Funding opportunities
Scholarship opportunities for 2026-27 entry
HK Stephenson Endowment Funded Scholarship for a PhD in Architecture
The School of Architecture and Landscape are pleased to be able to offer a 3.5 year fully funded scholarship (covering home fees and a living allowance stipend of £20,780 per year, plus expenses to be agreed) to a Home student with an excellent idea for a PhD in Architecture and Architectural Humanities. The project can have any focus that addresses the following topic:
Sheffield’s industrial history and its spatial, architectural, urban or landscape heritage.
Potential themes can include:
- Spaces of industrialism and their past, present or future in Sheffield and/or the South Yorkshire region.
- Sheffield’s and/or the region’s industrial history and its spatial or urban culture (domestic or institutional)
- Postcolonial approaches to Sheffield’s industrial landscapes or built environments
- The impact of industry on migration and urban settlements in Sheffield, in the past or present
- The relationship between Sheffield and other UK cities during the industrial period and the city’s broader links to the British Empire and the World
- Spatial and gendered approaches to Sheffield’s industrial history, including domestic or marginal spaces and practices
Proposed projects will be able to draw on a rich range of collections held in the University of Sheffield Library Archives (on: coal mining and other industries; the relations between the University and the city’s industry throughout the twentieth century; private archives of local people connected to the city’s industry and can be further enhanced by related collections held by the Sheffield City Archives Sheffield City Archives and Local Studies Library and Sheffield Local Studies Library at the Sheffield Central Library, as well as regional archives for the South Yorkshire and beyond.
Please apply by 11 Feb 2026 by sending the following listed materials (as PDF or word) to Gemma Fearnley-Cooke / ala-ops@sheffield.ac.uk
Any questions prior to that can be asked at the same email address.
- A Research Project Proposal
This should be developed through contact made with Dr Emma Cheatle e.cheatle@sheffield.ac.uk and with the feedback from her. This will help you develop the best possible research proposal.
Include:
Your Name
Name of supervisor
Please state the name of a prospective supervisor(s) for your PhD.
You may apply without a confirmed offer at this stage.
[please include number of character including spaces beneath each section of your application]
Project Title (150 characters including spaces)
The project must have a title.
Project Summary (650 characters including spaces)
Your summary should give an overall of the research topic, including key questions and contributions. Keep your project summary short and relevant, descriptive but avoiding acronyms and jargon.
Project Proposal (4500 characters including spaces)
Your proposal should include
a background to the research;
the questions or hypotheses to be addressed;
the sources or data sets to be consulted;
the methods to be used;
how your research relates to existing research within architectural discourse;
and the overall contribution that the research will make (to the discipline, to knowledge, to society).
Engagement with the school (2000 characters including spaces) How well aligned are you to the school, your supervisors and the wider university? What additional training might you need to complete your PhD and how will you access it through the University of Sheffield or more widely? how will your research reach a wider community (who will you work with in the community)? What prior knowledge and skills will you bring to the PhD cohort at Sheffield?
References/bibliography (500 characters including spaces)
Name the sources/publications you mentioned in the Project Proposal.
Fieldwork
Please tell us about any significant fieldwork you propose to undertake (if any).
Time: Is there any primary fieldwork that will be longer than 1 month (28 days)? If so, will you make one long trip or several shorter ones (you may be limited to 28 days international travel at one time)?
Place: Is the fieldwork taking place in the UK / Europe / Outside Europe? How will these be funded?
Description: What would you be doing (interviews, archival research, building visits)?
Practice-based PhDs Please tell us if there is a significant practice based element of your PhD, and what it will consist of.
Portfolio If relevant or appropriate, please include a portfolio of 5 pages of visual work (please do not include website links).
Timeline Please propose an indicative, detailed timeline for how you will carry out and complete the parts of the PhD over the 3.5 years.
- A CV
Include:
Your qualifications at Bachelors/undergraduate level; at Masters/postgraduate level
And other university or professional qualifications (if relevant to your application).
These all should include: Name of Institution; Country of Institution; Subject area; Date of award; GPA or overall % mark and position in class, for example 1/100 (if known); Name and address of employer; Job title; Brief description of duties and relevance to your application; dates worked for (From / To).
Publications Provide details of any relevant work you have had published. This
can include academic papers, conference proceedings, professional reports, book chapters,
books, etc. You can enter up to 5 publications on this application; make sure these are the 5 most relevant. They do not necessarily need to be the most recent.
You may include papers accepted for publication but not yet published. Please do not include anything that has not yet been accepted for publication.
Don’t worry if you have not had anything published – some subject areas do this more than
others.
Please include:
Title The title of the article/paper/chapter/report/book, etc
Co-authors Please give the names of co-authors and your authorship status e.g. co-author with MA supervisor; lead author with professional colleagues or supervisor, etc. Please enter ‘sole author’ if you did not have any co-authors.
Publication Name The name of the journal/book/proceedings your paper/article/chapter was published in. (if report or book say so here)
Date The date of publication, or expected date for items accepted but not yet published
Type of publication State whether it is a journal article, conference proceeding, book chapter, professional report, etc; also say whether it a journal of local, national or international standing; Whether it was peer reviewed; Any other details about the type of publication (e.g. publication of your Masters dissertation or other piece of coursework); DOI, web address or publisher
Prizes or awards
Please state awards and dates received.
References
Please attach 2 written academic references: these should include former academic tutors who know you and your work very well. We will not consider applications without references.
Guidance
Research Eligibility
Your research must be original and innovative and fall into the remit of arts, design or humanities research in architecture (design, history or humanities).
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our student cohort and therefore encourage applications from minoritised students. We strongly encourage applications from everyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background, and are committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment for all our postgraduate researchers.
Residential eligibility
We are only able to accept applications from Home students.
To be classed as a home student, applicants must meet the following criteria:
● Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
● Have settled status, or
● Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
● Have indefinite leave to remain or enter
Evidence of this status will be required before being offered a place.
GDPR
By submitting this application, you confirm that you have read and understood our Privacy Notice. You acknowledge that all personal data provided within this application will be processed and handled strictly in accordance with the terms outlined in that notice and relevant data protection legislation.
Timeline
Advertised early December 2025
Applications due 11 Feb 2026
Shortlisting Applicants will be shortlisted by w/c 16 March 2026
Interview w/c 23 March 2026
Award notified by 22 April 2026
Start date October 2026
Please note this is a full-time in-person PhD opportunity. We do not accept online students, but can consider part-time applications.
Please send your full, complete application plus all attachments as word or PDF documents to ala-ops@sheffield.ac.uk
ESRC White Rose Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership scholarships
These scholarships are awarded to UK and international students wishing to start in October 2026. The competition provides the following awards:
WRDTP Pathway Awards
WRDTP Advanced Quantitative Methods Awards
WRDTP Advanced Data Analytics (ADA) awards
It is encouraged and expected that applicants will have contacted their proposed supervisor and discussed their research proposal well in advance of the below study application deadline. This deadline is for all documents to be finalised and submitted to the application portal.
You must have a study offer (a PhD place) in place to be considered for a scholarship. You must apply for the PhD with your finalised documents no later than Wednesday 7th January 2026 if you also intend to apply for a scholarship. This is a strict deadline.
Further information can be found on the main scholarships pages.