AHRC North-Sea Heritage in Transitions: Doctoral Research Opportunity in Art History, Visual Arts and Creative Practice in Scotland

The AHRC North-Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT) is a major doctoral research initiative led by the University of Aberdeen, designed to develop research talent and strengthen the role of art history, visual arts, heritage and creative practice in Scotland’s North Sea region.

Supported through an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Focal Award, the initiative brings together the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University (RGU), and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) to create a collaborative research environment focused on a region experiencing profound economic, environmental and cultural change.

The programme is particularly relevant to researchers interested in the relationship between heritage, visual culture, creative practice, environmental transition, industrial change, community development and cultural regeneration.

About the AHRC North-Sea Heritage in Transitions Initiative

The North-Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT) initiative is an ambitious investment in doctoral research and research talent across Scotland’s North Sea region.

The initiative has been established to address the changing role of art, heritage, visual culture and creative practice within a region undergoing substantial economic, environmental and cultural transformation.

Rather than treating heritage simply as something connected to the past, NHT approaches heritage as an active and evolving part of contemporary regional life.

The initiative recognises that Scotland’s North Sea region is experiencing major changes in how communities, industries and landscapes are understood and represented. These changes create important questions for researchers working across the arts and humanities.

Through doctoral research, NHT aims to investigate these questions while developing researchers who can contribute to Scotland’s cultural sector and the wider national and international creative economy.

Why Is North-Sea Heritage in Transitions Important?

Scotland’s North Sea region has a distinctive history shaped by energy production, maritime exchange, industrial development and economic transformation.

For generations, the region has been closely associated with energy production and maritime activity. However, the transition toward a low-carbon future is changing the economic and social landscape.

This transition creates new challenges and opportunities for communities, cultural organisations, researchers, artists and heritage professionals.

The NHT initiative therefore asks important questions about how places and communities can understand, preserve, reinterpret and create heritage during periods of significant change.

The initiative focuses particularly on how art history, visual arts and creative practice can contribute to understanding and responding to these transformations.

Researching a Region in Economic Transition

The North Sea region is undergoing significant economic restructuring as traditional energy systems evolve and new low-carbon industries emerge.

Economic transition can affect much more than employment and industry. It can also influence:

• Community identity
• Local histories
• Industrial heritage
• Cultural institutions
• Landscapes and built environments
• Relationships between communities and places
• Artistic practices
• Regional narratives
• Public perceptions of the future
• Cultural and creative industries

NHT provides an opportunity for doctoral researchers to examine these interconnected issues through research in the arts and humanities.

The initiative recognises that cultural research can play an important role in helping communities understand where they have come from while considering what their future might look like.

Focus Areas of the NHT Research

The North-Sea Heritage in Transitions initiative centres on several interconnected areas of research.

1. Art History

Art history provides an important framework for understanding how people, places, communities and historical events have been represented over time.

Doctoral research within the NHT environment can contribute to understanding the visual history of the North Sea region and how artistic representations have changed alongside economic, environmental and social developments.

Research in this area may help explore questions concerning:

• Historical representations of North Sea communities
• Industrial and maritime imagery
• Regional artistic traditions
• Changing representations of landscapes
• Cultural memory
• Relationships between art and place
• The interpretation of historical visual materials

2. Visual Arts

Visual arts are another central component of North-Sea Heritage in Transitions.

Visual practices can provide powerful ways of documenting and interpreting changes taking place within communities and landscapes.

As the region experiences economic and environmental transition, artists and researchers can explore how these changes are represented, remembered and experienced.

The initiative’s emphasis on visual culture creates space for research examining the relationship between visual representation, identity, place and transition.

3. Creative Practice

NHT also places significant emphasis on creative practice.

Creative practice can provide alternative approaches to research, allowing researchers and cultural practitioners to explore complex questions through artistic and experimental methods.

This can include approaches that connect research with:

• Communities
• Cultural organisations
• Artists
• Heritage practitioners
• Digital technologies
• Public engagement
• Regional development
• Environmental questions

The initiative therefore positions creative practice not only as a cultural activity but also as a means of research, engagement and regional development.

Heritage and Cultural Regeneration

One of the central ideas behind North-Sea Heritage in Transitions is that heritage and culture can contribute to regional regeneration.

As economic structures change, communities may need to reconsider how their histories and cultural identities are understood.

Heritage can contribute to this process by helping communities:

• Preserve important histories
• Understand changing landscapes
• Maintain cultural identity
• Reinterpret industrial legacies
• Connect generations
• Encourage community participation
• Develop new cultural initiatives
• Strengthen local creative economies

The initiative therefore connects doctoral research with broader questions about the future of Scotland’s North Sea region.

A Collaborative Doctoral Research Environment

A major feature of North-Sea Heritage in Transitions is its collaborative structure.

The initiative brings together three institutions:

University of Aberdeen

The University of Aberdeen leads the AHRC Doctoral Focal Award and provides a major research environment for the initiative.

Robert Gordon University

Robert Gordon University is a partner institution contributing to the collaborative doctoral research environment.

University of the Highlands and Islands

The University of the Highlands and Islands is also part of the partnership, helping extend the initiative’s research and regional connections.

This collaboration allows doctoral researchers to benefit from an environment that connects different academic perspectives, institutions and regional networks.

Building a New Generation of Researchers

NHT is designed not only to conduct research but also to develop research talent.

The initiative aims to establish distinctive doctoral cohorts capable of examining North Sea visual culture while working collaboratively with cultural practitioners.

