CHASE studentship competition for October 2024 entry - Guidance for applicants 

1. General notes 

• CHASE Membership

• Eligibility for a CHASE award

• Award length

• Stuart Hall Foundation studentships

• How to apply

2. Notes on completing the Studentship Application form

• How to access the application system

• Task 1: Contact details

• Task 2: Research Proposal

• Task 3: Preparedness for research

• Task 4: Equality Diversity and Inclusion monitoring form

• Task 5: Referees

• Task 6: Supervisor details

• Task 7: Stuart Hall Foundation studentship statement (only for those applying for this studentship)

• Submitting your application

• Annex 1 Eligibility for Stuart Hall Foundation studentships

General Notes

CHASE Membership

The CHASE Doctoral Training Partnership member institutions are as follows:

Birkbeck, University of London 

The Courtauld Institute of Art 

Goldsmiths, University of London 

SOAS University of London 

University of East Anglia 

University of Essex 

University of Kent 

University of Sussex 

Eligibility for a CHASE award 

Most CHASE awards will be made to Home candidates. To be classed as a Home candidate, you 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 

CHASE is also able to make a limited number of awards to International students. 

Further guidance on residential eligibility is provided in Annex B of the UKRI Training Grant Guidance. 

Candidates will hold an undergraduate degree, and will normally have a Master’s degree, or be studying for one. However, CHASE also welcomes applications from candidates with sustained experience beyond their undergraduate degree level that is specifically relevant to their proposed research topic.

Award length 

Awards are offered for 3 years (36 months) full time, with the opportunity to extend up to 4 years (48 months) to include necessary skills training, or to incorporate placement projects. 

• Languages skills training usually takes place at the start of the project, so you should include any necessary training in your application (see page 8). 

• Successful award holders may apply for an extension to cover skills training identified in the first year of the project. 

• Successful award holders may apply at any time during the studentship for an extension and costs to cover a collaborative placement project of up to 6 months with an external organisation. 

 We encourage applications for part-time research. Part time awards are usually offered at 0.5 FTE for 6 years part time, with the opportunity to extend up to 8 years (96 months), or the maximum institutional registration period, whichever is shorter. 

Stuart Hall Foundation studentships 

 If you wish to apply for a Stuart Hall Foundation studentship, please indicate this in Question 6 of the Contact Details form. These studentships are available to Home candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, specifically encouraging applicants with an interest in the work and legacy of Stuart Hall. Your application will still be considered in the main competition as well.  

How to apply

1. Apply to your institution 

You must apply for a place on a postgraduate research programme at your chosen institution by its deadline. You are advised to apply for a place as soon as possible, in order to develop the best application you can. Please read your institution’s guidance on applying, which is available on its website. You may also want to think about who you would like to supervise your project, and your institution can help you identify a suitable supervisor. You must consult with your proposed supervisor before applying for CHASE funding, and access to the CHASE funding form is via your institution, which can provide an access code. 

2. Develop your proposal 

You should work with your proposed supervisor(s) to develop your application. They will need to provide a supervisor statement in support of your application, and can advise on the drafting of the project proposal. You will also need to identify two referees, one of whom may be your proposed supervisor. 

3. Submit your funding application 

You must submit your CHASE funding application by 12 noon on Friday 26 January. 

4. Institutional Selection 

Your application will be assessed by academics at your chosen institution. They will decide a shortlist of 17 applications to go forward to shared CHASE selection panels. 

 5. CHASE Selection Panels 

If your application is shortlisted by your institution, it will be put forward to the relevant CHASE selection panel. The CHASE Selection Panels, made up of representatives from each member institution, are tasked with making recommendations to the Management Board. Not all disciplines will be equally represented on a Panel. Panellists are reminded that disciplinary specialists have assessed the applications in earlier stages of the process. 

