Funded PhD project with British Jesuit Archive

Funded PhD opportunity

The IES and British Jesuit Archives have been awarded a collaborative doctoral award, and are now recruiting for a PhD student.

CDA Title
‘The Mount Street Catalogues: Reconstructing a Nineteenth-Century Jesuit Library’

CDA Project Description
This collaborative project aims to reconstruct and recontextualize the Jesuit Antiquarian Book Collection at 114 Mount Street, London, highlighting its historical, cultural, and global significance. Established in the mid-nineteenth century, the Mount Street library, which is now preserved by the British Jesuit Archives, originally boasted a diverse array of books across literature, history, poetry, and theology. However, significant portions of this collection were deaccessioned, particularly in the late 1990s, leading to a focus primarily on theology and Jesuit history. This project leverages two nineteenth century manuscript catalogues—dating from the 1850s and 1890s respectively—as well as a rich and under-researched archive of letters and personal papers related to the provenance, dispersal, and sale of Mount Street’s books, in order to reconstruct the original scope of the library, to better understand the evolving nature of Jesuit collection policies in England, the provenance of some of their books, as well as the ways in which knowledges have been organised at 114 Mount Street.

Project outputs can take the form of an academic thesis; however, we encourage proposals that develop creative outputs, including the production of online or physical exhibitions, as well as digital resources.

For more information about the collaborative project, please contact Dr Michael Durrant (michael.durrant@sas.ac.uk) and Dr Lucy Vinten (LVinten@jesuit.org.uk).  

CDA Team
Primary Academic Supervisor: Dr Michael Durrant (School of Advanced Study, University of London)

Secondary Academic Supervisor: Professor Laura Cleaver (School of Advanced Study, University of London)

Collaborative Partner Supervisor: Dr Lucy Vinten (British Jesuit Archives)

Special Requirements for Candidate:
Applicants should have a good degree in a relevant discipline and a Masters-level qualification or equivalent which meets AHRC requirements. We encourage applicants with relevant work/professional experience to apply, as well as applicants from under-represented groups, including: people with hidden or visible disabilities; Black, Asian and Global Majority; first-generation university-educated; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+); lower income families and mature students.

Photo Credit

Antiquarian books held at the British Jesuit Archives, London. Image courtesy of the British Jesuit Archives.  
 

Student Eligibility

• LAHP welcomes applications from ‘home’ and ‘international’ (including EU) applicants (Please refer to ‘International Students‘ section below);
• Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline, and a Masters-level qualification or equivalent which meets AHRC requirements for research training. Applicants with relevant work/professional experience who are considering doing a PhD are also encouraged to apply.
• Applicants are subject to meeting the host university’s (i.e. the institution where the lead supervisor of the CDA is based) admissions criteria, and any LAHP award is conditional on the candidate being offered a place to study at the host university.
• Students who are currently undertaking a PhD are not eligible to apply for these CDA projects. However they can consider applying to the LAHP open studentship competition, provided that they have at least 50% left of the PhD studies from the start of the award (i.e. October 2025) to the start of their writing up period.
• Please contact the Admissions Office of the CDA project’s lead institution where you are applying for a PhD place to determine your fee status. LAHP is not able to advise on fee status.
• Funding is available for both full-time and part-time students. Awards cannot be deferred. Successful candidates will be assumed to be starting their studies in October 2025.
  International students

LAHP may award up to 30% of its studentships (including stipend) to international students. The AHRC will only fund the Home fee rate. The difference between the Home and International fee is either covered or waived by most of our partner institutions.

Please refer to the UKRI eligibility criteria (TGC 5.2) for further information about ‘Home’ and ‘International’ fee status.

How to apply

The deadline for LAHP Collaborative Doctoral Awards 2025-26 applications is 5pm Friday 31st January 2025.

Applications must be submitted via our online application portal: Apply Now – LAHP Collaborative Doctoral Awards 2025-26

Please ensure you read the guidelines at the beginning of the application form, as they contain important information about how to invite your referees to submit their references.

Before applying for a LAHP CDA you must have applied to the relevant lead institution for your PhD place (lead institutions for CDA projects are outlined in the ‘2025/26 Collaborative Doctoral Award Projects Recruiting’ section above).

After submitting an application for a programme of postgraduate research study at your chosen LAHP institution, you will receive an application ID number from the institution. Question 1 of the LAHP application form asks you to provide this ID number.

If you have any queries, please contact cda.lahp@london.ac.uk

Timeline

January 2025

• 31st January 2025 at 5pm: LAHP CDA application deadline (including 2 references).
• CDA applicants must apply for a place to study within the institution of the first academic supervisor prior to submitting their CDA application to LAHP. (Please note application deadlines for individual institutions might be different. Please check directly with your own institution).

March - May 2025

• w/c 24th and 31st March 2025: Selected students are invited to interview with the relevant CDA project team
• By mid-April 2025 – Students must be in receipt of an offer on their chosen PhD programme at a LAHP partner institution (LAHP conducts these checks directly with the HEI Admissions Offices)
• End of April 2025: LAHP Studentship Award Panel approves nominated students as recipients of a LAHP CDA studentship
• May 2025: Outcome of students to be awarded a CDA studentship conveyed to supervisors

October 2025

• 1st October: Student commences CDA PhD study