Doctoral Landscape Awards

• Both UK/Home and International applicants.
• Please refer to the UKCISA website for help in determining your tuition fee status.
• Your proposed research must fall within one of the AHRC’s primary subject areas. We welcome interdisciplinary proposals but do be aware that at least 50% of your project must focus on one of the AHRC’s primary research areas.
• Please also review our general Research Degree Entry Requirements.

Unfortunately, no. If you are already enrolled on a PhD Programme, either at BCU or another institution, then you cannot apply for the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards. 

The DLAs are only open to candidates who have not yet commenced doctoral level study. Applicants cannot already hold, or expect to be awarded, a PhD. 

There is a different application process if you are already holding an offer for a place on a Research to PhD Programme at BCU. You will still need to complete and provide all the required documentation (DLA application form, 2 DLA reference requests, evidence of qualifications), but these will need to be submitted via email to the Research Admissions and DLA Team directly at – Research.Admissions@bcu.ac.uk and DLA@bcu.ac.uk.

Applications must still be submitted via this route before the advertised deadline. Only on-time and complete applications will be considered. 

Please review the Doctoral Landscape Awards Guidance Notes for further details on the application process for those already holding an offer of a place on a relevant Research to PhD Programme at BCU.

Please note that the Doctoral Landscape Awards will only commence in September 2027. If you hold an offer for February or May 2027, but want to be apply for this round of recruitment for the Doctoral Landscape Awards, then you will need to contact Research.Admissions@bcu.ac.uk to request a deferral of your offer to September 2027. If you commence your doctoral studies in February or May 2027, then your DLA application becomes ineligible for further consideration.

If candidates are unsuccessful in their application for the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards for September 2027 entry, but chose to enrol onto their chosen Research Degree in September 2027, then candidates would be unable to apply for the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards again in a future recruitment round.

• Full Tuition Fee Scholarship for 3.5 years.
• A tax-free stipend at the UKRI minimum rate (£21,805 per annum for 2026/7) for 3.5 years.
• Access to professional development opportunities, placements, additional funding and the East and West Midlands Regional Hub.

No. If an international candidate is made the offer of a Doctoral Landscape Award, then they will be eligible for a full tuition fee waiver and stipend at the standard UKRI rate; they will not be required to self-fund the tuition fee gap. 

Yes, a part-time route is possible. A part-time award covers the part-time tuition fees and includes a 7-year tax-free stipend at the pro-rata UKRI minimum rate.

International applicants are ineligible to study part-time under UKVI regulations.

Yes, but UKRI places strict limits on additional work:

• Full-time students are permitted to undertake paid work for no more than six hours per week, while part-time students can work up to 20 hours per week.
• International students must also check the limits on paid employment detailed in their visas and must always remain complaint with UKVI regulations.

On the BCU Online Application Form, before submitting you will need to upload:

• Doctoral Landscape Awards Funding Application Form
• 2 Completed Doctoral Landscape Awards Reference Request Forms
• Evidence of Higher Education Certificates and Transcripts
• International applications will also need to upload evidence of a valid English language qualification, if held at the point of submission.

Applications submitted after the deadline, or those which are missing any of the required documentation, will not be considered.

The BCU Online Application Form is a generic portal for all Research to PhD applications; it is not specifically used or designed for the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards. 

Applicants must please upload the required DLA documentation against any available ‘Document Upload’ category. For example, you will be asked to provide a research statement; you can here instead upload your Doctoral Landscape Award Application Form. 

You will be asked to either provide contact details for your referees or provide a reference directly. Please chose to provide a reference directly and then upload your completed Doctoral Landscape Awards Reference Request Forms. 

It does not matter which document upload category you upload against, so long as all required documents to apply for the Doctoral Landscape Awards are uploaded to the BCU Online Application Portal before your application is submitted. 

No, if you are applying for the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards, then candidates do not need to supply an additional research proposal (as requested on the BCU Online Application Form). The only text you need to put in this section of the Online Application Form is ‘I am applying for AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award Funding’. You will then need to go to ‘Alternatively you can upload your Personal Statement’and upload your completed AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards Funding Application Form.  

• International applicants will also need to provide a valid English language qualification as part of their application to study at BCU.
• Please see the list of English language qualifications accepted here.
• Please check the individual research degree course page for the required scores - Postgraduate Research Degrees | Birmingham City University.
• If you do not have evidence of a valid English language qualification at the point of submitting your application for the Doctoral Landscape Awards, then you can still apply, but any offer of a place on a research degree at BCU would be conditional on receipt of such evidence.

