Art History postgraduate funding
Applicants to the Postgraduate Research Programmes in the School of Art History may consider applying for any of the relevant scholarship and funding awards listed on these pages.
A more extensive listing of scholarships, including scholarships administered by external organisations, is available in the University’s catalogue of Postgraduate Scholarships.
For further details on scholarships and funding, follow @StAfunding.
To apply for these scholarships, you must already be admitted onto the relevant degree programme.
The following PhD scholarships cover tuition fees and an annual stipend:
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World-Leading St Andrews Scholarship in Art History
The University of St Andrews is pleased to offer a full scholarship funded by St Leonard’s Postgraduate College, to support an exceptional student undertaking doctoral research in the following project:
Feminist Documentary Photography and Activist Networks
The past two decades have witnessed a surge of scholarly and curatorial interest in feminist art production in the UK, building on the foundational feminist art histories of the 1970s and 1980s. Yet feminist contributions to – and reformulations of – documentary photography remain under-studied, particularly practices and networks beyond London. Equally, despite significant growth in interest, the work of women and non-binary photographers in wider histories of photography remains marginalised. This doctoral project builds on the University of St Andrews’s world-leading photographic collections to offer a vital opportunity to expand existing knowledge of feminist documentary in Scotland and beyond, fostering cultural understandings of transnational feminist engagements with gender, race, class and sexuality, and the extensive artist-activist networks that ensued.
The Franki Raffles Photography Collection in the University of St Andrews Special Collections forms an exceptional resource from which to base a project on this topic. Franki Raffles (1955–1994) was a Scotland-based socialist feminist documentary photographer whose collection contains over 40,000 photographs, together with extensive archival papers, which are only just beginning to be fully historicised and contextualised. The collection comprises multiple projects engaging with gendered divisions of labour in countries spanning China, Israel and Russia. It provides a unique springboard for studying how feminist photographers consciously shaped their individual practices through collaboration, both with other artists and with activist groups such as the Zero Tolerance domestic violence awareness campaign.
From this base, the candidate will be well-positioned to expand outwards to consider other related collections in Scotland and the UK. These include the wider Franki Raffles Archive Project led by Edinburgh Napier, and the significant array of holdings on feminist organisations at the Glasgow Women’s Library, together with resources held by the National Trust for Scotland, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Galleries of Scotland. The successful candidate will be supported in identifying further archival and photographic collections in the UK and internationally, in order to map the fundamentally relational way in which many feminist practitioners have worked. Excavating these alternative forms of image production entails considering photography’s institutional contexts, from sites of display to printing and publications, looking to unorthodox modes of exchange outside the official art world. This will deliver new insight into the role of feminist documentary in shaping, challenging and re-making cultural understandings of gender, race, class and sexuality, and illuminating how photography has been deployed as an activist tool as much as a repressive representational mechanism.
The student will be supervised by Dr Catherine Spencer and Dr Natalie Adamson.
The award covers full tuition fees for up to three years as well as an annual stipend payable at the standard UK Research Council rate (the 2021-22 annual rate is £15,560). The start date for taking up this award is September 2021. Applicants must not already hold a doctoral degree; or be matriculated for a doctoral degree at the University of St Andrews or another institution.
Informal enquiries regarding this scholarship may be addressed to Dr Catherine Spencer – email catherine.spencer@st-andrews.ac.uk.
How to apply
- Apply for admission as a doctoral student. Please see the advice on Research programmes.
- After submitting the research application form in step 1, you will receive an email with a direct link to the Scholarships and Funding catalogue, where you can apply for the World-Leading St Andrews Scholarship.
- Enter the catalogue by following the link in the email and clicking View the scholarships and funding catalogue to apply.
- Select 2021/2 as the Academic Year and click Refresh list.
- Locate World-Leading St Andrews Doctoral Scholarships in the list of scholarships (using the filter box if necessary), click Apply and complete the application form.
- You can also use the catalogue to search and apply for other scholarships for which you are eligible.
As part of the scholarship application you will be required to upload a personal statement. This should serve as a cover letter for the research project application as a whole, and should include:
- An outline of your suitability for the project (project criteria can be found in the "Eligibility" and "Project Description" sections above).
- Why the project interests you.
- What you would bring to the project in terms of previous skills and expertise.
- Any ideas that you may have for the realisation of the project.
Please contact pgscholarships@st-andrews.ac.uk with any enquiries about the scholarship application process.
