Research Funding for PhD students starting in October 2026

Calling all prospective PhD students; the University of Hertfordshire has a new funding call open for applicants!! These studentships come to us via the AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award scheme, a major new funding scheme from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. We will offer the equivalent of three full-time fully funded PhD studentships each year for the next five years. Whilst applicants can work in any arts and humanities disciplines, we’d strongly encourage applicants for projects on any aspect of the gothic and/or folklore. We have supervisory expertise and capacity in these areas.

The first cohort will start in October 2026, and the deadline for applications is April 10 2026. Do have a look at these awards here and drop us a line if you are thinking of applying and would like any further advice on your proposed topic. This is not an award from OGOM itself but we can offer you a supportive environment from which to develop your project if you are successful and if you have a project that fits our mission statement:

The Open Graves, Open Minds Project began by unearthing depictions of the vampire and the undead in literature, art, and other media, then embraced werewolves (and representations of wolves and wild children), fairies, and other supernatural beings and their worlds. The Project extends to all narratives of the fantastic, the folkloric, and the magical, emphasising that sense of Gothic as enchantment rather than simply horror. Through this, OGOM is articulating an ethical Gothic, cultivating moral agency and creating empathy for the marginalised, monstrous or othered, including the disenchanted natural world.

We are a research group that has supported several PhD students to completion. You can view details of current students here (scroll down to see the Doctoral Student section).