This scheme provides fully funded research placements at internationally renowned cultural institutions. The scheme is aimed at early career researchers and doctoral students funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
The International Placement Scheme (IPS) provides fully funded research placements at world-leading cultural institutions to UK-based early career arts and humanities researchers. The scheme enables researchers to engage in transformative international research. Placements last between two and six months.
IPS enables access to novel research environments that cannot be replicated in the UK, particularly where knowledge is rooted in local collections, lived histories and cultural practice. It delivers a form of training that is not replicable through standard doctoral provision. Its impact lies in combining research excellence with international exposure and institutional immersion at critical career stages.
Placements will provide opportunities to build global research networks, develop professional and leadership skills, gain experience in different cultural and research settings and engage with wider academic, policy and cultural communities.
Each individual award provides a one-off payment for travel and visa fees, and a monthly stipend during the placement. The total award funding amount depends on the host’s location and length of placement.
The scheme aims to:
- support primary research through privileged levels of access to unique resources, facilities at selected internationally renowned cultural and research institutions
- through such access, enrich the depth, range, diversity and quality of UK research activities, especially in areas exploring under-represented and under-researched cultures, histories and methodologies by enabling scholars to engage with resources unavailable in the UK or online
- foster international research mobility and collaboration, building strong long-lasting global networks that connect arts and humanities scholars across borders
- accelerate career progression and personal development through full immersion in a vibrant non-UK research environment, positioning IPS participants as future leaders in their subject areas
- offer successful applicants privileges equivalent to those based at host institutions, such as opportunities to network and participate in seminars, conferences, workshops or programmes available at the host institution and beyond
Placements are hosted by the following international partner institutions:
- Harry Ransom Center
- Huntington Library
- Library of Congress
- National Institutes for the Humanities
- Shanghai Theatre Academy
- Smithsonian Institution
- Yale Center for British Art
- Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre
- British Institute in Eastern Africa, acting as a secondary host with the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre