Stuart Hall Foundation PhD studentship (School of Social Sciences) 2026 Entry
Funding Description
The Stuart Hall Foundation Scholarship at The Unviersity of Manchester will support one PhD student in the School of Social Sciences.
Successful applicants for the studentship will work with the Stuart Hall Foundation, enhancing their career and research profile. They will engage with the Foundation's resources and networks, including the annual gathering of Stuart Hall Scholars and Fellows.
Founded in 2015, the Stuart Hall Foundation honours the legacy of Stuart Hall, a Jamaican-born British public intellectual and pioneer of Cultural Studies. The Foundation tackles issues of race, class, and intersecting inequalities through a commitment to public education.
It provides opportunities for students and academics, exploring themes related to Hall’s work. Recognising the challenges young people from diverse backgrounds face—evidenced by admissions data and staff diversity issues—the Foundation collaborates with universities in the UK and globally to uphold Hall’s teaching commitment.
Learn more: www.stuarthallfoundation.org.
About Stuart Hall: www.stuarthallfoundation.org/stuart-hall.
Key features of this studentship
- Open to all nationalities.
- Full PhD tuition fees for 3.5 years (full-time or part-time).
- Annual maintenance stipend - (this was £20,780 p/a 2025/26).
- Funding includes a research training support grant.
- Open across interdisciplinary research including cultural studies, race, ethnicity and inequalities.
How to be considered
Equality, diversity and inclusion
Equality, diversity and inclusion are central to everything we do at The University of Manchester. We know that a diverse research community drives creativity, productivity and research quality, and strengthens our impact on society and the economy.
We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and career paths. We encourage interest from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation or transgender status.
This funding is available to all nationalities.
This funding is available to students undertaking study in Criminology, Economics, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Social Anthropology, Sociology, Social Statistics in the School of Social Sciences.
In order to be considered for this studentship you must meet this criteria:
- Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent).
- Master's degree in a relevant subject -
- with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent).
Please note this funding is not available to current PhD students.
Stage 1:
You must submit a complete application for your chosen PhD programme by 1 December 2025. Section 9 of the application asks for your funding intentions. In this section, you should detail fully all the competitions in which you would like to be considered. Please add a funding source, and populate the fields as below:
- Type of Funding: Uni of Manchester Scheme
- Awarding Body (free text): Stuart Hall Foundation Studentship
- Status of Funding: Intend to Apply
Stage 2:
The completed Stuart Hall Application Form must be submitted to the Humanities Doctoral Academy via hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk no later than 5pm BST, 1 March 2026.
Please note that this is a strict deadline and applications received after 5pm will not be included in the competition.
Applications will be ranked based on academic merit, and on the fit of research proposal with Stuart Hall Foundation areas of interest:
- Cultural Studies
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Inequalities
This award will cover:
- Fees (Home or overseas) for 3.5 years.
- Stipend (maintenance) for 3.5 years (this was £20,780 p/a 2025/26).
- A research training support grant.
This award does not cover:
- Any costs incurred through a visa application (including the immigration health surcharge).
- Any costs incurred through travel or relocation.
Offers of funding are not deferrable. If you cannot start your programme by the date mentioned in your studentship offer letter, the award will be withdrawn. You are permitted to re-apply in future.
Please note that these are strict deadlines and late or incomplete applications will not be included in the competition.
All Stuart Hall Scholarship Applications must be received by the Humanities Doctoral Academy before 5pm BST, 1 March 2026.
In advance of this, you must submit your completed programme application by 1 December 2025.
Please note that this is a strict deadline and applications received after 5pm or incomplete applications will not be included in the competition
If you have any questions about this studentship, please contact hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk
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