AHRC Funded - Equitable Heritage: Developing New Approaches to Creatively Embedded Access in Heritage Settings

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) studentship with Historic Royal Palaces and the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (University of Leicester)

This project will be jointly supervised by :

• Professor Richard Sandell (University of Leicester)
• Professor Suzanne MacLeod (University of Leicester)
• Rhiannon Goddard and Caterina Berni, Historic Royal Palaces

The student will be expected to spend time at both the University of Leicester and Historic Royal Palaces, as well as become part of the wider cohort of CDP funded students across the UK.

We will be holding an information webinar about this PhD opportunity and an opportunity to hear from the supervisory team at Historic Royal Palaces and University of Leicester on Wednesday 22 April (10am-11am, UK time) if you would like to attend, please email research@hrp.org.uk and an invitation link will be sent to you.

In addition, the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership consortium will host an online webinar for prospective applicants on 13 April 2026 at 11:00. These webinars will provide an overview of the CDP funding scheme (see below for details).

The Research Centre for Museums and Galleries (RCMG) (University of Leicester) and Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) are pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded collaborative doctoral studentship from October 2026 under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.

This practice-centred project will explore approaches to, and the potential of, creatively embedded access at Kensington Palace, since it has an annual rotating exhibition programme where methods can be tested and approaches refined.

The studentship can be studied either full or part-time.

We encourage the widest range of potential students from different backgrounds and career stages to apply for this CDP studentship.
Students should have a Master’s degree in a relevant subject or demonstrate relevant equivalent experience.

The studentship is open to both home and international applicants.

Project Overview

The project seeks to explore approaches to, and the potential of, creatively embedded access in a heritage setting, specifically Kensington Palace as it has an annual rotating exhibition programme where methods can be tested and approaches refined. Building on both HRP’s leading-edge interpretive practice and RCMG’s world-leading research around disability equity, the practice-centred PhD will:

• Review existing scholarship on creatively embedded access;
• Investigate innovative approaches to creatively embedded access within and beyond the heritage sector with a particular emphasis on disabled-led innovations;
• Build/utilise ethical methods that centre expertise rooted in disabled lived experience;
• Test/refine approaches using the temporary exhibition programme at Kensington Palace as a live testbed;
• Generate practical guidance to inform practice across HRP and the sector more widely.

Whilst there is considerable activity and knowledge around the specific requirements to enhance access to historic buildings and sites, exhibition-making and interpretation have received far less attention. The project takes shape as a growing number of cultural organisations are becoming aware of the ongoing negative impact of deeply entrenched ableist thinking and practice which sustains a heritage/museum/gallery sector where disabled visitors have experiences which are far from equitable (Museums Association 2025).

Creatively embedded approaches (CEA) to access are under-explored in the sector. CEA involves building attention to accessibility into the process of shaping interpretation and visitor experience for all audiences from the outset, not as an afterthought or something that is added on or switched on or off. Access is conceived as a creative tool that benefits all audiences (Eardley and Jones 2025) and can be seamlessly integrated into interpretation and
design processes in ways that disrupt hierarchies (for example, between disabled and non-disabled visitors’ experiences) and act upon ableist assumptions and the ways in which disabled visitors experience discrimination and ‘othering’ in public spaces (Cachia 2013; RCMG 2022).
This collaboration brings together HRP’s leading-edge interpretation and exhibition-making practice with RCMG’s world-leading research into disability equity and ethics, and holds rich potential to support a PhD that can generate novel, realistic and practical solutions that clarify, extend and explore new thinking and practice and test these in real life settings with an established exhibition design team and interpretation specialists.

Research questions include:

• How can heritage sites and museums develop exhibitions and interpretation that offer genuinely accessible, equitable, seamless and inclusive experiences for all visitors?•
• How might emerging anti-ableist thinking and practice, rooted in recognition of the rights of disabled people, be harnessed to drive inclusive transformation in interpretation at heritage sites?
• More particularly, how might creatively embedded access’ – an approach to culture-making that resists bolt-on accommodations in favour of integrating access features to produce an equitable experience for all – open up new possibilities for HRP to advance and share leading-edge practice?

Research with Historic Royal Palaces

This research studentship is allocated to Historic Royal Palaces by the AHRC. The successful student will be expected to spend time carrying out research and gaining relevant experience with the partner at Kensington Palace as part of the studentship.

The successful candidate will be encouraged to participate in professional development events and activities organised for all Collaborative Doctoral Partnership students who are registered with different universities and studying with cultural and heritage organisations across the UK. These activities are organised by a coordination team based at the V&A and are designed to provide CDP researchers with the knowledge, networks and skills to thrive in their future careers.

All CDP projects are part of a nationwide programme called the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership consortium. The CDP consortium will host an online webinar for prospective applicants on 13 April 2026 at 11:00. These webinars will provide an overview of the CDP funding scheme.

To sign up for a webinar, please email cdp@vam.ac.uk with the subject line “Prospective Applicant Webinar” from the email address you would like to join the online meeting from. Sign up will close on 10 April 2026 at 17:00.  Please note, the webinars will not focus on individual projects.

Applicants can expect reasonable adjustments throughout the process.

If you require any assistance through the application, or interview process (if you are shortlisted), please contact Richard Sandell at rps6@leicester.ac.uk 

This fully-funded PhD project also forms part of the anniversary celebrations that mark 60 years of global impact of Museum Studies at Leicester. During this time, the University of Leicester has acquired a global reputation for leading-edge thinking and experimental practice in Museum Studies.

For details of how to apply please refer to the sections below. The application link is at the bottom of the web page.

A .pdf version of this project can be found here