[Commlist] Fully-funded PhD studentship on Generative AI and Cultural Heritage

We are looking for candidates for this project in collaboration with the 
National Archives.

*PhD Studentship: The Roles of Generative AI in Enabling or Disabling 
Inclusive Research and Accessible Cultural Heritage*
*Start date:* 1 October 2025
*Application Deadline:* 18:00 on Tuesday, 27 May 2025

/We expect interviews to take place online in the week commencing 9 June 
2025./

Details and online application form available at 
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMO496/phd-studentship-the-roles-of-generative-ai-in-enabling-or-disabling-inclusive-research-and-accessible-cultural-heritage 


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The University of Roehampton and The National Archives are pleased to 
announce the availability of a fully funded Collaborative doctoral 
studentship from October 2025, under the Arts and Humanities Research 
Council (AHRC) Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme.

This studentship addresses questions of diversity in AI-generated 
cultural narratives - particularly within 19th-century Black history - 
and the challenges for the discovery, cataloguing, and representation of 
diverse histories in an AI world. Drawing on collections held at The 
National Archives, while considering the organisation’s unique role as 
the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for 
England and Wales, this project will consider issues of access, impact 
and inclusive research practice, and it proposes to develop advice for 
effective and ethical AI use for researchers and archive practitioners.

It will be jointly supervised by Dr Mary L. Shannon (Senior Lecturer, 
Department of English and Creative Writing – University of Roehampton) 
and Dr Mollie Clarke (Research Engagement Manager, The National 
Archives, and Co-Supervised by Dr Yuwei Lin (Senior Lecturer, Digital 
Technologies – University of Roehampton) and Mr Bernard Ogden (Research 
Software Engineer, The National Archives). The student will be expected 
to spend time at both the University of Roehampton and The National 
Archives. As part of their studentship, they have the opportunity to 
work alongside The National Archives colleagues as part of the Research, 
Grants and Academic Engagement Department, for example, gaining 
experience within the Digital Research team.

The student would also commit to undertake relevant training activities 
offered by the University of Roehampton or The National Archives to 
support their research activities and personal and professional 
development. There is also an opportunity for the student to work at The 
National Archives on a placement as part of their CDP, supporting the 
work of records specialists or archive practitioners. They would become 
part of the Research Centre for Society, Culture, and Social Change; the 
collaborative doctoral cohort at The National Archives; and the wider 
cohort of CDP funded students across the UK, with access to CDP Cohort 
Development events.

It is important to us that our organisations are more diverse, so we 
encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and identities. We 
are especially keen to hear from candidates from global majority 
backgrounds as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this 
area. 

Applicants should ideally have or expect to receive a Master’s Degree in 
a relevant subject, or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a 
setting involving knowledge of and critical reflection on relevant 
topics. There is scope to take a more historical/digital/practice 
perspective depending upon the student's interest and background, and to 
shape the project according to their existing interests.

The studentship can be studied either full or part-time. The student 
will become part of the wider group of CDP funded students across the 
UK, with access to events and training delivered in partnership with a 
range of cultural heritage institutions.

Project Overview

This PhD project addresses lack of diversity in AI-generated cultural 
narratives - particularly within 19th-century Black history - and 
challenges for the discovery, cataloguing, and representation of diverse 
histories in an AI world.

This project will develop advice for effective and ethical AI use when 
researching, cataloguing, and presenting diverse histories, through an 
interdisciplinary methodology. The focus will be on mainstream 
commercial Generative AI providers and how they answer questions on 
diverse histories and on how those histories are represented in answers 
more generally. It will draw on TNA collections, or materials that have 
cited/used them. Focussing on the ADM records and in particular evidence 
of Black British sailors, it will explore the extent of racial and 
geographical diversity within the 19th-century lower-decks, and consider 
new ways of approaching, accessing and highlighting global and diverse 
histories at TNA.

It is anticipated that users will come to archives increasingly with 
questions based on what Large Language Models have told them, and 
content created by archives is a part of what is used to train LLMs. 
LLMs have biases presenting problems in dealing with sensitive 
historical material, and the project seeks to address this problem. 
Practice-based work will be accompanied by theoretical exploration to 
underpin a case study based on collection material identified by the 
student, supported by the unique combination of theoretical and practice 
expertise from the combination of the Roehampton and National Archives 
supervisory teams, linked together by the student’s own interests.

Research questions include:

    How do archival practitioners and researchers navigate different 
conceptions around race over time against the "modern global north" 
default perspective of LLMs? To what extent can training on suitable 
period data improve LLMs when addressing these questions?
    In what ways, and what are the implications, of GenAI using 
information from the archive without necessarily citing it, or using 
second hand accounts (e.g. catalogue descriptions or blogs) rather than 
directly from source?
    How might cultural heritage organisations engage more proactively 
with GenAI, supporting users by providing sector recommendations/advice 
on prompts and training data?
    What is the relationship between helping users to understand and 
conceptualise GenAI, and their ability to write more critically-informed 
prompts/develop a more critical eye for the outputs?

