Job description: About

This Collaborative Doctoral Award is part of an AHRC NWCDTP funded team project, titled ‘Waterborne: The heritage, culture and environment of UK reservoirs’, a collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool, Lancaster and Manchester Metropolitan. Using traditional means alongside critical creative methods, the team project will research the design, literary history and heritage of reservoir building in the UK. Three distinct, but interlinked projects will create a rich understanding of the interrelations between design, policy, community memory and the tangible and intangible heritage of water infrastructure. This new understanding will assist in the creation of more sustainable futures and situate the viewpoints of a variety of communities and groups at the centre of a national conversation.

The project at Lancaster University is in partnership with Historic England. They have recently identified an absence of an assessment framework for reservoirs as a ‘monument type’. Reservoirs are one of the last missing pieces in the industrial archaeology of the UK. This project will address a significant gap in knowledge at a moment when reservoirs, their associated built objects and their landscapes are subject to changes in regulation that will lead to physical change. Such change necessitates better understanding of the historical significance of reservoirs, their structures and their landscapes to address the contexts of regulation and historic designation.

This novel contribution will consider the combined role of heritage and environment in infrastructural settings, bringing history and ecology into a relational discourse. The project will have a sequence of overlapping, but distinct, phases, designed with the CDA partner, that will address both the gap in knowledge and to inform future methods of heritage assessment.

The project will be delivered in five distinct, but overlapping phases:

Phase 1: Scoping. A scoping exercise will establish the priorities in terms of the temporal framing of the study and the types, scales and values associated with reservoirs in a heritage context.

Phase 2: Gazetteer. A gazetteer will establish the major typological elements of reservoirs as a monument type and collate those that already have some form of heritage or environmental protection.

Phase 3: Heritage Guidance. The PGR will work collaboratively with Historic England to produce a guidance note within Historic England’s existing series. The PGR will be trained by the project partner in this phase, learning how to apply academic research to a policy and evidence context.

Phase 4: Documentary source mapping. The documentary scale in relation to reservoirs is huge and includes ministerial papers from a range of ministries, local authorities, private water companies and nationalised industries. Using case study sites identified through earlier phases, the PGR will develop new visual research methods. This mapping will accompany Phase 5 in forming methodological approaches to the heritage assessment of this monument type.

Phase 5: Fieldwork. The PGR will receive training and guidance from Historic England in fieldwork. Together, the documentary mapping and direct observation will create a new approach by which to define and this national monument type.

Case studies will also address matters of archaeological sensitivity in the creation of new reservoirs. By using historic examples, the PGR and project partner will also consider how screening is advised for new sites and how prior events might be used to inform current thinking.

UK/EU/International

Duration – 3.5 year studentship with fees fully paid.

Stipend – approximately £19,500 for academic year 24-25 and increasing each year.

Commencing – September 2024

About you

You will have experience of architecture in your first degree (2:1 or above) and a Master’s degree in a relevant subject (or equivalent experience). You will be able to demonstrate the ability to write and critically reflect in the context of your subject area and will ideally have experience of working collaboratively in an academic or industry setting.

You will have exceptional visual communication skills, including the capacity to visually synthesise data to a high graphic standard. Familiarity with CAD software, GIS environments, mapping methods, graphic design software and a demonstrable willingness and aptitude for self-directed learning of new skills as required by the research, are highly desirable.

As part of your Doctoral studies, you will have the opportunity to travel in pursuit of your research activities that could also include attendance at conferences and seminars. Additional sums from the funder and within the scope of the project will support a range of attendant research activities that will enrich the student’s experience and help to build research networks.

Studying with Architecture you will be supervised by an experienced team and have access to the full resources of the University. There are opportunities to work within the taught programmes (BA Hons, MArch) under academic supervision to gain experience of teaching in Higher Education. Candidates may also be considered for formal teaching qualifications via Lancaster’s Curriculum and Education Development Academy.

Timeline

Closing date: 19th February 2024

Interviews will be held: w/c 4th March 2024

Commencing September 2024

How to Apply

Applications should be made directly to LICA Enquries at Lancaster University by downloading and completing the application form (link) ‌ and submitting with the relevant additional documents.

Candidates will be invited for interview via Microsoft Teams.

What to include with your application

Each application should consist of:

• A Personal statement (not exceeding 1500 words) outlining your suitability for a PhD.
• A copy of your bachelor’s degree and master’s degree transcripts (interim or final as appropriate). For non-UK applicants a copy of equivalent qualifications.
• A full CV, including two named references (one of whom should be your most recent academic tutor/supervisor).
• Portfolios are welcomed in support of your application, but are not essential. Similarly, a short piece of academic writing that evidences your capacity to read, synthesise, write and reference at this level of study, is also welcomed, but not essential.
• We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously. We normally require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall, and 6.0 in each element. We also consider other English language qualifications.

Please submit all of the above to by 19th February 2024

Queries

Any queries about the application process should be addressed to Jane Quinn

For an informal discussion about the project, you can contact Professor Richard Brook via

Tuition fees + a stipend of approximately £19,500 for academic year 24-25 and increasing each year.

Expected salary:

Location: Lancaster

Job date: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 05:25:21 GMT

Apply for the job now!

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