• To be considered for the Doctoral Landscape Awards, you need to supply two references, using the BCU DLA Reference Request Form 
• You can have two academic references, two professional references, or one of each.
• However, at least one referee must be able to provide an assessment of your expertise relevant to your project. This would typically be an academic referee but can be, for example, a leader in your field of practice.
• We will only accept references which are submitted on the specific Doctoral Landscape Awards Reference Request Form.

• It is your responsibility as the applicant to send the Doctoral Landscape Awards Reference Request form to your two chosen referees.
• It is also your responsibility as the applicant to ensure that your two referees complete and return the Doctoral Landscape Awards reference request form back to you in good time, so that you can upload it to your BCU Online Application Portal before the application deadline.
• Applications submitted without two references completed on the Doctoral Landscape Awards Reference Request Form will not be considered.

We will not be able to consider applications for the Doctoral Landscape Awards which do not include the following supporting documentation:

• The Doctoral Landscape Award Funding Application Form
• Two References on the Doctoral Landscape Award Reference Request Form
• Copies of Higher Education Qualifications (Certificates and Transcripts)

• The above must all be uploaded to your BCU Online Application Form before you submit, by the deadline of 12pm (Noon, UK Time) on 20 January 2027.

If you submit your BCU Online Application Form early and subsequently realise that you have not uploaded one or more of the required documents, then as long as the deadline to apply has not already passed, then you can email the team on DLA@bcu.ac.uk and research.admissions@bcu.ac.uk for support with providing the missing documentation.

If you realise that you have not uploaded one or more of the required documents, but the advertised application deadline 12pm (Noon, UK Time) on 20 January 2027, has passed, then unfortunately your application cannot be considered, as it is incomplete.

Consistent with our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, we will consider a claim from an applicant who has been prevented from applying on time by a serious and unforeseen event, such as a sudden illness or injury, a bereavement, or an acute personal or family crisis affecting you or someone you care for. Claims are considered individually and at our discretion, and making a claim does not guarantee that a late or extended application will be accepted.

We cannot accept claims based on circumstances that were foreseeable or that could reasonably have been managed. These include pressure of work or other applications, planned commitments and travel, misreading the deadline or leaving the application until close to it, avoidable technical problems, and a referee returning a reference late.

This process is separate from reasonable adjustments. If you have a disability or long-term condition and need an adjustment to the application process, please contact us at DLA@bcu.ac.uk as early as possible so that arrangements can be made in advance.

To make a claim, contact us at DLA@bcu.ac.uk as soon as you are able, and wherever possible before the deadline. If that was not possible, you may write to us within five working days of the deadline. You will need to provide independent evidence, such as a letter from a medical professional, employer or other independent party, showing how your circumstances affected your ability to apply on time. All claims are treated in confidence, and the decision reached is final.

No, it is not mandatory to attend but strongly encouraged.

Yes, all applicants who wish to attend the Doctoral Landscape Awards Applicant Writing Workshop must register for a place through Eventbrite. 

The Applicant Writing Workshop will take place online via Microsoft Teams. The day before the Workshop, the Doctoral Landscape Awards Team will send out Teams Meeting invitations to each of the workshop sessions to all those who have registered to attend. 

Attendance is free for the Applicant Writing Workshop. 

We will only record the opening briefing which introduces the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards and outlines the application process. This will be made available via a link on this webpage the week after the workshop has taken place. 

The other workshop sessions will not be recorded or made available here.

No, Expressions of Interest are not a mandatory part of the application process but are strongly encouraged.  

You can still proceed to full application stage without submitting an Expression of Interest.

At the point of submitting your application for the Doctoral Landscape Awards, you will need to confirm all members of your supervisory team. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you reach out to prospective supervisors as early as possible. You will need to ensure you have obtained their agreement to be on your proposed supervisory team before submitting your application.

If you reach out and secure the support of prospective supervisors early, then they may be able to support you in developing your project proposal.

Yes, if you formally applied for the Doctoral Landscape Awards in a previous recruitment round, then this is counted as one of the two applications you can make in total to the Doctoral Landscape Awards at Birmingham City University.

Regardless of the stage in the process your application reached previously, if you submitted the BCU Online Application Form and Doctoral Landscape Awards application documents for consideration in a past recruitment round, then this is officially counted as an application to the Doctoral Landscape Awards.

Yes, but applicants can only apply for the Doctoral Landscape Awards twice.

Unfortunately, no. UKRI regulations are clear that both Home and International students funded by UKRI councils (such as the AHRC) must be resident in the UK for the majority of their studies. This means that we are unable to support distance learning PhDs under the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award.