Funding

CDP doctoral training grants fund full-time studentships for 48 months 
(4 years), or part-time equivalent.

The award pays tuition fees up to the value of the UK Research and 
Innovation (UKRI) full-time home rate for PhD degrees. Roehampton 
university will waive the difference between the home and overseas fee 
to ensure that overseas students can also apply for this ward. The award 
also pays a stipend to cover living costs, which will be paid in regular 
instalments. This stipend will be a minimum of £20,780 per year, plus 
London Weighting of £2,000 per year. CDP students also receive an 
additional maintenance payment of £600 per year. Further details can be 
found on the UKRI website.

The student will also be eligible to claim up to £4,000 worth of 
research-related expenses from The National Archives. Students can apply 
for top-up research support funds from Roehampton over their time at the 
institution.

Training

CDP students will have access to training and development opportunities 
throughout the course of their PhD, supported and facilitated by the CDP 
Consortium, the University of Roehampton, and The National Archives. CDP 
students would be expected to undertake a work placement or development 
opportunity for a period of 1 to 3 months (or part-time equivalent).

Eligibility

    This studentship is open to both Home and International applicants.
    To be classed as a Home student, candidates must meet the following 
criteria:
        Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
        Have settled status, or
        Have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
        Have indefinite leave to remain or enter

Further guidance can be found on the UKRI website.

All applicants must meet the UKRI terms and conditions for funding.

Person specification

    Applicants should ideally have or expect to receive a relevant 
Masters level qualification or be able to demonstrate equivalent 
experience in a setting involving knowledge of and critical reflection 
on relevant topics. Suitable disciplines are flexible but might include 
Digital Humanities, History, English Literature, and/or Information and 
Knowledge Management. Please note that the CDP scheme, and training and 
development opportunities within it, will ensure that the student is 
supported in developing necessary skills that will aid in the delivery 
of the project itself (for example: digital skills).
    Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest in the archives 
sector and potential and enthusiasm for developing skills more widely in 
related areas.
    Applicants must be willing to spend time working with the 
University of Roehampton and The National Archives, both in person and 
online

Reasonable adjustments and support for applicants

Should you require any reasonable adjustments or support throughout the 
application process, please contact (Graduateschool /at/ roehampton.ac.uk) or 
(research /at/ nationalarchives.gov.uk)

Support or adjustments may include (but are not limited to):

    Opportunity to speak with supervisors about the project and the 
process.
    Opportunity to speak with contacts within the University of 
Roehampton and/or The National Archives regarding institutional support 
systems (e.g. Neurodiversity, Racial Diversity and LGBTIAQ+ networks, 
mental health support, support for carers, and more).
    Access to interview questions and insight into the interview process.
    Opportunity to speak with active CDP students to ask questions 
regarding student experience as part of the CDP scheme.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

The National Archives is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service is 
committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. 
To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new 
window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in 
a new window).

We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and 
identities, and are especially keen to hear from candidates from 
underrepresented communities and different disciplinary backgrounds, 
language skills and familiarity with relevant historical and 
geopolitical contexts. The University of Roehampton’s EDI policy can be 
found here. At Roehampton, the student will have the benefit of 
appropriate workload, emotional, and ethical training offered by the 
Graduate school, enjoy the Research and Ethics support mentorship 
programme and the services of the Student Well-Being Team.

Find out more

For more information, please contact Dr Mary L. Shannon 
((mary.shannon /at/ roehampton.ac.uk)) and Dr Mollie Clarke 
((Mollie.Clarke /at/ nationalarchives.gov.uk)).

How to Apply

Eligible candidates should apply through Roehampton's online portal by 
18:00 on Friday, 23 May 2025. We expect online interviews to take place 
online in the weeks commencing 9 or 16 June 2025. Please include in your 
application:

    Your CV;
    A statement, up to 2,000 words, explaining your interest in this 
topic, what you bring to the project, and providing a proposal for how 
you would like to approach the questions it asks;
    A transcript of your university-level grades;
    2 references from academic referees; and
    Test results demonstrating your proficiency in English (if required).

Please confirm to (mary.shannon /at/ roehampton.ac.uk) when you have submitted 
your application so we know to expect it. You may need to upload your 
supporting documents alongside your online application form. Please do 
read the application guidance here and ensure that you meet the 
Roehampton application criteria. Feel free to contact 
(pgresearch /at/ roehampton.ac.uk) if you have any further application questions.

Privacy notice

The University of Roehampton will share applicant data with The National 
Archives for the purposes of recruitment and diversity monitoring. 
Anonymised diversity monitoring data will also be shared with UKRI for 
the purposes of monitoring the CDP scheme. For more information about 
how this data will be shared, please see The National Archives’ privacy 
notice and the University of Roehampton’s Privacy Notice.

Anonymised data on the number of applicants for the CDP studentship and 
their declared gender, age, ethnicity and disability with be shared with 
the National Archives.
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