The scope of each selection panel is based on AHRC subject descriptions, as follows: 

A: History, Thought and Systems of Belief 

Applications to: History; Law and Legal Studies; Philosophy; Theology, Divinity and Religion; Archaeology; Classics; Political Science and International Studies  

B: Art History and Visual Cultures 

Applications to: Art History; Conservation; Visual Art History and Theory; Digital Arts & Photography History, Theory and Practice; Visual Arts (covering Art Theory & Aesthetics; Community Art including Art and Health); Museum Studies; Ethnography and Anthropology; History and Theory of Architecture; Cultural Geography 

C: Media and Creative Practice 

Applications to: Design; Creative Writing; Music (Practice-based, composition, musicology); Visual art practice; Installation and Sound Art History, Theory and Practice; Film-Based and Time-Based History, Theory and Practice; Media: New Media/Web-Based Studies; Media: Film History, Theory and Criticism; Media: Television History, Theory and Criticism; Drama and Theatre Studies Practice; Information and Communications Technologies; Media and communication studies; Journalism and Publishing; 

D: Literature, Language and Culture 

Applications to: Drama and Theatre Studies Theory; Languages and Literature (including American Studies, Life writing, History and Development of English Language, Literary and Cultural Theory, Post- Colonial Studies, Comparative Literature, Medieval Literature, Comparative Studies, Gender and Sexuality); English Language and Literature; Popular Culture; Cultural Studies (Policy, Arts Management and Creative Industries); Interpreting and Translation; Linguistics; French Studies; German Studies (including Dutch and Yiddish); Italian Studies; Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies; Asiatic & Oriental Studies; Middle Eastern and African Studies; Russian, Slavonic and Eastern European Studies; Cultural Studies and Popular Culture 

6. CHASE Management Board 

Selection panel scores will be moderated and combined into a single ranked list by the CHASE Management Board. Awards will be made to the highest ranked applications. 

7. Notification and acceptance of awards 

CHASE will inform shortlisted candidates of the outcome of their application by 1 May 2024. The outcome may be either the offer of an award, the offer of a place on a waiting list, or notification of an unsuccessful application. Acceptance of an award constitutes an agreement between you and your CHASE institution as set out in the offer letter. Candidates who are accept a Collaborative Doctoral Award will be withdrawn from the main competition.

Timeline for application

18 October Applications open
3 November Applicant webinar 1
10 November Applicant webinar 2 (SHF studentships)
November-December Institutional deadlines to apply for PGR registration
26 January 2024 Deadline to apply to CHASE studentship competition
February-March Institutional shortlisting
March-April Assessment by cross institutional panels and Management Board
1 May All candidates notified of outcome

Selection criteria for applications 

Selection panels will grade applications according to the following criteria: 

Notes on completing the Studentship Application form 

How to access the application system 

1. Click on ‘Apply Here’ from the CHASE website https://www.chase.ac.uk/apply
   This will take you to the CHASE studentship application home screen. 

2. The first time you use SM Apply, you will need to click ‘Register’ and provide your name, email

   address, and a password. 

3. Once your account is created, you will receive an email asking you to verify your email address.
   Click on the link in the email to verify your address. 

4. You will arrive at a Programs page. Click on the ‘More’ button under CHASE Studentship to return to the home screen. 

5. Click on ‘Check eligibility’. You will be presented with an Eligibility Quiz with three parts. 
   
   - Enter the access code that your institution has provided. If you don’t have an access code, please contact your institution. 
   - Confirm your residential eligibility. Please refer to Annex B: Residential Eligibility Guidelines for UKRI Funded Studentships in the UKRI Training Grant Guidance. 
   - Confirm that you consent to your data being used by CHASE.

6. Click ‘save my profile’ to continue. A pop up will confirm that you are eligible to complete the application form. 

7. Back at the application home screen, click ‘Apply’. You will be asked to name your application. Please enter the title of your project proposal
(or, if your title is too long, part of the title). You can change this later if you wish. 

8. You will see the overview of your application, with six tasks to be completed.
Clicking on a task will open the task for editing.

Task 1: Contact details

Questions 1-2 Please provide your contact details to cover the period of your application, until September 2024.

