Full-time Postgraduate Studentships in Arts and Humanities
Arts Faculty, The Open University
FURTHER PARTICULARS
The Faculty of Arts at The Open University is offering two full-time, three-year funded
studentships, tenable from 1st October 2013. Applications for studentships are
welcome in any of the discipline areas of the Faculty – Art History, Classical Studies,
English, History, Music, Philosophy and Religious Studies – although preference may
be given to applications which map on to existing research strengths. Details of the
application procedures are given below, but candidates are strongly advised to make
informal contact with potential supervisors in the Faculty prior to making a formal
application.
Research at The Open University/Faculty of Arts
The Open University offers an intellectually-exciting research environment at its
Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes, where all the main University facilities are
sited. This environment is supported by a network of 13 regional centres where
research-active members of the Arts Faculty also work. The University achieved the
second largest climb in UK research rankings in the 2008 Research Assessment
Exercise, with more than 60% of its research rated as ‘internationally excellent’ (3*)
and 14% as ‘world-leading’ (4*). The Open University’s freely-accessible repository of
research publications, Open Research Online, is now the eighth largest university
repository of its kind in the UK. It averages more than 40,000 individual site visits per
month, and has had more than 1.6 million visitors (from 200 countries) since 2006. It
includes more than 15,275 Open University research outputs. The University’s
iTunesU site was launched in 2008 and includes research content. There have been
more than 58 million discrete content downloads from that site, while OU content on
YouTube has reached more than 6.7 million visitors. Open University research
engages with some of the major issues facing contemporary society. Via our
exceptional presence in the nations and regions, augmented by our close links with
the BBC and other media outlets, our research informs public opinion and policy, and
promotes debate and engagement with key questions of the day.
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The Faculty of Arts is internationally recognized for innovative research across the
range of its subject areas. Much work is focused on the United Kingdom (with strong
interests in the national histories and cultures of Ireland, Scotland and Wales) but
there is also considerable expertise relating to mainland Europe, Africa and the
Indian subcontinent. Several major AHRC-funded projects are based in the Faculty.
There is a strong vision for developing successful interdisciplinary and
multidisciplinary research, including in Digital Humanities, and a commitment to
ensuring that our research effectively informs not only our own teaching but a wider
process of knowledge exchange with cultural and heritage partners.
Doctoral Studies at The Open University
The Open University has an extensive doctoral studies programme, with over 1,000
current postgraduate research students (c.570 studying full-time on campus, the rest
studying part-time, dispersed throughout the United Kingdom and combining
research degrees with work responsibilities). The University has therefore developed
a rigorous yet flexible portfolio of skills training for postgraduate research students.
The programme has a clear focus on transferable skills, and Arts and Humanities
researchers participate fully in the training programme. The Arts Faculty currently has
97 postgraduate research students, registered either for a PhD or for an MPhil prior
to doctoral study. (Of these 27 are registered for full-time study and the rest are parttime.)
Candidates selected for these studentships will be registered in the Arts Faculty of
The Open University, and will be assigned supervisors from among members of the
academic staff. (For more information go to: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/index.html.)
The Faculty of Arts comprises the departments of Art History, Classical Studies,
English, History, Music, Philosophy and Religious Studies, thus offering rich potential
interdisciplinary links and expertise for the development of studentship projects. The
Faculty runs a range of training and seminar programmes appropriate to study at
doctoral level.
The Open University Research School provides an induction programme for new
research students and a training programme for students. The student will receive
training in (for example): bibliographical databases and other IT skills and in
managing a research project through its different stages. The Arts Faculty provides
additional study skills training days focussed on the particular needs of Arts and
Humanities students while The Open University Library offers specially tailored
sessions. One of the most exciting current developments at The Open University is
the production of a Virtual Research Environment, which will deliver many of these
training opportunities in future, as well as further resources to support and extend the
experience of our postgraduate students, such as career advice.
Student progress is regularly monitored through six-monthly reports. At the end of the
first year students undergo a thorough probation review process and mini-viva, and
their continued registration is conditional on a satisfactory outcome. For further
information see the research degree prospectus, which can be downloaded from
http://www.open.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/index.php.
Framing a Studentship Proposal
You are strongly advised first to consult someone with relevant interests in the
department with which you wish to be affiliated. Then, when framing a research
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proposal, you should initially conduct a survey of existing work in your chosen field.
When writing your proposal, there is no set format, although the proposal itself
should not be longer than 1,500 words at most. You should also make sure that you
include:
1.
The title of your project
2.
A clear summary of the proposed research. Drawing on your own review of the
literature already existing in your field, you need to set out the questions you
wish to pose and answer. Your summary should also cover the following points:
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3.
Why is this an important subject? (A thesis needs to add something to the
sum of our knowledge – how would yours do this?)
What is new about your thesis (this could be new questions posed, new
sources previously not used, a new approach etc.)
How does your thesis relate to other publications in the field? Do you plan
to confirm certain points of view, or to refute them?
What sources might you need to use?
Can you give an indication of the methodology and time frame you will
propose for your research?
A Bibliography. You need not have read everything you list here, but you
should give an indication of your awareness of the primary and secondary
sources available to you for future research
Stipend, expenses and facilities
The Open University will cover tuition fees for UK/EU students and will pay a
maintenance grant at the national standard level. In 2012-13 this is £13590 per year.
Training and project-related research costs (up to a normal £1000 annual limit and
subject to approval of specific plans) will be covered. The successful candidate will
have desk space in the Faculty of Arts in Milton Keynes and will be provided with a
notebook computer. The Open University has exceptional collections of online and
digital library resources, as well as access to all the usual facilities of a researchintensive University.
Requirements
It is essential that the successful candidate has:
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Good academic qualifications in an Arts and Humanities subject (i.e. a 1st
or 2:i degree from a UK institution or equivalent from a non-UK institution
and/or a Masters degree)
Demonstrable ability to produce high-level academic writing
Evidence of the self-discipline and organizational skills required to
complete a major academic project in three, or at most four, years
Willingness to participate in the broader intellectual community of The
Open University
In addition, it is desirable that the successful candidate has:
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a Masters degree in a relevant Arts and Humanities subject
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Please apply on the standard research degree application form (which can be
downloaded from the Research Degrees Prospectus available online at
http://www.open.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/index.php. For these studentships
there is a two-stage process with an initial departmental interview, followed by a
Faculty interview.
For further details of research within departments of the Arts Faculty and across The
Open University, see http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/research/index.shtml
For advice on the applications procedure, please contact the Research Degrees
Team (research-degrees-arts@open.ac.uk; 01908 653806). Applicants are also
strongly advised to contact potential supervisors within the Faculty prior to making a
formal application. If seeking information about a department or potential supervisor,
please look at the Arts Faculty’s departmental websites, or contact the departmental
coordinators indicating the subject area in the title of your email: arts-depts-resinfo@open.ac.uk.
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 31 MARCH 2013
DEPARTMENTAL INTERVIEWS WILL BE HELD DURING MID-APRIL 2013 (BY
ARRANGEMENT) AND FINAL FACULTY INTERVIEWS FOR SHORTLISTED
CANDIDATES ARE EXPECTED TO BE HELD MID-MAY 2013
Equal Opportunity is University Policy.
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