We’re proud to be a member of the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-east England (CHASE), which brings together nine leading institutions engaged in collaborative activities, including an AHRC doctoral training partnership. CHASE awards over 50 AHRC PhD studentships each year across its member institutions and all of the arts and humanities.
The Partnership
CHASE fosters collaborations that provide inspiring research-led training across the arts, humanities and creative practices. Working within and across institutions and disciplines, and in partnership with organisations in the creative and public sectors, CHASE supports a rich and responsive environment for new research. While CHASE supports discipline-based projects, a commitment to interdisciplinary research is central to the CHASE ethos, and CHASE training and placements enable doctoral students to enrich their research and professional skills in readiness for careers in the academy and beyond.
UEA has hosted many CHASE training events and seminar series, including the highly regarded Latin for Early Modernists course, now run twice each year and delivered by postgraduate researchers from across the consortium. We have also been proud to host several highly active CHASE student networks over the years, including, currently, the Climate Justice Network.
CHASE-funded postgraduate researchers can be found in all four Schools making up UEA’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and form an important part of the Faculty’s vibrant Graduate School.
UEA and CHASE (EDI policy) are committed to addressing inequality and creating an inclusive place to study and work; applicants from under-represented backgrounds, including those from ethnic minorities and students with disabilities, are welcomed.
Applications for CHASE studentship funding
Applications for CHASE studentship funding typically open in October with a deadline in the winter. Those wishing to be considered will need the support of a supervisor, and are strongly encouraged to make contact with potential such supervisors as early as possible in the process, and well before any deadline.
Help is available with finding a supervisor, and with your CHASE application more generally: please don’t hesitate to email our CHASE support team with any queries.
Having identified a supervisor, applicants should work with them to draft and refine a proposal. It is strongly recommended that the CHASE guidance is consulted at an early stage in the process, and closely followed with regard to the headings used (e.g. in the research proposal) and word counts - for both the UEA and CHASE applications (see below). Applicants should ask their supervisor to send a brief email to the UEA support team expressing support for their CHASE studentship application. The support team will then send you the access code for the CHASE application form, along with further information.
Once the proposal is finalised, applicants should complete and submit two applications. The deadline for each is likely to be different, and applicants should make a careful note, as late applications will not be considered (see ‘Further information and applications’ below):
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The application to UEA for a place to study for a PhD should be submitted using UEA’s application form.
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The separate application for CHASE funding should be submitted using the CHASE’s own application form. The CHASE application cannot be submitted without a supporting statement from the supervisor and two references; it is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that these are uploaded before the deadline.
Current PhD students
Current UEA PhD students who do not already hold studentship funding, and who will have at least 50% of their period of study remaining on the date the studentship commences (typically the 1 October following the application deadline), are also eligible to apply. They will need the support of their supervisor, and should submit a CHASE application by the deadline as above. A renewed UEA PhD application is not required.
CHASE Collaborative Doctoral Awards
CHASE make around six Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) each year. These studentship projects are developed by supervisors at CHASE institutes in collaboration with non-academic organisations, and students are able to apply to such advertised projects in a process similar to that of applying for a job.
UEA has a strong tradition of collaborative doctoral research, and we have been pleased to win several CHASE CDAs over the years, in collaboration with organisations including the BBC, British Museum, and Norfolk County Council.
Applications to CHASE CDAs typically open in October with a deadline in the winter. Projects are advertised via CHASE and institutional websites.
Alternative sources of funding
Further information about funding your postgraduate research, including information about doctoral loans, can be found on the fees and funding pages of our website.