Current placement opportunities

Organisation name: Schools of Empire Project, hosted by Rugby School and St Paul’s School

Organisation website: www.schoolsofempireproject.org

Location of placement: Rugby, Warwickshire and Hammersmith, London

Timeframe: Placements of up to twelve weeks in length, to begin in March 2027

To apply: To apply, please send a CV and 300-word statement of interest to training@oocdtp.ac.uk by 12 noon on Friday 27 November 2026.

Application deadline: 12 noon Friday 27 November.

Placement Description:

Schools of Empire: Class and Colonialism, c.1750–c.1945 is a research project to study the role that Class and Colonialism played in the history of Rugby and other British schools. Hosted by the History Departments at Rugby School and St Paul’s School, the direction of the Schools of Empire project is overseen by an independent academic advisory board.

Drawing on the rich resources of the school archives at Rugby School and St Paul’s School, one of the central aims of the project is to facilitate and support independent research. Over the course of the project, internships will be offered to support doctoral researchers interested in exploring the historical intersection between schools, class and colonialism.

There is freedom to develop research interests and creative responses to the Project, but successful applicants may wish to explore one or more of the following themes:

• Race, class, empire, and student literary culture
• Chapel life and empire
• Colonial networks
• Pedagogy, curricula, masculinity, and empire
• Prototypes of power: the idea of the British public school in colonial settings
• Exploration, natural history, and empire: natural history and art collections c. 1800-1945
• Subjects of empire: overseas students in British school settings c. 1800-1945

Given the geographical and chronological breadth of the collections, applicants would be encouraged to focus on any aspect and on any period c.1750-1945, provided the research project make some use of either the Rugby School or St Paul’s archive collections, or both. Interdisciplinary approaches are welcome, and researchers may have the opportunity to carry out archival research at other schools within the Schools of Empire Network.

The doctoral researchers will explore the archival collections of the schools in digital and physical format, pursuing original research. These grants will last up to 12 weeks. Suggested outcomes, alongside original research, include (but are not limited to): delivering papers to student history societies, articles in school publications, blog posts and podcasts on the project website. Creative responses (film-making, performance, online exhibition curatorship) are also welcome. The anticipated archival time on site is no more than 3-5 days in total; most of the internship will be conducted remotely using digital resources gathered at source. Interns will be supported with additional funding from the Schools of Empire Project to cover travel and associated expenses such as accommodation (budgeted at £800 per intern).

Skills, knowledge or experience needed:

An interest in history, archives and museum exhibitions. Opportunity is available to candidates who have completed at least one year of doctoral research.

Project: Traces of Resilience
Organisation: West Horsley Place

Website: Home | West Horsley Place

Duration: 3 months full time or an extended duration part time

Timing: Timeline to be agreed in consultation with the project team.

Location: Hybrid (remote working with occasional on-site/archive research, subject to access requirements).

To Apply: To apply please send a CV and a 500-word statement outlining relevant skills and research interests to jo.ellison@westhorsleyplace.org. by the closing date of Friday 30 October 2026.

Project Description:

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an AHRC-funded doctoral researcher to undertake a placement exploring historical representation and disability history at West Horsley Place, a Grade I listed medieval manor house and small, dynamic heritage site.

As the placement holder, you will contribute to Traces of Resilience, a live heritage research and engagement project led by the West Horsley Place Access Panel. The project seeks to identify, contextualise, and critically interpret the lives of disabled individuals connected to West Horsley Place and its surrounding locality. It responds to long-standing gaps in historical representation and aims to embed disability history within the public interpretation of the site through a co-produced exhibition and associated creative engagement.

The project is underpinned by current scholarship in disability history and critical heritage studies, particularly approaches that interrogate archival absence, historic terminology, and the ethics of representation.

Placement holder:

Responding to a research brief, you will conduct targeted archival and contextual research to inform the intellectual framework of the project and provide a rigorous evidential basis for subsequent community co-production.

This placement is intended to support high-quality, critical research rather than exhaustive archival completion, and explicitly recognises the interpretive significance of silences and absences within the historical record. You will gain the opportunity to see how research informs heritage practice in real time.

What you will do:

• Undertake desk-based and archival research relating to disabled individuals connected to West Horsley Place and its locality
• Analyse historic sources with attention to changing language, attitudes, and frameworks of disability
• Identify key case studies, themes, and interpretive questions emerging from the research
• Critically document gaps, silences, and ambiguities within the archive where relevant
• Produce a written research report and annotated bibliography suitable for use by heritage professionals and community partners
• Contribute to the early interpretive framing of a public exhibition and engagement programme
• Engage in regular project meetings (online and in person) with the project team to ensure research findings fulfil the needs of the on-site team.
• Participate in and share findings through an end-of-project workshop with academics and sector professionals.
• Participate in a knowledge exchange workshop with Access panel members and representatives from disability charities with the purpose of translating academic findings into accessible, community related themes.

What you will gain:

• Bespoke experience of conducting research to meet heritage sector need.
• First-hand understanding of how academic research informs heritage interpretation and practice.
• An opportunity to grow your networks across the academic and heritage sectors.
• A direct role in shaping interpretation, programming and practice at a dynamic and forward-thinking heritage site.
• On the ground experience of co-producing research-led outputs with input from diverse stakeholders.

Person Specification

Essential

• Have experience of conducting research to a high standard.
• Strong communication skills and experience
• An understanding of the use of research in historical sites for diverse audiences.

Desirable

• Research interest or publications relating to disability history
• Experience working with heritage organisations, museums, or public history projects
• Lived experience of disability
• Have an interest in working with or in the heritage sector. 

We particularly welcome applications from disabled academics and researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, in line with the project’s values and aims.

Access and Working Arrangements

The commissioning body is committed to inclusive research practice and is open to discussing reasonable adjustments, flexible working patterns, and alternative approaches to research and reporting.

Application Process

Please direct any questions about the role to Jo Ellison, Arts, Heritage and Learning Coordinator at West Horsley Place Trust jo.ellison@westhorsleyplace.org

To apply please send a CV and a 500-word statement outlining relevant skills and research interests to jo.ellison@westhorsleyplace.org.

Closing date: Friday 30 October 2026

Interviews: Online interviews will take place during the week commencing 9 November 2026.