Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 4 years in the first instance. AHRC Collections & Communities in the East of England Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) PhD studentship: The history and heritage of the discovery of environmental change and the interpretation of place in the East of England Start date: 1st October 2025. Interviews online on 10 and 11 June 2025. Information session online 22 April, 4.00-5.00pm BST. Register your interest: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?idRQSlSfq9eUut41R7TzmG6fSCIWkYzRhOr5OpFaF3WfJUM0dORElXOVIzVTMwOEtRTkZOSjNKTDRXRy4u If you would like to arrange an in-person visit prior to applying, contact Katrina Dean ( kjd32cam.ac.uk ). The University of Cambridge and its University Library are pleased to announce a fully-funded collaborative doctoral studentship, from October 2024, under AHRC's Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme: https://www.ukri.org/councils/ahrc/ This project will explore how local and global understandings of climate and the environment have been created in the East of England. It will investigate the sites, museum collections and academic research groups working in the twentieth century that have delivered new understandings of place and changing climate in this region. It takes advantage of several archival and museum collections of documents, instruments, specimens and sites to invite innovative research that investigates how deeper understandings of place in the east of England were developed. Working with the team of supervisors, the student will have the opportunity to shape a project working across two or three areas of focus, including 1) archival research on scientific studies of long-term environmental and climatic change; 2) fieldwork drawing on approaches from the humanities to establish a study of climate in place, examining one or more archaeological sites and communities in the east of England to explore how academic researchers changed understandings of place and worked with local communities at long-term research sites to relate different elements of climate, agriculture and landscape; 3) the treatment of climate through geological specimens, scientific instruments, and archaeological research and displays in museums, exploring how collections have been assembled, used, curated and interpreted to establish changing perspectives on place and time, and how climate and place have been represented. Its outcome will be the first historical account of how interdisciplinary scientific researchers in Britain applied themselves to the study of long-range environmental change. This project will be jointly supervised by Professor Richard Staley (Department of History and Philosophy of Science, HPS) and Dr Katrina Dean (University Library, UL) in association with Dr Josh Nall (Whipple Museum of the History of Science) and Dr Liz Hide (Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences) the student will undertake research at the UL, Whipple and Sedgwick museums and the HPS Department as well as becoming part of the wider cohort of CDP-funded students across the UK. Funding for each studentship will be for four years' duration (or up to seven years part-time) with expectation that this will include development activities, as applicable to meet the student's needs, and the thesis will be submitted within the funding period. The studentship can be studied full or part-time and we are happy to support hybrid and/or other forms of flexible working. The studentship is open to Home and International applicants. Applicants should ideally have or expect to receive a relevant Masters-level qualification, or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a professional setting. Suitable disciplines are flexible, but might include History of Science, Environmental Studies, Geography, Archaeology, or Museum and Heritage Studies. Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest in the museums, galleries, archives, library and heritage sector and potential and enthusiasm for developing skills more widely in related areas. Guidance on applying for this role can be found within the attached further information document. We encourage the widest range of potential students to study for this CDP studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, and other Ethnically Diverse backgrounds as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this area. Applicants are encouraged to contact the supervisor team with informal inquiries about the studentship: Professor Richard Staley, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge ( raws1cam.ac.uk ); Dr Katrina Dean, Cambridge University Library ( kjd32cam.ac.uk ). Further details about the CDP scheme cc-eefitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk Please quote reference JN45575 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy. The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK. Further information Further Information: PhD HPS UL History Environmental Change East England