The scholarship application deadline is 19th February 2021.
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In recent years, the School of Art History has enjoyed considerable success in securing Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Studentship Funding for doctoral students. For further information about eligibility and how to apply, please consult the University’s webpages on these awards.
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These prestigious scholarships are for students with a first class Honours undergraduate degree from a Scottish university who wish to pursue a PhD in Scotland. For further details, please consult the University webpages on these awards.
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For outstanding students looking to commence a doctoral degree in an eligible subject area in the humanities. For further details, please consult the University webpages on these awards.
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For postgraduate doctoral applicants who have previously attended a widening participation scheme or received a financial needs-based scholarship at St Andrews for their undergraduate degree. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
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Open to any applicant that meets one of the Home Office categories at fee assessment stage commencing a new course of study: Asylum Seeker, Refugee, Humanitarian Protection, limited or Discretionary leave to remain. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
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The University of St Andrews has a collaborative agreement with the China Scholarship Council to develop research collaborations between the UK and Chinese universities and research institutions. Available to Chinese students wishing to undertake a PhD at the University of St Andrews. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
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For candidates from least developed countries and fragile states in the Commonwealth, for full-time doctoral study at a UK university. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
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For students who are permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country and meet the application criteria. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
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For students from the USA who have applied to a UK university to study in the Arts or Humanities at doctoral level. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
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For a New Zealand graduate undertaking a postgraduate programme at St Andrews. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
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This scholarship is available to entrant taught or research postgraduate students from Poland. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
The following PhD scholarships cover tuition fees in full:
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The School of Art History is offering 3 scholarships for doctoral research in any field of art history, museum and gallery studies, or history of photography, for starting in September 2021.
These scholarships provide a full fee waiver for the three years of the PhD programme, and are available to both Home/EU and overseas students.
If you are interested in being considered for one of these awards, you must complete the University’s application process to the PhD programme by 1 April 2021. You must also complete an Application form Art History Fee Waiver Scholarship (Word), and send to the School of Art History Postgraduate Administrator, at pgarthist@st-andrews.ac.uk. Application forms must be returned by 1 May 2021.
These are competitive awards, and selections will be made based on your academic record, and the merits of the research proposal.
For all enquiries, please contact the School of Art History Director of Postgraduate Research, arthistdopgr@st-andrews.ac.uk.
The following scholarships for Research Postgraduates provide part cover for tuition fees:
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The School of Art History at the University of St Andrews invites applications for the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust Museum and Gallery Studies (MGS) Award. The award is worth £5000, and is open to those aiming for a future career as a curator of art.
The award will be granted to a student who is commencing their studies in September 2021 on one of the following MGS postgraduate options:
- Full time MLitt
- MPhil
- PhD in Museum and Gallery Studies.
The funds will in the first instance be used to cover tuition fees. Any outstanding funds may be used to cover research expenses including travel, materials, rights and reproductions, etc.
Applicants must have been offered a place on the MGS postgraduate programme and have a first degree in Art History or related subject or have other supporting evidence of a commitment to a career as a curator of art.
Applicants will be required to upload a personal statement, academic transcript and a CV.
This award is available for application through the Scholarships and Funding catalogue.
If you have applied for the MLitt, you can access the catalogue by logging into My Application. You should wait until the next working day after submitting your MLitt application before attempting to access My Application.
If you have applied for the MPhil or PhD, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access the Scholarships and Funding catalogue.
The application deadline is the 28th May 2021.
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The Scotland's Saltire Scholarship opportunity is open to citizens of Canada, China, Japan, Pakistan, India and the USA, and is aimed at encouraging bright, talented and hardworking individuals to live, work and study in Scotland. The scheme awards students who aspire to become influential leaders in their future careers, have wide ranging interests outside their studies and have a desire to broaden their personal and academic experience in Scotland.
Up to 50 awards are available across Scotland, each worth £8,000 towards tuition fees for full time postgraduate Masters programmes in a wide range of subject areas.
Please note that all other postgraduate programmes, including the Graduate Diploma, are not eligible courses for this scholarship. Online, distance learning or courses delivered at a Scottish university campus overseas are also not eligible for the scholarship.
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For postgraduate students who have graduated from the University of St Andrews in the last three years. For further details, please consult the University webpages on this award.
The following bursary provides support towards living costs:
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This scholarship can be used in either private or University accommodation. Prospective students can apply for financial support towards their accommodation costs.