🎓 Discover PhD and Master's programmes at leading universities worldwide — Sign up free to save searches and get email alerts
Sign In Register Free
UCL

Rediscovering a Woman Collector at the British Library: New Sources and Perspective on Sarah Sophia Banks

University College London Department of Information Studies
✓ Fully Funded ⏰ Closing Soon 🎓 Heritage Studies 🎓 History & Archaeology 🎓 Information Services 🎓 Social History AHRC CDP British Library Sarah Sophia Banks archival studies doctoral studentship feminist historiography history of collecting museum studies

Fully funded AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Studentship at UCL and the British Library exploring the collections, knowledge practices, and archival legacy of Sarah Sophia Banks through interdisciplinary research in history, archives, and museum studies.

Project Description

University College London (UCL) and the British Library offer a fully funded AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership PhD starting October 2026. The project examines the collections and knowledge practices of Sarah Sophia Banks (1744–1818), focusing on underexplored materials at the British Library. The research will investigate Banks’s collecting methods, cataloguing systems, and intellectual networks, analysing how her collections reflect social, cultural, imperial, and gendered contexts of the 18th and 19th centuries. The project adopts an interdisciplinary approach combining critical archival studies, museum studies, and feminist historiography. The student will work across UCL and the British Library, contributing to cataloguing and research of Banks’s materials while exploring broader questions of knowledge organisation, gendered collecting, and institutional histories. The project also supports cross-institutional analysis of collections held across the British Library, British Museum, and Royal Mint.

Entry Requirements

Applicants should have a background in a relevant field such as history, archival studies, museum studies, or related disciplines, and demonstrate strong research interest in interdisciplinary historical and archival research

How to Apply

Apply through the official UCL/AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership application process. Refer to the AHRC CDP studentship listing for full application details.

Eligibility

UK/Home
EU
International

Supervisor Profile

DL
Dr Lucy Brownson
University College London, Department of Information Studies

Related Opportunities

Language, Place and the Museum: Exploring Multilingualism and Decolonial Practices
University of the Arts London Dr Victoria Odeniyi, Dr Anjalie Dalal-Clayton, Prof Paul Goodwin 🎓 Creative Arts & Design 🎓 Heritage Studies

Explore how language constructs and transforms the sense of place within museums. Investigate multilingual and decolonial approaches to museum language that challenge colonial narratives and support diverse community vo…

This research is vital for addressing the colonial legacies embedded in museum language and spatial representation. It promotes more inclus…

74+ citations · h3
language coloniality multilingualism ethnography
✓ Fully Funded New
Added 15 hours, 49 minutes ago View & Apply
Ensemble Theatre Making at National Youth Theatre: Histories, Practices and Possibilities
University of the Arts London Prof Helen Brooks 🎓 Creative Arts & Design 🎓 Heritage Studies

Explore National Youth Theatre’s ensemble practice through archival and live research. Investigate its history and future to redefine youth theatre's impact on community, inclusion, and creative arts education.

This research addresses neglected areas in theatre studies, spotlighting youth theatre's role in fostering community, identity, and inclusi…

Ensemble Practice Youth Theatre Archival Analysis Practice Research
✓ Fully Funded New
Added 15 hours, 52 minutes ago View & Apply
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) Studentship – Reconnecting Museum Collections with Ecological Knowledge in East Africa (1870–1930)
University of Lincoln Dr Sarah Longair 🎓 African History 🎓 African Studies Deadline: 13 May 2026

Fully funded AHRC CDP PhD at the University of Lincoln and the British Museum exploring museum collections, ecological knowledge, and human–non-human relationships in East Africa.

✓ Fully Funded ⏰ Closing Soon
Added 1 week, 1 day ago View & Apply
USYD UofG Joint PhD Scholarship: Living with Print in the Eighteenth Century
University of Glasgow Prof Matthew Sangster; Prof Nicola Parsons 🎓 English Language 🎓 English Literature Deadline: 21 Apr 2026

Fully funded joint PhD between the University of Sydney and University of Glasgow exploring reading practices and print culture in the eighteenth century using archival research.

✓ Funded (Competition) ⏰ Closing Soon
Added 1 week, 5 days ago View & Apply