Question 3 Please identify one CHASE institution and provide details of the department or school of study to which you have applied. CHASE discourages applications to multiple member institutions if the research proposal is similar, as there will be one institution that provides the best fit for the project. CHASE encourages cross- institutional co-supervision where appropriate to provide the best combination of supervisory expertise; please discuss this with your main supervisor.

Question 4 Please identify the mode of research for your project. Depending on the institution and subject area, this may be dissertation only (the ‘traditional’ PhD), thesis by practice (accompanied by a critical account), thesis by practice and written dissertation, or participatory design/collaborative practice. You can select more than one of these options, and can use the text field to clarify the specifics of the balance to practice to dissertation/ written component if appropriate.

Question 5 Please select your preferred mode of study. CHASE supports both full- and part-time study. Part-time study is usually offered at 0.5 FTE.

Question 6 Please indicate if you would like to be considered for a CHASE Stuart Hall Foundation Studentship (see below).

Question 7 Please indicate if you are also applying to another AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership. Please note that only one AHRC studentship offer can be accepted.

Question 8 Please let us know how you found out about CHASE studentship opportunities.

Task 2: Research Proposal 

You are advised to discuss your research proposal with your main supervisor. You should treat the proposal as an opportunity to show that you have begun to explore an important area of study, and that your research has the potential to challenge and develop that area. It is also important to demonstrate that you can express your ideas in clear and precise English, accessible to a non- specialist. 

The panelists who read your proposal know that it is a provisional statement and that your ideas, questions and approaches will change during the course of your research. 

You can view examples of recent successful research proposals here

Question 1 Please provide a title for your proposal. Be as concise and explicit as you can. The title of your project may change during the research process.

Question 2 Please provide a brief abstract (c.200 words, and not more than 1,000 characters). This should be a complete but concise description of the project that will allow a non-specialist reader to quickly ascertain the purpose of your project. Most CHASE panellists will not be expert in your precise disciplinary area.

Question 3 Please provide a description of your research proposal of no more than 10,000 characters, under the following headings:

Introduction
Use this section to introduce the questions and issues central to your research. Identify the field of study in broad terms and indicate how you expect your research to intervene in the field.

Research background and question
Use this section to expand your Introduction. What are the key sources, texts and approaches in the field? How does your proposal differ from existing lines of argument? What does your project contribute to existing work in the field? How does it extend our understanding of particular questions or topics? You need to set out your research questions as clearly as possible. Identify the problems that you want to explore and explain why it is important to do so.

Please use this section to indicate how your previous studies, professional and/or other experience contribute to your understanding of the field and your preparedness for research, and also your motivation for undertaking this project. Think about how to situate your project in the context of the university and its disciplines. You can also discuss the impact of your research for non-academic institutions and audiences.

Research methods

Give a brief statement detailing how you will achieve the aims set out in the previous sections. Your focus here will depend very much on your discipline(s) and research topic. You can consider the following questions (no one project will require you to answer them all):

• Does your project involve archival sources, particular databases or specialist libraries?

• Will you need access to facilities at another institution? Is your study interdisciplinary?

• How does your creative practice contribute to your research?

• What theoretical resources do you intend to use and why?

• Are there any organisations working in your area who might offer the opportunity for collaborative research?

• Is your research based on the work of a single author, artist or theorist, or a group of individuals or texts?

• What forms of textual, historical, visual or material analysis are relevant to your topic?

• Is there a ‘gap’ in established approaches to your field of study that you want to explore?

• Are there ethical issues that you need to address in undertaking your research?

• Will you be involved in fieldwork?

 Schedule of work

Use this section to show that you have a realistic plan for completion of the project within the period of the award. You may want to think here about dividing the proposal into sections (not necessarily chapters at this stage) with a timetable for researching and writing up each section.

Question 4 Use this section to detail how your proposal will be supported by the research environment at your institution. This might include: the proposed supervision, the home department(s) or equivalent, the institutional support (including available archives, sources, research centres), and any external organisations involved. You should demonstrate that you have given clear thought to the fit between your project and the proposed research environment.

