Opportunity status:
Upcoming
Funders:
,
Funding type:
Other
Total fund:
£250,000
Award range: £6,000 - £16,200
Publication date:
10 November 2025
Opening date:
7 January 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
19 March 2026 4:00pm UK time
Last updated: 17 November 2025 -
Apply for a funded placement at an international institution.
Placements are available at the following institutions:
United States: Harry Ransom Center, Huntington Library, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Yale Centre for British Art
Japan: National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU)
China: Shanghai Theatre Academy
You will receive £1,000 for travel and visa costs (£1,200 for travel to Japan and China) and £2,500 for each month of the placement. You can apply for two to six months of funding.
Please refer to the ‘Additional Information’ for more information on the aims of the scheme and an overview of each host.
Who can apply
This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility, and organisations who are based overseas. .
This funding opportunity is open to:
PhD students currently funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
early career researchers (ECRs) in
PhD students funded by Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) may apply for a placement at the Library of Congress.
AHRC applicants must apply to undertake primary research in an AHRC subject area for all hosts.
ESRC-funded PhD students are only eligible to apply to Library of Congress and must be applying to undertake primary research in an ESRC subject area.
AHRC applicants can apply for a placement at more than one institution in a single round, noting that separate applications need to be submitted. However, dates and applications must:
be for separate and distinct research work packages
not overlap
take place in one continuous block of time
not be interdependent
If applying for a placement at more than one institution, you should also check that there are no visa restrictions on returning to the host country within the same year.
You can only hold a placement at the same institution once in each stage of your career, for example once as a student and once as an early career researcher (ECR).
Deferred entry applications are not permitted. Equally, if your application is successful but you cannot undertake your placement, you must reapply the following year.
Before applying, you must secure the approval of your UK research organisation and supervisor, for PhD students, or head of department, early career researchers and research assistants, to attend the placement in full, should the application be successful.
Before applying for funding, check the .
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.
For full details, visit .
Who is eligible to apply
Individual eligibility for PhD students
AHRC-funded doctoral students can apply to any host. ESRC-funded doctoral students can only apply to Library of Congress.
Placements must be undertaken during the funded period of your doctoral award.
PhD students must include their doctoral training grant reference in the ‘About you’ section of the application form.
Because these placements are intended to enrich and form part of the period of doctoral study, no additional time will be added to the doctoral award end date.
Individual eligibility for ECRs
To be considered an ECR, applicants must have a minimum of two of the following five criteria:
have not previously been a project lead or lead on an externally funded project or led a significant programme of work in a commercial or non-academic setting
precariously employed, for example, currently employed via a temporary contract of employment
recent returner from a career break, for example, maternity, caring responsibility, sickness, unpaid sabbatical
change of career track or returning after substantial administrative responsibility
recent change in career, for example, industry to academia or academia to industry
These durations should exclude any period of career break. We define a career break as an extended period when you have not been actively engaged in scholarly research or teaching at a higher education institution. The career break could be, for example, for family care or health reasons. See section two of AHRC’s for further information on the eligibility criteria for early career researchers.
Doctoral level research assistants are eligible. Therefore, you must:
be of postdoctoral standing, having either a PhD qualification or equivalent research experience
have a contract with a UK research organisation at the time of application that extends beyond the end date of the placement
You will be asked to provide evidence of how you meet these criteria. Failure to do so could result in your application being rejected. Where previous AHRC funding has been held, ECRs must include their previous grant reference in the application form.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of eligible doctoral students, and early career researchers in any arts and humanities discipline (and doctoral students in the social sciences for the Library of Congress) and from all regions and nations of the UK.
We are committed to promoting the values of equality of opportunity, diversity, and inclusivity. A dynamic, diverse and inclusive research and innovation system must be an integral part of UK society, giving everyone the opportunity to participate and to benefit. Therefore, we particularly encourage applications from persons who identify as:
an ethnic minority
people with health conditions or impairments
people with caring responsibilities
persons of diverse gender identities and expressions
persons identifying with other groups who are currently underrepresented
Applicants with disabilities or caring responsibilities may request an appropriate amount of additional funding where this is essential to taking up the placement and where it cannot be provided by routes such as the . Applicants requiring this additional support should contact AHRC for further guidance and to discuss how to reflect this request within the application form.
Applications to UKRI through the new Funding Service can only be made if you have completed our EDI survey, which you are prompted to do when you open an account. However, diversity information will never be used in the assessment process nor to make funding decisions.
UKRI can offer for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Host-specific eligibility
For NIHU, the Huntington Library and the Smithsonian Institution, you must contact the institutions to let them know what collections you want to access before applying. For the other hosts, it is optional but highly recommended. Engagement with the host and research institutions should be made as early as possible during the application stage and before the application deadline. If you have any concerns such as access to collections, research topics, visa support, wellbeing, you may contact the hosts. Contact details can be found in the ‘Contact’ section of this page.
