Techne

Placements and Opportunities

Techne PhD student Anushka Tay researching at the Archive, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. Photo by Alice Nelson.

We encourage all Techne students to undertake at least one funded placement as part of their PhD as a chance to develop skills outside of their research and experience working at a range of organisations. Placements can be organised with Techne partners, or with any other organisation including HEIs.

Partner placement opportunities will be advertised to you through the weekly newsletter. 

Current External Opportunities: 

Techne Alumni Placement:

As we come to the end of the final recruitment round for Techne 2, we are exploring the impacts of Techne by examining alumni destinations and achievements. As such, Techne is looking to recruit a Techne doctoral student to research information on our alumni with the Techne team. 

The placement is subject to the standard eligibility terms of the Career Enhancement Activity Scheme. A funding extension will be given commensurate with the time spent on the placement.  The role will involve working with the Techne team, and will be line managed by the Techne Manager.

Further information is available in this flyer. Any questions about this role please email: Techne@rhul.ac.uk

To apply for this placement please email a max 300 word statement to Techne@rhul.ac.uk on why you are interested in the role and confirm that you have the support of your supervisor.

Deadline for applications:  27th April 2025

Smart Studio Research (Studio Wayne McGregor)

Studio Wayne McGregor is looking for a positive and motivated person to investigate, research and champion their Smart Studio by instilling a highly proficient working knowledge of the system and its associated streaming services into our activity. They are looking for someone to make a significant contribution to the Studio, creating a culture of engagement around this unique asset, raising the profile of their engagement work, digital presence and hires offering.

For further information, please look through this flyer. You can apply by sending a covering letter detailing your suitability and a CV to recruitment@waynemcgregor.com with ‘Smart Studio Research Placement’ in the subject line, by 10am on Monday March 31st.

Research project assisting the Black Beyond Data project partnership with Royal Museums Greenwich (National Maritime Museum)

A substantial portion of Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG)’s collections reflect Britain’s colonial and imperial activity around the globe and many of its Collections Online records and interpretations in the galleries currently reproduce outdated colonial terminologies and perspectives that warrant re-interpretation and contextualisation that is relevant, non-discriminatory, and seeks to mitigate the harms experienced by descendant communities.

Over a period of up to six months, the student, in the role of research assistant, will undertake an analysis of the description of the cataloguing and interpretative text relating to the Michael Graham-Stewart Collection on historic enslavement, in relation to best practice on inclusive descriptive standards. This will include:

  • ·   The identification of instances where outdated language has been used
  • ·      Providing suggestions for best practice and ethical alternatives
  • ·     Suggesting appropriate content warnings on our catalogue, where none exist
  • ·       Developing a guide to support researchers accessing this material

Their work will feed into RMG’s partnership project with Black Beyond Data (Johns Hopkins University) as part of their transatlantic consortium, the Center Black Data Re-imaginings whose aim is to facilitate community-led history projects and digital humanities platforms that speak to the histories of the people of the African Diaspora and their experiences in nuanced and multifaceted ways, uncovering and recovering fractured stories.  The work will also feed into the reinterpretation of the Atlantic Worlds gallery in the National Maritime Museum, that includes objects and archives from the Michael Graham-Stewart collection.

The research project can be undertaken in the office or as a hybrid online/in-person placement.  The student will also shadow in any meetings relevant to the project and have the opportunity to become familiar with RMG’s wider work on Atlantic histories, interacting not only with the curatorial and collections teams, but also the engagement team. 

If you would like further information regarding this placement, please look through this document and then contact Sally Archer (SArcher@rmg.co.uk) for an informal conversation.

Techne Diversity Placements: 

Engagement with EDI issues is central to everything that Techne does, and we are always looking for new ways to develop this work in association with Techne students. These Techne Diversity Placements seek to build on, and expand, the achievements of previous placements, the Techne Racial Justice Fellowships and Techne Racial Justice Partner Placements. They offer students an exciting opportunity to design, develop, and support Techne’s equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. These roles will be co-created between the postholder, the Techne EDI Committee, and the Techne Director.