Question 5 You must provide a bibliography of up to 20 items, in a standard format such as Harvard, listing any books and articles to which you refer in the proposal. This is indicative, not exhaustive.

Question 6 (optional) You may provide a contextual review if appropriate. This can include diverse materials including films, artworks, compositions, non-academic literature, etc. if relevant to your project.

Task 3: Preparedness for research 

Those applying for a doctoral studentship should normally have, or be studying for, a Master’s degree or similar postgraduate qualification. You should have met all the course requirements prior to the start date of your AHRC doctoral studentship. If you do not have experience of formal postgraduate study, you may be eligible for a studentship only if you can demonstrate evidence of sustained experience beyond your undergraduate degree level that is specifically relevant to your proposed research topic, and could be considered equivalent to Master’s study. Please provide evidence as to how the training and development you have received is equivalent to that obtained through a Master’s course and, therefore, prepares you to continue to doctoral study. 

Question 1 Please indicate whether you have already started your postgraduate research, i.e. if you are applying for funding as a current student. Students who have already commenced postgraduate research are eligible to apply for AHRC funding, provided that, at the start of the AHRC award, you will have at least 50% of the initial registration remaining (based on 3 years full time or part time equivalent).

Please provide full details of all your higher education qualifications, starting with the most recent, including any current study. You should include your postgraduate research if you have already started. You will be asked how many qualifications you wish to submit.

Question 2 Please provide information about any professional experience (research and/or practice-based) that is relevant to your proposed programme of study. This could include professional experience that is relevant to the planning and completion of a research project, as well as the topic of the research. You will be asked how many entries you wish to provide. You can also use your research proposal to elaborate on how this experience supports your project.

Question 3 (optional) You may include a URL for assessors to access a representative portfolio of your work. You take responsibility for access to the materials for the duration of the assessment process (see p.4 timeline). While this is provided for practice research applicants, any applicant may provide a representative portfolio. Assessors are not expected to review the portfolio in detail.

Question 4 A CHASE award may include up to an additional 12 months of funding to allow for skills development. Because languages training is usually needed at the start of a project, we ask you to identify this here. We expect that most language skills development would require up to 6 months, but that some projects may require acquisition of an entirely new language, for which up to 12 months is offered. Please indicate the length of additional time your project requires, as well as a proposal for how you plan to use this time to develop your language skills to the necessary level. This may include training offered by your department (please check with your proposed department for the local resources available) or by an external provider (e.g. language school or immersive training). Your supervisor should write in support of any additional funded period in their statement.

Question 5 (optional) CHASE recognises the value of diversity in research communities and is committed to addressing patterns of under-representation. We recognise that a range of factors, both structural and individual, influence and impede pathways into postgraduate research in different ways. The ‘preparedness for research’ category is designed to help our assessors take a ‘whole person’ approach to your application and to take further contextual information into account where appropriate.

Please indicate using the tick boxes if you fall into one or more of our widening participation categories:

• First generation student (those whose parents/guardians/carers did not go to university)

• Black and minority ethnic groups particularly

  • Black British

  • British Asian

  • British Gypsy, Roma or Traveller

• Student with a disability

Please also indicate if any of the following circumstances apply to you or have applied during the course of your higher education or most recent period of employment:

• Parenting responsibilities

• Other responsibilities as primary carer

• Care-experienced (anyone who has been in care or from a looked-after background at any stage in their life, no matter how short, including adopted children who were previously looked-after)

• Refugee, asylum seeker or humanitarian protection status

• Interruption to university education due to illness or other serious personal circumstances

 You are also invited to write a short, optional statement offering any further contextual information affecting your pathway to postgraduate research not included elsewhere that you think is relevant to this application. There is a limit of 300 words.

Task 4: Equality Diversity and Inclusion monitoring form 

You are asked to provide information on your protected characteristics (gender, ethnicity, disability and age) to assist with CHASE and AHRC monitoring. This information will be stored securely and will not be shared with anyone involved in the assessment process. 

