The Portsmouth City Council and the University of Southampton are pleased to announce a fully funded Collaborative doctoral studentship starting 1 October 2026 under the AHRC's Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme. This practice-based research project will examine the past, present, and future of industrial heritage museums through a case study of Eastney Engine Houses, in dialogue with Portsmouth Museums' local and social history collections. This project will be jointly supervised by Bruce Doswell (Eastney Engineer) and Katy Ball (Curator of Social History), Portsmouth City Council, and Dr Megen de Bruin-Mol , Dr Alexandra Anikina, and Dr Dimitra Gkitsa in the department of Art and Media Technology, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton. The student will be expected to spend time at both Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, and Portsmouth City Council as well as becoming part of the wider cohort of CDP funded students across the UK. The student will be embedded in Critical Infrastructures and Image Politics research group. Project Overview Please read more about the project, research questions, entry requirements, fees and funding, eligibility and how to apply here: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/projects/ahrc-collaborative-doctoral-partnership-cdp-studentship#about Job Summary
Job Description
This practice-based research project, working with Eastney Engine Houses as a case study, explores how post-industrial heritage might operate as a "living archive," tracing lineages of labour, technology, and community across entangled histories of colonisation, military innovation, urban growth, wartime disruption, and post-industrial change. Through curatorial and/or artistic engagement with the Engine Houses and the city's collections, the project will consider how industrial heritage practice can critically engage with the interwoven relations of people, infrastructures, and environments. Useful Links
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