Studentships at Sciences Po (France)

“Studentships“MA Studentship: UNHCR UNIV’R Programme, Sciences Po, Paris, France. Deadline: 1 February 2026.

The call for applications for the 5th cohort of the UNIV’R Programme (Sciences Po Paris) is now open . The programme offers fully funded scholarships for refugees to pursue a two-year master’s degree (in English or French) at Sciences Po Paris, beginning August/September 2026.

The eligibility criteria for this cohort remain unchanged from last year. Applicants must:

  • Be refugees individually recognized by UNHCR or by a State authority;
  • Be currently residing in a first country of asylum outside the European Union (resettled refugees are not eligible);
  • Hold at least a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study;
  • Have a minimum B2 level in English and/or French;
  • Be no older than 35 years.

    In addition, Sciences Po Paris has specific academic requirements. Candidates must provide:

  • Academic transcripts;
  • Academic recommendation letters;
  • Evidence of a good GPA.

U Warwick: PhD Scholarship: The Wheeler History of Travel Writing (UK)

“Studentships“PhD Scholarship: The Wheeler History of Travel Writing, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. Deadline: 15 January 2026.

The programme seeks to attract talented researchers whose projects may focus on any period or region of the world. Applicants are expected to show that their project is primarily historical in nature, engaging with travel and travel writing as a historical practice and/or source for historical research. Preference may be given to candidates who adopt a global historical perspective and have the ability to work with sources in more than one language.

Successful applicants will benefit from the wide-ranging expertise represented by Warwick’s Department of History and its Global History and Culture Centre as well as the range of training and development opportunities offered by the Department and Doctoral College. Candidates are encouraged to explain how their proposal fits within the department’s existing research profile.

They welcome projects that engage with the history of travel and travel writing from a variety of perspectives and disciplinary approaches, including global history, the history of science and technology, environmental history, histories of race and empire, gender history, the history of material culture, and postcolonial studies. Candidates interested in co-supervision across departments (e.g. with English and Comparative Literary Studies, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Politics and International Studies) are invited to indicate their preference on their application. Potential areas of focus include, but are not limited to:

  • Travel advice literature, from merchant manuals to commercial guidebooks
  • Travel, gender, and intersectionality
  • Travel and travel writing from the Global South
  • Vicarious travel, from armchair geography to VR
  • Underrepresented histories of travel and global inequalities
  • Travel, sustainability, and the environment

King’s College: Arts & Humanities Studentships (UK)

“Studentships“

Arts and Humanities Studentships, King’s College London, UK. Deadline: 13 February 2026.

The Doctoral School for Arts & Humanities is the home of the new Arts & Humanities Doctoral Studentships, offering a range of full and partially funded PhD scholarships. Starting October 2026, the programme offers 13 fully funded studentships, including 2 AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards, plus four fees-only studentships.

Studentships cover all PhD programmes offered by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, namely:

  • Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies
  • Classics
  • Comparative Literature
  • Creative Writing
  • Culture, Media & Creative Industries
  • Digital Humanities
  • English
  • Film Studies
  • French
  • German
  • History
  • Interdisciplinary Humanities
  • Music
  • Palaeography & Manuscript Studies
  • Philosophy
  • Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies
  • Theology & Religious Studies

Funding will be for 3.5 years (full-time) or 7 years (part-time). Full tuition fees covered, including international fees.

Vienna U: Teaching & Research Associate, Institute for Intercultural Communication (Austria)

“Studentships“Teaching and Research Associate (PhD Position), Institute for Intercultural Communication, Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Vienna, Austria. Deadline: 28 January 2026.

“Do you want to understand how language and culture are connected and make a fundamental impact? We offer an environment where you can realize your full potential. At one of Europe’s largest and most modern business and economics universities. On a campus where quality of work is also quality of life. We are looking for support at the

Institute for Intercultural Communication
Part-time, 30 hours/week
Starting April 01, 2026, and ending after 6 years

We explore how culture shapes human interaction and discourse, especially in organizational communication. Our current projects investigate intercultural / multilingual face-to-face and video-mediated interactions (multimodal conversation analysis) and language, culture, and communication in the context of migration.

Our teaching focuses on intercultural communication, including cross-cultural competence training courses, applied research projects on migration and diversity, intercultural simulations, as well as general courses on intercultural business communication.

What to expect

  • Writing a dissertation: You will investigate your research topic in the field of intercultural (business) communication and spend a third of your working hours on writing your PhD dissertation. The outcomes of your research will be published in international academic journals.

  • Regular research exchange: You will regularly present and discuss your research at international conferences and at our Institute’s regular research meetings and data sessions.

  • Doctoral courses: You will enroll in WU’s PhD program and complete doctoral courses as part of your education.

  • Teaching: You will teach your own course and contribute to the development of courses and course materials in intercultural (business) communication

  • Research and teaching support: You will support administrative tasks related to research, teaching, research-to-practice activities, and self-governance and collaborate with our senior researchers on projects, proposals and papers.”

 

MITIME: 15 Studentships on Migration (EU)

“Studentships“

15 Ph.D. Studentships: MITIME, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, and Netherlands. Deadline: 1 February 2026.

Applications are invited for 15 fully funded PhD positions, to begin in September 2026. Hired Doctoral Researchers will become members of MITIME, an EU-funded doctoral programme offering early-stage researchers international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral training. MITIME is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network focusing on how time shapes migration, inequality, and urban life in post-industrial Europe. They train early-stage researchers in cutting-edge theory, methods and transferable skills, and innovate approaches to understand human mobility as a multi-directional, contingent and relational process.

Each MITIME Doctoral Researcher will be employed full-time on a 36-month contract and enrolled in a PhD programme at one of the network’s seven partner universities in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, or Türkiye. Successful candidates will conduct original research on migration, temporality, and urban inequalities, and participate in all network-wide training and mobility activities.

Applicants to the programme must hold—or be close to completing—a Master’s degree in a relevant field (i.e. migration studies, anthropology, sociology, urban studies, social policy, political science, or public administration). Candidates should show a strong interest in collaborative, interdisciplinary research and in working in international.

Swansea U: PHD Studentship in Bilingualism & Linguistics (UK)

“Studentships“Ph.D. Studentship: Bilingualism and Linguistics, Swansea University, Wales, UK. Deadline: 11 December 2025.

Open to: UK and international applicants

Funding Provider: ESRC WGSSS 50%; Swansea University 50%

Prospective students are invited to propose a research topic for doctoral study in the language-related areas of expertise of staff in Applied Linguistics. Broadly, these areas include research that addresses:

  • Bilingualism/Multilingualism
  • Second language acquisition
  • Lexical studies
  • and/or the structure, meaning and use of language in linguistics, psycho- and sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, psychology, sociology, language technology and education.

Supervision can also be held jointly with colleagues in Welsh, Modern Languages, Translation, Psychology and Education.