Task 5: Referees 

Your CHASE application requires references from two referees. You should choose your referees carefully: together they should have a good knowledge of your academic record to date, your research plans and your preparedness for doctoral study. One or both referees may be your supervisors.

To complete the Referees task, you will need to enter the name and email address of each referee in the form. This will send an automatic email inviting each referee to log into the system and complete a reference form. To help your referees, please only request references after the other tasks are complete. 

Please note that it is your responsibility to monitor the progress of the application and check that all parts are completed on time. You will be notified by email when each referee has accepted the invitation, and when they have completed their reference. Once both references have been received, you will need to mark the task as complete. You will not be able to submit your application until both references have been received. 

Task 6: Supervisor details 

Please provide your main supervisor's name and email address. Similarly to the Referees task, this will send an automatic email inviting your supervisor to log into the system and complete a supervisor statement form. If your supervisor is also one of your referees, they will receive two separate requests. Please note that you will not be able to start this task until the Research Proposal task is marked complete. If you need to, you can edit any task after it is marked complete, so you can go back and make changes to your proposal.

While references should focus on the quality of candidates, the supervisor’s statement should focus on the quality of the proposal, including the research environment (at both the ‘home’ institution and within CHASE), and its ‘fit’ with the supervisor’s expertise and interests. If the proposal is highly technical and its significance unlikely to be fully appreciated by a non-specialist reader, the supervisor statement should be clear on the proposal’s merits within its disciplinary field. 

If you are requesting additional time for language acquisition, the supervisor statement should include support for your plan. 

If your project is practice-based, the supervisor statement should include information on the relevant PhD programme regulations. 

You will be notified by email when your supervisor has accepted the invitation, and when they have completed their statement. Once this has been received, you will need to mark the task as complete. You will not be able to submit your application until the supervisor statement has been received. 

Task 7: Stuart Hall Foundation studentship statement (only for those applying for this studentship) 

These studentships are available to Home candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, specifically encouraging applicants with an interest in the work and legacy of Stuart Hall. Only complete this task if you wish to be considered for a Stuart Hall Foundation Studentship, and meet the eligibility criteria (Please see Annex 1). 

The Stuart Hall Foundation was established in 2015 by Professor Stuart Hall’s family, friends and colleagues. The Foundation is committed to public education, addressing urgent questions of race and inequality in culture and society through talks and events, and building a growing network of Stuart Hall Foundation scholars and artists in residence. 

The Foundation works collaboratively to forge creative partnerships in the spirit of Stuart Hall; thinking together and working towards a racially just and more equal future. 

The Stuart Hall Foundation is committed to providing opportunities for students and academics, pursuing themes resonant with the work of Professor Stuart Hall and that of the Foundation. 

Please provide a short statement (up to 200 words) describing how your project fits with the Stuart Hall Foundation’s mission. You can find more information at https://www.stuarthallfoundation.org/about-us/ 

Submitting your application

Once all tasks are complete, you will be able to review and submit your application using the buttons to the left of the task list. You must submit your application by 12 noon on Friday 26 January 2024. Late applications will not be considered.

Annex 1 Eligibility for Stuart Hall Foundation studentships 

These studentships are available to Home candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds only.  

A Home candidate is usually one living permanently in the United Kingdom. To be classed as a Home candidate, you 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 

The following ethnic groups are considered as Black, Asian and minority ethnicities: 

• Arab 

• Asian - Bangladeshi 

• Asian - Chinese 

• Asian - Indian 

• Asian - Other 

• Asian - Pakistani 

• Black - African 

• Black - Caribbean 

• Black - Other 

• Gypsy or Traveller 

• Mixed - White/Black Caribbean 

• Mixed - White/Black African 

• Mixed - White and Asian 

• Mixed - Other 

• Other - Any other Black or minority ethnic group 

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For full AHRC list from which this selection is made, guidance on interdisciplinarity, and overlap with the ESRC, see https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AHRC-210722-ResearchFundingGuide.pdf