Students who undertake a placement supporting these EDI initiatives will be involved in activities such as the following:

  • Working with the Techne Training Group on projects including: reflecting on current training provision and providers; Congress planning; researching the specific training needs of marginalised groups
  • Working with the Techne committees and team in designing, organising, and co-ordinating EDI-focused Techne events
  • Working with the Techne EDI Committee, and potentially with external experts, to develop key resources for the Techne website, such as policy documents, and support material for speakers and training providers
  • Working on initiatives connected to the Techne Diversity Hub
  • Working with the Techne committees and team to develop resources to support current Techne students

We invite applications from applicants with interests in any area of equality, diversity and inclusion. Interested students can contact Dr. Sands (Danielle.Sands@rhul.ac.uk) for further information regarding these placement opportunities.

PhD Placements with Kew Gardens. 

Kew Gardens welcomes PhD students to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to learn from their experts and make real contributions to their work at both Kew Gardens in London or Wakehurst in Surrey.

There are opportunities at Kew across a range of departments including, communications, public programmes, collections and science. Placements with Kew are a fantastic way to develop your skills, build your networks, and work with a renowned scientific and public-facing institution. 

Current Opportunities include:

  • Documenting Kew’s archive collections;
  • Documenting Kew’s South Asian botanical illustration collection
  • Mapping and analysis of challenges and opportunities for climate/biodiversity/livelihoods nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Community Open Week

For further information about these and other available options - please look through the Placements at Kew page on their website. 

AHRC International Placement Scheme (IPS)

Which funds short-term fellowships at prestigious international research institutions for UK doctoral level research assistants and AHRC/ESRC funded doctoral students. The scheme is run annually, with places available across a number of different host institutions including: 

  • Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
  • The Huntington Library, California, USA
  • Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA
  • National Institutes for the Humanities, Japan
  • Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai, China
  • Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., USA
  • YaleCenterfor British Art, Connecticut, USA 
  • National Museum Institute, New Delhi, India 

Placements will last three to six months. Participants will receive £1,000 for travel and visa costs.  Application opens in November and closes in February every year.  To apply, your School or Supervisor will need to submit an application via the IPS/AHRC scheme. Please check the IPS page on the AHRC’s website for details.  See here AHRC Guidance on filling the application, which includes criteria for the grading scale.  

Past External Opportunities: 

Cabinet Office Open Innovation Placements

HM Government’s Open Innovation Team generates analysis and insight for government by helping officials collaborate with outside experts and research. Over the past three years, more than 75 PhD students have been hosted, with many going on to policy jobs after completing their studies. This placement offered the chance to work with clients across government, experience a diverse range of policy areas and learn how you can transfer your PhD skills into new environments.

PhD students were invited to join their team for three months on a full time basis to help deliver policy projects on health, welfare reform, industrial strategy, digital transformation and other priority areas. 

Royal Institute PhD Science Presenter Internship (Ri)

The Ri provides science education and heritage activities for people of all ages and backgrounds across the UK and around the world. 

This internship was an opportunity for PhD researchers to build confidence in presenting to a group of young people in an engaging educational environment, to receive regular feedback and training in science communication and to design content for use on Ri social media.  The internship ran from May to July 2022.

The British Library (BL)

BL runs an internal PhD Placement Scheme that aims to provide an opportunity to PhD researchers to experience research in a different environment to that of a university, to engage with a range of research users and audiences, to gain insights into different potential postdoctoral career paths, and to make a tangible contribution to the purposes and programmes of a national library and major cultural organisation.

A broad range of opportunities to work with different collections are made available every year for projects of 3 months or part-time equivalent. Many of the projects are suitable for partial or full remote working.  A list of all available placement projects and full details of how to apply are available on the website here: https://www.bl.uk/news/2023/january/phd-placement-opportunities

 

Kate Ferry-Swainson exploring the National Theatre costume store.