£1 million funding to support doctoral students at Space Park Leicester
New national funding will support doctoral students at Space Park Leicester investigating how humanity has imagined, experienced and interacted with outer space across time.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, has provided £1 million funding for doctoral studentships, in collaboration with the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space, one of three Leverhulme-funded research centres to benefit from funding to support interdisciplinary postgraduate research.
Over the next six years, the AHRC Doctoral Focal Award in Humanity and Space will support nine doctoral scholarships for interdisciplinary projects shaping and reshaping our understanding of the meaning and value of outer space from the distinctive angle of the arts and humanities.
The cohort of University of Leicester doctoral students will be based at Space Park Leicester, which also hosts the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space.
Space Park Leicester Chief Executive William Wells said: “This is amazing news which extends our commitment to growing the scope and scale of research at Space Park Leicester.
“It means that our diverse community of researchers and emerging talent will further scale and Space Park Leicester will reflect the span of challenges and opportunities in space.”
Professor Rossana Deplano, of Leicester Law School and Director of the Doctoral Focal Award, added:
“The Doctoral Focal Award in Humanity and Space is yet another recognition of our distinctive arts and humanities expertise on outer space at Leicester. It provides a unique platform for students to think creatively and make a real impact in society.
“I very much look forward to collaborating with colleagues across the University – those already involved and anyone who would like to further enrich our shared, interdisciplinary research environment.”
Working in collaboration with several external partners, the doctoral scholarships will include a unique element of professional training aimed at equipping PhD holders with the intellectual and practical experience to be competitive in the space sector.
Students will be part of a cohort and benefit from a structured package of training and professional development, alongside the intellectual stimulus of a centre built around shared questions. They will also build specialist and transferable skills for diverse career paths, within and beyond academia, including across the growing UK space sector.
To explore Space Park Leicester partnerships, missions, residents, facilities, training programmes and innovation products, visit www.space-park.co.uk or to learn more about the University of Leicester visit le.ac.uk/.
Main image: Students presenting posters at Space Park Leicester