For NIHU, applicants must contact the institutions to have prior consultation with a potential host for possible placement with sufficient time (about two weeks before the deadline) before applying
Applicants to NIHU, looking to work with the following collections, are required to speak and understand Japanese to an advanced level:
National Institute of Japanese Literature (NIJL)
National Museum of Japanese History (NMJH)
International Research Center for Japanese Studies (IRCJS): eligibility is determined by the specific requirements of the chosen research field
Applicants to other NIHU institutes are advised that basic conversational Japanese is desirable, though not compulsory.
For Huntington Library, the library has a residency requirement for placement participant to spend 20 days per month in the library.
Applicants to the Smithsonian Institution must select, and approach a contact, at the Institution in advance of submitting their application. This contact will act as an adviser should the respective application be successful. Please use the in order to contact an appropriate Smithsonian academic or staff member.
For applicants to the Smithsonian Institution, a Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment System (SOLAA) account will need to be created. AHRC will contact you by email with instructions on how to set up your SOLAA account at the appropriate stage.
What we're looking for
Scope
We’re looking to fund eligible PhD students and early career researchers to complete a research placement at an international cultural institution for two to six months.
The International Placement Scheme (IPS) provides early career researchers, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded doctoral students and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded doctoral students with inclusive and dedicated access to the internationally renowned collections, programmes and expertise held at IPS host institutions.
The scheme aims to enhance the depth, range, diversity, and quality of research activities conducted by scholars, including research exploring under-represented and under-researched cultures and histories.
IPS provides unique opportunities for networking with other international scholars based at these world-renowned institutions and can have a transformational impact on personal development and career progression.
The IPS host institutions for this round are:
Harry Ransom Center
Huntington Library
Library of Congress
National Institutes for the Humanities, Japan
Shanghai Theatre Academy, China
Smithsonian Institution
Yale Centre for British Art
Your placement must be based on your area of current research (including your doctoral research if you are a PhD student). The proposed research activities and outputs from your placement should complement, strengthen, or build on your current area of research. You will need to propose a distinct package of research in your application and explain how this project relates to both your current research and the collections and expertise of your prospective host institution.
Full details of the documentation required can be found in ‘How to apply’, and the assessment criteria for applications to this scheme are available under ‘How we will assess your application’.
Duration
Please refer to the for information regarding the number of placements expected to be awarded by AHRC at each host, as well as the eligible period for undertaking a placement.
Funding available
With regards to costs and the application process, please note:
all IPS placements will be between three to six months, except for the Harry Ransom Centre and Shanghai Theatre Academy, and the total awarded will be a £1,000 one-off stipend for travel and visa costs (£1,200 for applicants to NIHU and STA) and a living stipend of £2,500 for each month of the placement
limited additional support may be agreed by AHRC on a case-by-case basis for applicants with disabilities, to support inclusive and accessible participation
the stipends will be paid directly to the submitting UK research organisation (RO) at 100% full economic cost. It is a condition of the award that the RO pays funds to awardees in full, in advance of the placement. This will allow flights and accommodation to be booked by the awardee in advance of their placement. The RO will then recoup the funds when these are paid to them by AHRC
IPS awardees will continue to receive any stipend or salary they receive as part of any current AHRC or ESRC award funding. PhD students will not be allowed additional time will be added to the AHRC or ESRC award end date or submission date to account for time spent on their placement
you should discuss your work plan with your supervisor (if a PhD student) or head of department (if an ECR or research assistant) and the IPS host institution to ensure your proposed research can be completed within a realistic timescale and will appropriately feed into your current research or any AHRC parent project
there is no cap on the number of applications that can be submitted by a UK RO
How to apply
Preparing your application
You must identify and research the institutions’ collections, fully familiarising yourself with them and how they are relevant to your own research. Please visit the institutions’ individual websites as a starting point to investigate the collections and inform your choice. The institutions are:
, China
Once this initial step is completed, you can proceed to directly contact the relevant International Placement Scheme (IPS)-host institution to discuss your potential application and for information about the collections.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can apply to UKRI.
If a student’s PhD is funded through a consortium of research organisations, the application should be submitted by the student’s home research organisation, rather than the consortia lead research organisation.
To apply
PhD students and early career researchers (ECRs) are both eligible to apply as a project lead for this funding opportunity. UKRI expects that the research organisation will ensure that students do not apply for any other opportunities as a project lead unless it is specified that they are eligible to do so.
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
Confirm you are the project lead.
Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
insert each new image on a new line
use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:
sentences or paragraphs of text
tables
excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
references are easily identifiable by the assessors
references are formatted as appropriate to your research
persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the .
Deadline
AHRC must receive your application by 19 March 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
AHRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our .
AHRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with host institutions so that they can participate in the assessment process.
Summary
Word limit: 250
In plain English, provide a summary of your proposed placement that can be sent to your intended host organisation to determine if they think you are a good fit.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
opinion-formers
policymakers
the public
the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
context
the challenge the project addresses
aims and objectives
potential applications and benefits
Your summary must include:
the name of the International Placement Scheme (IPS) host you aspire to study at (remember, if you are an ESRC applicant you can only apply for the Library of Congress).
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
project lead (PL) – PhD students and early career researchers (ECRs) are both eligible to apply under this role for this funding opportunity
Only list one individual as project lead.
Application questions
Eligibility to apply for opportunity
Word limit: 200
If you are a PhD student, please provide the following information:
the title of your PhD
the grant reference number for your current Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (beginning AH) or Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) award (beginning ES). If that award is part of an institutional block grant or consortia grant, for example: Block Grant Partnership (BGP), Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP), Doctoral Training Centre (DTC), Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA) or Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP), we also require that grant reference number. If you are unsure of your grant reference number, you must contact your research organisation
confirmation that if the application is successful no additional time will be added to the doctoral award end date
If you are an early career researcher, provide information detailing how you meet the eligibility criteria by confirming you either:
hold a doctorate by the start date of the placement
can demonstrate equivalent research or innovation experience, training or both
If you are a doctoral level research assistant provide information detailing how you meet the eligibility criteria by confirming, you:
are of postdoctoral standing, having either a PhD qualification or equivalent research experience
have a contract with a UK RO at the time of application that extends beyond the end date of the placement
Also explain how you meet any additional host-specific eligibility as described in the ‘Who can apply’ section.
Purpose
Word limit: 500
Why is the travel needed?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain why the proposed travel is necessary and where alternative approaches are not appropriate, including reference to:
added value to existing or future research and innovation
promotion of collaboration
acquisition and development of skills
benefit to the countries, organisations and regions involved where appropriate
why you are the best person to carry out this visit
why the place you are travelling to is the best place to go to, in terms of people and resources (including access to particular collections)
a breakdown of how the time spent there would be used
Within this section we expect you to provide:
a summary of the research you propose to conduct during your placement, indicating how it relates to your current research
explanation of how your research objectives, methodologies, context or both could offer a unique contribution to your host community
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service.
Applicant experience
Word limit: 600
Why are you the right individual to successfully deliver the proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Evidence of how you have:
the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to make best use of the benefits presented by this funding opportunity to develop your career
the right balance of skills and aptitude (including language proficiency if relevant) to deliver the proposed work
Within this section we expect you to include:
a brief summary of your current research to date (including any AHRC/ESRC funded grants)
a timeline for the completion of any current research projects, showing the stage you are at now and the stage at which the placement would take place (you may include a table if it helps)
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service.
Your supervisor’s or head of department support
Word limit: 400
Provide a statement of support from your supervisor if applying as a PhD student or Head of Department, if early career researcher (ECR).
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Reviewers will be looking for a strong statement of support.
The statement should include:
why the proposed institution is appropriate for you to conduct your research
details of the supervisory arrangements that will be in place whilst you are undertaking your research during this placement
assurance that the time spent on the IPS will not result in extra time being required to complete the current research funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)/ Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
You must also include the following details:
the person’s name and position
office address or web link
Upload details are provided within the service on the actual application.
How we will assess your application
Assessment process
We will assess your application using the following process.
All applications will be checked for eligibility after the funding opportunity closes.
Eligible applications will be shared with the respective placement institutions and will be reviewed by relevant experts at the institutions. Scores and comments from the host reviews will then be moderated by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Applications which do not meet the eligibility requirements of this funding opportunity will be rejected prior to the reviewing stage. We will notify the submitter for any applications rejected at this stage.
Outcomes
Funding decisions will be communicated to the persons who were selected as ‘grant holders’ on the application form. Where the applicant is a student, this email should be forwarded to them without delay.
The email will provide successful applicants with further information about their placement and will request confirmation of the start and end dates of each placement.
Principles of assessment
We support the San Francisco and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.
Find out about .
Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review
Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UKRI to safeguard.
For more detail see our .
Assessment areas
The assessment areas we will use are:
eligibility
purpose
applicant experience
supervisor’s or head of department’s support
Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.
Contact details
Get help with your application
If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page
The helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility, content or remit of a funding opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.
Contact details
For help and advice on costings and writing your application please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.
For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact
Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.
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