The University of Central Lancashire, the University of Liverpool (UoL) and the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) have received an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Focal Award for a collaborative venture focusing on care provision across a wide range of disciplines.
Led by Liverpool, The Crafting Care for People, Place and Planet Doctoral Focus Award will bring together the Universities, the RNCM and ten regional organisations to train a new, inclusive generation of interdisciplinary researchers in alignment with AHRC’s theme of ‘arts and humanities for a healthy planet, people, and place.”
Building on over a decade of work from the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Health, Arts, Society & Environment (CHASE), the Award explores how care is co-produced across human and non-human communities, with “craft” defined as broad expertise shaping interdisciplinary research for real-world impact.
We are looking forward to building the collaboration with our HEI and non-HEI partners to fulfil our vision of transformative societal impact.– Principal Investigator the University of Liverpool’s Professor Josie Billington
Regional partners include leaders in health (Alder Hey, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Mersey Care, Wirral Public Health), environment (Canal and River Trust, The Mersey Forest), and the arts (DaDa, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool Philharmonic, National Museums Liverpool), offering expertise, training, and placements.
Principal Investigator the University of Liverpool’s Professor Josie Billington said: “Crafting Care is driven by co-production and collaboration. It builds on CHASE’s long-standing regional partnerships to support innovative, interdisciplinary research with real-world value.
“This is a tremendously exciting opportunity for the University, future PhD students and arts and humanities research at UoL to shape research agendas which respond to complex emergent challenges. We are looking forward to building the collaboration with our HEI and non-HEI partners to fulfil our vision of transformative societal impact.”
This incredibly exciting opportunity will fund PhD studentships that bring together the arts, humanities and health, developing transdisciplinary research to benefit society and the environments in which we live.– Dr Kathryn Jarvis, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Central Lancashire
Dr Kathryn Jarvis, a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “This incredibly exciting opportunity will fund PhD studentships that bring together the arts, humanities and health, developing transdisciplinary research to benefit society and the environments in which we live.
“The University of Central Lancashire is looking forward to sharing its extensive experience in health and social care research with the University of Liverpool, Royal Northern College of Music and the other partners, in this innovative collaboration that will deliver evidence-led, real-world change and complement our imperative to improve life after stroke.”
The AHRC Doctoral Focal Awards will champion the next generation of researchers, offering future-facing training in areas vital to the UK’s creative economy, societal wellbeing. The awards will also foster the strategic skills needed in arts and humanities research which align closely with the AHRC’s vision, mission, and theory of change.
In the future this approach will allow us, in consultation with the sector, to provide support where it is needed to disciplines across the arts and humanities, vital skills and digital humanities.– Arts and Humanities Research Council Executive Chair Professor Christopher Smith
Arts and Humanities Research Council Executive Chair Professor Christopher Smith said: “Introducing Focal Awards allows us to support cohorts of students in centres for excellence for strategically valuable areas such as health and the creative economy. In the future this approach will allow us, in consultation with the sector, to provide support where it is needed to disciplines across the arts and humanities, vital skills and digital humanities. But the scope for individual projects is wide and autonomy for researchers remains as important as ever.
“The Focal Awards exemplify AHRC’s approach to doctoral training and our ambition for a sustainable portfolio providing support for training, investigator-led research, strategic direction and building the infrastructure necessary for people and ideas for the future of arts and humanities.”
To learn more about applying for the Crafting Care for People, Place and Planet Focus Award, email Dr Kathryn Jarvis.