Fully Funded Doctoral Landscape Studentship: Creative & Caring Communities (CCC)

Full-time or part-time

The RCA’s strategy to determine the studentship duration is informed by the principles of equity and inclusion, ensuring we support each student appropriately with any individual needs. The duration considers the nature of the individual student’s research project, academic background and personal circumstances. We will offer studentships for four years of study (pro-rated for part-time students). We recognise that some projects or individual circumstances will require flexibility over the funding duration. We will require students and supervisors to develop a yearly timeline for the Annual Progress Review.

UK, EU and International Students Fees are fully funded

Stipend: £23,805, Pro-rata for part-time students*

*The rate is set by UKRI and will increase with inflation annually.

Annual studentship renewal

Provided you are making good academic progress, you have not yet reached the end-date of your funding and you have re-enrolled on your programme of study, your studentship will be renewed annually by the RCA.

All funded students will receive any published yearly UKRI increases to the minimum Stipend.

The first stipend payment will be made on 1 October, with subsequent payments scheduled quarterly on the following dates:

• 1 January
• 1 April
• 1 July

Your entitlements

As a UKRI-funded student, you will be entitled to certain benefits e.g. paid sick leave, maternity leave etc., in line with the UKRI terms and conditions at the time.

As an AHRC funded student, you will be able to apply for additional funds to support your research and training. This is called the Research Training and Support Grant (RTSG). CCC can support students to attend conferences in the UK and abroad and undertake study visits and research trips.

Students can apply for funds to support their own training and professional development, as well as initiatives to develop research communities for themselves and their peers.

Disabled students who have been recruited to UKRI Research Council studentships are eligible to apply for additional financial support towards expenditure arising from their postgraduate studies incurred solely because of their disability. This additional financial support is commonly referred to as Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA). The UKRI DSA Framework outlines the support available.

The RCA can also offer assistance to students applying for Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) – for more information please visit the RCA Disability support page.

If you have a disability and require reasonable adjustments, please let us know as soon as possible after accepting your award, by emailing [email protected] so we can signpost you to the relevant teams to ensure adjustments are in place for you by the time you start. This applies whether or not Disability Student Allowance is claimed.

Creative & Caring Communities is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and is a Doctoral Landscape Award supporting PhD study in Arts and Humanities.

Full details of the terms and conditions of AHRC postgraduate studentship awards can be found on the UKRI website.

• The award is conditional on receiving and accepting an offer of a PhD place at the Royal College of Art and for the programme specified above. You should consult the Research Office via [email protected] immediately if your programme of study, mode of attendance or enrolment status changes as this may affect your entitlement to the studentship. In such circumstances the RCA may need to contact the AHRC to determine whether the studentship can be maintained.
• Please note that the award must be taken up during the academic session specified above and cannot be deferred to the next academic year, or the award may be withdrawn. The studentship cannot normally start later than 1 October in the academic session, nor can it be transferred to another institution. Funding cannot be applied retrospectively and will only be effective from your first day of enrolment in the academic session specified above. If you would like to request a late start date in 2027/28 due to exceptional circumstances, please discuss this with your supervisors and email [email protected] in advance of your current award start date.
• Students in full-time employment are not eligible for an award of any kind from UKRI. A Student in part-time employment may be eligible for a part-time award, which should not be less than 50% full-time.
• Both home and international students must be resident in the UK for the majority of their studies and any time spent overseas should be for the purpose of fieldwork/long-term attachment.
• You are obliged to inform the Research Office at the RCA of any other funding you are receiving. Failure to do so may result in the withdrawal or termination of the award.
• You are expected to submit your thesis within the funded period.

Applications should be made via the Applicant Portal:

• Applications open: Monday 12 October 2026
• The deadline to submit your application is Friday 8 January 2027, 12 noon (UK time).
• Indicate that you wish to apply for the CC DLA Studentship Award by using the tick box provided.

Potential applicants, who must normally meet the University's minimum requirements for postgraduate studies, should please review the information provided on the relevant link on how to apply, as well as the general guidance on the application process.

We are looking for your submission for 3 studentships between all schools:

• School of Architecture
• School of Arts & Humanities
• School of Communication & Design

You can also register for the Information Webinar, for PhD candidates interested in applying for AHRC CCC funding, to learn more about the award and how to apply.

Time: 9.30am, 6 October 2026.

Duration: 1 hour maximum

Indicative Format:

• Introduction (Hala Mansour)
• Short presentations from School Post Graduate Research Leads
• Q&A

Applicants can apply to a maximum of two RCA PhD programmes.

The CCC studentship is highly competitive. We receive a large number of applications from around the world, each year.

We aim to award three CCC studentships across the three Schools:

• School of Arts and Humanities
• School of Communication & Design
• School of Architecture

Yes, the CCC studentship is open to both Home and International applicants.

The PhD application and interview process is the same for Home and International applicants, subject to the RCA's standard admissions and English language requirements.

The CCC studentship covers fully funded tuition fees and stipend both for Home and International applicants.

Yes, applicants who deferred an offer from a previous year must apply again to be considered for the CCC studentship. Your application will be assessed alongside the new cohort of applicants.

English language requirements are part of the RCA's PhD admissions criteria. For specific IELTS and English language requirements please check the RCA English language requirements page.

Visit our English language requirements page for more information.

For further advice on whether your previous qualification meets the English language requirement for the PhD programme please contact RCA Admissions.

Applicants must usually have a Master’s degree or an equivalent qualification and will be expected to demonstrate that they have English language skills appropriate to this level of study.

Applications are assessed against the RCA's PhD admissions criteria, which consider a range of academic and professional experience. Relevant professional and practice based expertise is also valued. Please refer to the RCA's PhD admissions criteria for further information.

There is no requirement to contact a potential supervisor before applying. RCA academic staff receive a high volume of enquiries and may not be able to respond to every applicant. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to provide feedback on proposals or following unsuccessful applications. We recommend that you first explore staff profiles, research interests and publications to identify potential areas of alignment with your proposed research. Familiarise yourself with the School's recent research projects and teaching areas to confirm a strong mutual fit.

Please note that contacting or naming a particular supervisor does not guarantee that they will supervise your PhD. If your application is successful, the RCA will ensure that you receive appropriate, high quality supervision relevant to your research.

You should be prepared to discuss your research question, methodology, relevant academic debates, research ethics and literature review. The PhD is an academic research degree, including where the research is practice based. The Panel will also be interested in your potential as a researcher, your ability to communicate and think independently, and your plans for developing the research.

The ‘Creative and Caring’ theme is intentionally broad. We have not prescribed specific research topics or titles because we want applicants to interpret the theme from their own perspective and develop an original research proposal.

We are particularly interested in how applicants connect creativity and caring with community, and we encourage you to align the theme with your own research interests.

In line with the AHRC terms and conditions of the award; the CCC studentship is available to new PhD applicants only, starting their PhD in September 2027.

We expect to announce funding decisions to successful applicants in by the end of March 2027.