Scottish Cultural Heritage Consortium

The National Library of Scotland is a member of the Scottish Cultural Heritage Consortium (SCHC). The consortium is a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

PhD research at the National Library of Scotland is directed towards the aims and foci explained in our research statement. Proposals for doctoral student projects are put forward by our staff in collaboration with university colleagues. Funding is awarded to project proposals based on their academic strength and their compatibility with the Library's research objectives.

The SCHC was founded in 2013. It brings together five institutions supporting PhD research. In addition to the Library, partners include the National Museums Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Each year the consortium awards up to six funded studentships which enable a Higher Education Institute and a consortium member organisation to collaborate on a PhD project.

The funding is administered by the SCHC partners. Emphasis on practical applied research in this funding programme gives direct benefit to the Library as a host institution.

The aims of the consortium are to:

• Deliver world-class research and high-quality studentships that promote collaboration between the academic community and our work and collections
• Encourage inter- and cross-disciplinary doctoral research on material culture that contributes to the strategic objectives of the institutions and has public impact
• Build a supportive training and professional development environment that shares skills across our institutions and promotes integrated access to our collections
• Maximise the impact and value of the research generated by working collaboratively to provide routes for sharing both between institutions and with a wider public
• Add economic value by providing training and opportunities that enhance the employability of the students.

Research undertaken by the studentships managed by the SCHC will fit within the following research priorities, all of which are concerned with conserving, understanding and presenting Scotland's cultural, material and artistic heritage in a national, UK and international context:

• Creation, history and care of Scottish material culture
• Analysis, interpretation and presentation of material culture
• Impact and understanding of collections
• Understanding and valuing the historic environment
• Intangible heritage and the history of ideas.

Further information about collaborative studentships funded by the ARHC can be found at the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Consortium website.

SCHC has been successful in an application for the third round of funding for studentships starting from 2020 to 2023.

You can find out more about the process on our 2023 timetable for SCHC bids.