AHRC Doctoral Landscape Collaborative PhD Studentship

The University of Edinburgh and National Museums Scotland are pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded AHRC Doctoral Landscape Collaborative PhD studentship from September 2027.

The School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh is delighted to invite applications for a PhD studentship to work on the following project “The Long Afterlife: Charnelling practices and cadaveric agency in Medieval Scotland”.

The Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities will provide Doctoral Landscape Award holders with additional PhD training and Cohort Development opportunities during the studentship. 

The Long Afterlife: Charnelling practices and cadaveric agency in Medieval Scotland - About the project

In the study of medieval cemeteries, the “complete” skeleton has traditionally taken centre stage. Yet, across Europe, the final chapter of the funerary rite often involved the deliberate disturbance, disarticulation, and communal re-deposition of human remains: a practice known as charnelling. Whilst these processes have reshaped our understanding of death and memory in England and Continental Europe, the charnelled dead of Scotland remain largely silent. Frequently overlooked in excavation reports or deemed too complex for standard analysis, these fragmentary assemblages represent a significant blind spot in our knowledge of medieval Scottish society, belief systems and cemetery management. 

As a Collaborative Doctoral Award “The Long Afterlife” offers a unique opportunity to presence the “forgotten dead”. Working at the intersection of osteoarchaeology, biomolecular archaeology and spatial analysis, the successful candidate will investigate the (after)life cycle of charnel and disarticulated deposits in medieval Scotland. The project moves beyond osteobiographies of individuals to explore the collective fate of the dead, asking how and why communities curated their ancestors in this way, and what these practices reveal about the changing relationship between the living and the dead during a key time in Scotland’s history. 

Delivered in close collaboration with National Museums Scotland (NMS), this studentship places the researcher at the heart of a world-class collection. The project will focus on three nationally significant cemetery assemblages curated by NMS: Auldhame, the Isle of May and Whithorn Priory. The student will benefit from direct access to NMS’s newly renovated human remains facility and expert curatorial support, whilst also embedded within the University of Edinburgh’s School of History, Classics and Archaeology (HCA). 

The doctoral researcher will be tasked with developing an innovative framework to analyse these complex, commingled assemblages. This will involve: 

  • Re-assessing existing cemetery data to identify patterns of post-depositional treatment and cemetery organisation.
  • Applying cutting-edge scientific methods to establish chronologies and reconstruct the lifeways of disarticulated individuals.
  • Developing new protocols for the recording and interpretation of fragmentary human remains that can inform future commercial and heritage practice. 

Beyond the academic contribution, this project seeks to engage with the ethical and public dimensions of studying human remains. The student will work with key stakeholders to explore how we remember, interpret and care for the dead in the past and present. This is a project for a candidate who is not only technically proficient but also eager to shape the future of bioarchaeological practice and public engagement in Scotland. 

The supervisory team consists of Dr Sam Leggett (HCA Edinburgh), Dr Sophie Newman (HCA Edinburgh) and Dr Jess Thompson (NMS). 

This funding is only open to new applicants for PhD in Archaeology study in 2027/2028 within the School of History, Classics and Archaeology.  Distance PhD applicants are not eligible for this funding. The funding is not open to current PhD students.

Candidates will normally hold a relevant First Class Honours degree (such as BA, BMus, BSc or LLB) and a similar calibre of Master’s degree or equivalent professional experience in Human Osteoarchaeology or a closely cognate field. 

  • We want to encourage the widest range of potential students to study for a Collaborative studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority backgrounds as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this area. 
  • Applicants should ideally have a First Class Honours undergraduate qualification in archaeology, or a related discipline, and have or expect to receive a relevant Masters’ level qualification, or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a professional setting. Areas of qualification and experience include, but are not limited to, bioarchaeology, osteology, archaeological science, anthropology and biological science. 
  • Applicants without a Masters’ qualification should within their personal statement outline the specifically relevant skills, experience and knowledge they have gained beyond undergraduate degree level that could be considered equivalent to Masters study.
  • Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest in archaeology, medieval studies and the museum sector, and potential and enthusiasm for developing knowledge and skills more widely in related areas (for more details see Guidance for Applicants). 

Awards are available to Home fee applicants and limited awards available for International applicants. International applicants should refer to pg. 14 of the Collaborative Studentship Application form for further details. Please check the full UKRI eligibility criteria here. For the successful award holder, the University will cover the difference in fees between the home and international fee rate.

To qualify for Home status an applicant must: 

  • Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or 
  • Have settled status, or 
  • Have pre-settled status AND meet residency requirement (3 years residency in the   UK/EEA/Gibraltar/Switzerland immediately before the start of the PhD), or 
  • Have indefinite leave to enter or remain.

The project can be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis but the University is only able to provide UKVI sponsorship to full time PhD students. 


Commencing 1st September 2027:

The PhD scholarship is tenable for a maximum of 4 years. The annual stipend will be at UKRI rates each year - £21,805 (based on 2026/2027), plus an additional £600/year to support travel to the collaborative partner. The award pays tuition fees up for home and international fee students for 4 years. 


Please read the Collaborative Studentship Guidance for Applicants before completing the Collaborative Studentship Application form. 

You must send your completed Collaborative Studentship Application form to pgawards@ed.ac.uk along with the following documents by the 18th of January 2027:

  • A curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages).
  • A sample of recent academic writing (max. 2000 words/pages e.g. Master’s dissertation chapter, article, paper etc.). This can be a shorter excerpt from a larger piece of work.

 

Online interviews will take place in the week commencing the 15th of February 2027, exact interview dates to be confirmed. 

Application Deadline

Completed PhD admission applications must have been made online by 5pm (UK Time) on the 5th of January 2027 AND the Collaborative studentship funding application must also be submitted by 5pm (UK Time) on the 18th of January to be eligible.

Late applications will not be accepted.  


All your supporting documentation, academic references, copies of qualifications/transcripts) must, where available, also be uploaded to the PhD application system (separate to the CDA application form) by the 5th January deadline. Within the research proposal section, please state the project is the “Doctoral Landscape Collaborative Award - The Long Afterlife: Charnelling practices and cadaveric agency in Medieval Scotland.”

You will need to submit both your undergraduate and postgraduate degree certificates and transcripts in order to be considered for PhD admission. For instructions on how to upload additional documents after you have submitted your application, please follow the support guidance available here. 


If you have any academic enquiries about the project, please contact Dr Dam Leggett (sam.leggett@ed.ac.uk)  For PhD application queries please contact the HCA Postgraduate Research Office (hca-pgr@ed.ac.uk). 


Important

The University reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to amend or withdraw any of the advertised scholarships, without notice.

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