Funding for MPhil and PhD students

The Royal College of Art is pleased to be continuing the Sir Frank Bowling PhD Studentship for UK candidates from Black African and Caribbean diaspora heritage, or from mixed Black African and Caribbean diaspora heritage, for 2026/27 entry.

The Sir Frank Bowling Fund, named after RCA alumnus Sir Frank Bowling and created in collaboration with RCA BLK, forms part of the College’s commitment to building a diverse and inclusive postgraduate study and research community.

In addition to tuition fees for a three-year period of full-time study, the Sir Frank Bowling PhD Studentship will provide a UKRI-aligned stipend of £23,805 per annum, and access to research training support.

Eligibility criteria:

• UK students with home fee status, from Black African and Caribbean diaspora heritage, or from mixed Black African and Caribbean diaspora heritage
• Only full-time, three-year PhDs will be applicable (both high and low residency routes are available)
• The successful applicant must commence their PhD between September 2026 and October 2027

Applications will remain open until Wednesday 3 June – any existing offer holders meeting the eligibility criteria will also be contacted and asked if they wish to be considered for the studentship.

• Before you start your application you must identify the School or Research Centre most appropriate to your proposed area of study – applications for the Arts & Humanities PhD are currently closed but you can still lodge an expression of interest using the contact details below.
• When making your application, please reference the Sir Frank Bowling PhD Studentship in the first line of your Research Proposal.

All applications will be reviewed in two stages by a team of academics with experience of supervising research degrees within the School / Research Centres:

• A review of the application and portfolio of work.
• A selection panel assessment of quality of proposal, readiness for study at this level, the feasibility of the project and supervisory capacity.

Successfully shortlisted candidates will be called for interview either in person or online in June (please be aware that feedback cannot be offered to unsuccessful candidates at this stage).

Contact us:

Any queries about your research proposal should be directed to the appropriate School or Centre for the proposed area of study:

School of Architecture [email protected]

School of Arts & Humanities [email protected]

School of Communication [email protected]

School of Design/Research Centres [email protected]

Any general queries about this studentship should be directed to:

[email protected]

MPhil Scholarship and PhD Scholarship opportunities as part of the PMC’s ‘New Narratives’ scheme, designed to increase the diversity of perspectives among scholars within the field of British Art History.

Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships are allocations of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded collaborative research studentships made to a museum, library, archive or heritage organization, or group of such organisations to allocate to collaborative projects that support their work and objectives.

See available studentships on the AHRC website.

NetZero Futures (NZF) Doctoral Landscape is a fully-funded EPSRC studentship.

The strategic vision of NZF brings together Art and Design research within three core areas of research competence at the RCA: Circular Economy, Ecological Digital Citizens, and Robotics and AI.

Host Research Areas:

• The Materials Science Research Centre (MSRC)
• The RCA Robotics Laboratory
• Ecological Digital Citizenship /School of Design 

Our Royal College of Art Creative & Caring Communities (CCC) Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) delivers an experience-led, cultural, interdisciplinary and inclusive space for innovative doctoral research in design and humanities research.

London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) is an AHRC-funded doctoral training partnership supporting PhD studies in the arts and humanities. LAHP supports all arts and humanities discipline-based projects (including both practice and thesis routes), as well as candidates specialising in interdisciplinary research. Our research and training environment encourages doctoral researchers to develop new methodologies. In addition, our network of partnerships with leading organisations in the cultural sector provides an outstanding resource for future LAHP students. The RCA particularly supports applications in the following AHRC areas: Cultural & Museum Studies, Information & Communications Technology, Art History, Design, Visual Arts, Media, Film Studies, and Ethnography & Anthropology.

While the RCA currently has LAHP students at the College, there will be no further rounds of applications.