The Institute of Collaborative Research in the Humanities at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in collaboration with BBC Northern Ireland invites applications from suitably qualified students for a 3-year, fully-funded (UK fees and maintenance) Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Award PhD studentship.

Closing date: Friday 16^th August 2013

The peoples’ voices and the public broadcaster: towards a cultural history of BBC Northern Ireland

Much recent scholarly attention has been paid to the manner in which the BBC NI archive charts the news and current affairs policies and programming in relation to the Irish Troubles but virtually no attention has yet been paid to other aspects of BBC NI’s cultural outputs, in terms of its policies and programmes covering the creative arts, history, religion, music, the Irish language, and broadcasting for schools. The successful applicant will devise a doctoral project that will explore some aspects of this extensive and astonishingly neglected archive that will enable us to understand, in a more complex and nuanced way than has hitherto been the case, BBC NI’s aspiration as a public broadcaster to reflect the cultural values and everyday voices of the sharply-divided regional community it serves.

AHRC studentships are open to UK and EU students who meet the residency requirements set out by the AHRC. Please see the AHRC Guide to Student Eligibility for full details. The studentship, which will support three years of full-time study, is funded through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme, and includes the standard stipend (£13,726 for 2013/14). Applicants must have at least a 2.1 honours degree in a relevant subject and should normally have completed or be about to complete an appropriate Masters level qualification. The project is expected to start on 1^st October 2013. Further details on the project can be downloaded from here:

http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/InstituteforCollaborativeResearchintheHumanities/AboutUs/

Applicants must complete the online application process available via Queen’s University postgraduate applications portal by clicking on the ‘Apply’ button below.

The application process for this studentship involves submitting, via Queen’s University postgraduate application portal, a written research proposal (1000 words, in applicant’s own words), together with a CV and covering letter, all of which must be uploaded via the portal as a single document. The short proposal must be written by the applicant (i.e. not a verbatim copy of the project proposal document) and must demonstrate the applicant’s knowledge and understanding of the proposed project. The covering letter must map students’ own experience/education/interests onto the specific project. As well as these two key documents, other standard applicant details, such as educational qualifications, transcripts, references, etc. also need to be uploaded via the QUB portal. Applicants should read the university postgraduate application guidelines carefully.

Prospective applicants may wish to discuss their applications with the project supervisor, Professor John Thompson (j.thompson@qub.ac.uk) before submitting their application.