The John Rylands Research Institute is pleased to offer two three-year PhD scholarships, which will focus on an aspect of the University of Manchester Library’s outstanding Special Collections. The candidate must have a very good first degree (at least a high 2i) and an MA at Merit, or higher, in a field relevant to the Special Collections with which he or she wishes to work. Fluent written and spoken English is essential, while knowledge of other languages relating to the Special Collections is desirable.
The candidate will be affiliated to the John Rylands Research Institute, but is also expected to take part in graduate activities of the department within which his or her subject falls. He or she will be expected to identify and approach a supervisor, following which a panel will be selected depending on the subject area. The candidate will also work in close collaboration with other colleagues at the Institute.
The award will cover Home/EU fees and maintenance of £14,726 (in line with the AHRC) for the academic year 2014/15, starting in September 2014.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 16 MAY 2014.
The topic of the PhD dissertation must relate to the Special Collections. The following priority areas have been identified for 2014/15:
Revolutions in Print
transition from manuscript to print, covering all major presses and centres of book production; outstanding collection of Aldines; also xylographic printing.
journals, monographs regarding the French Revolution.
the Protestant Reformation.
drawings, paintings and illuminations to visual print culture (relief, intaglio, planographic and screen printing) and photography.
Science and Medicine
John Dalton, Edward Frankland, James Joule, Henry Roscoe, Arthur Schuster.
such as the National Archive for the History of Computing, and the Jodrell Bank Observatory Archive.
history of medicine, 16th–20th centuries.
e.g. Thomas Radford anatomical drawings.
Religions
development of Methodism in Britain and the Americas.
relating to other denominations and groups, e.g. Brethren, Unitarians, Congregationalists, Baptists.
languages, and hymns, with John Rylands’s collection of over 50,000 hymns.
devotional literature, etc., relating to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and other faiths.
You must first approach and obtain approval from your proposed supervisor, detailing a project that will utilise the Special Collections. You must then apply to the PhD programme of the department within which your proposed subject falls, using the University’s online application form [1]. This must include the standard supporting documentation: research proposal; academic references; transcripts; degree certificate(s); English language test certificate (where applicable). Please indicate on the online application form (under the heading ‘Funding’) that you would like to be considered for this scholarship. You will be asked to submit a research proposal of no more than 1000 words (the word-count to include footnotes but exclude bibliography), detailing how you would approach your research topic.
For general guidance, please contact the Institute’s research administrator, Miss Carla Liburd:carla.liburd@manchester.ac.uk. For subject specific guidance, please contact the relevant curator or supervisor.
Links:
[1] http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/apply/postgraduateresearch/