This means that doctoral researchers can become part of a broader research community rather than working entirely in isolation.

The cohort-based approach can encourage:

• Interdisciplinary collaboration
• Peer learning
• Research networking
• Knowledge exchange
• Engagement with cultural practitioners
• Development of professional skills
• Collaboration across institutions

For researchers planning careers in academia, cultural organisations, heritage, creative industries or related sectors, this type of research environment can provide valuable professional development.

Strengthening Creative and Digital Skills

Another major objective of NHT is to strengthen creative and digital capabilities.

The contemporary cultural sector increasingly requires researchers and practitioners who can combine traditional humanities knowledge with digital and creative skills.

Through its emphasis on art history, visual arts and creative practice, the initiative aims to enhance capabilities that can be relevant at:

• Regional level
• National level
• International level

Digital skills can be particularly valuable for researchers working with contemporary visual culture, digital heritage, creative technologies and new forms of public engagement.

Partnerships and Career Development

North-Sea Heritage in Transitions also places strong emphasis on partnerships.

The initiative seeks to support partnerships that deliver North Sea-specific expertise while creating stronger career pathways in the arts, heritage and creative sectors.

This is important because doctoral graduates increasingly pursue careers beyond traditional academic positions.

Potential professional environments associated with the broader research and cultural ecosystem can include:

• Universities and research institutions
• Museums and galleries
• Heritage organisations
• Cultural policy organisations
• Creative industries
• Arts organisations
• Digital cultural projects
• Community-based cultural initiatives
• Regional development organisations

The combination of doctoral research, creative skills and partnership experience can therefore help researchers develop expertise applicable across multiple professional environments.

Key Objectives of North-Sea Heritage in Transitions

The initiative’s work can be understood through three major objectives.

1. Develop distinctive doctoral cohorts

NHT aims to build doctoral research communities capable of analysing and creating North Sea visual culture.

Researchers will be encouraged to engage with cultural practitioners and address questions associated with:

• Geopolitical change
• Environmental transition
• Social transformation
• Cultural identity
• Regional development

2. Strengthen creative and digital capabilities

The programme seeks to enhance creative and digital skills that can strengthen the capacity of researchers and practitioners across Scotland and beyond.

These skills are increasingly important within the modern arts, heritage and creative economy.

3. Create stronger partnerships and career pathways

NHT aims to establish partnerships that generate specialised knowledge about the North Sea region while supporting professional opportunities in the arts, heritage and creative sectors.

Why This Research Matters for the Future of the North Sea Region

The transition to a low-carbon economy is not simply a technological or economic process.

It also involves questions of identity, history, memory, community and culture.

When major industries change, communities may experience changes to employment, landscapes, institutions and collective identities.

Industrial and maritime heritage can become particularly important during these periods because it provides a connection between the region’s past and its emerging future.

Artistic and creative practices can help communities explore these changes in ways that complement conventional economic or environmental research.

This makes the NHT initiative particularly significant for researchers interested in the intersection between culture and transition.

Geographic and Regional Focus

The central geographical focus is Scotland’s North Sea region.

The initiative is concerned with the distinctive cultural, economic, environmental and historical characteristics of this region.

Its place-based approach means that research is expected to engage meaningfully with the region’s particular circumstances rather than treating cultural transition as an abstract or purely theoretical issue.

The North Sea region’s history of:

• Energy production
• Maritime exchange
• Industrial transformation
• Community development
• Environmental change

provides a rich context for doctoral research.

Is There an Application Deadline?

No application deadline is provided in the information supplied for this opportunity.

The material describes the AHRC North-Sea Heritage in Transitions initiative and its research objectives but does not provide:

• An application opening date
• A closing date
• A specific doctoral project deadline
• A scholarship application deadline
• An admissions deadline

Prospective applicants should therefore verify the current application timetable, available doctoral projects and funding conditions with the participating universities before making plans.

Click HERE to read more and apply.

Important Information About Funding

The information provided identifies NHT as an AHRC Doctoral Focal Award, but it does not specify the individual funding amount, stipend, tuition-fee coverage, eligibility requirements or number of doctoral positions available.

Therefore, applicants should not assume that every doctoral position associated with the initiative has identical funding conditions.

Specific information such as:

• Tuition fee coverage
• Living stipend
• Research expenses
• International student eligibility
• Residency requirements
• Duration of funding
• Application procedure
• Individual research project requirements

should be checked against the official doctoral opportunity or project announcement.

Conclusion

The AHRC North-Sea Heritage in Transitions initiative represents an important investment in doctoral research at the intersection of art history, visual arts, creative practice and regional cultural transformation.

Led by the University of Aberdeen in partnership with Robert Gordon University and the University of the Highlands and Islands, the initiative responds to the profound changes taking place across Scotland’s North Sea region as the area moves from its historic dependence on energy production and industrial activity toward a lower-carbon future.

Its significance extends beyond academic research. By connecting doctoral researchers with cultural practitioners, creative organisations and regional partners, NHT aims to strengthen the cultural workforce, develop creative and digital capabilities, support community wellbeing and contribute to cultural regeneration.

For prospective researchers interested in heritage, visual culture, art history, creative practice and the cultural dimensions of economic and environmental transition, North-Sea Heritage in Transitions offers a distinctive research environment focused on one of Scotland’s most rapidly changing regions.

The initiative’s combination of doctoral training, interdisciplinary research, creative practice, regional engagement and cultural-sector partnerships makes it a potentially valuable pathway for researchers seeking to contribute to the future of arts, heritage and creative economies in Scotland and beyond.

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