AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Studentship

We invite applications for the following AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Studentship at the University of Kent and National Maritime Museum.

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and its networks of support and influence, 1675-1742

Deadline: 7 May 2018, 17:00

Supervisors: Dr Rebekah Higgitt (Senior Lecturer in History of Science, School of History, University of Kent) and Dr Richard Dunn (Senior Curator for the History of Science at the National Maritime Museum)


The Project

We seek applications from outstanding postgraduate students for this collaborative doctoral award, starting in September 2017. This project aims to develop a new approach to the institutional history of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Using the Observatory as a central hub, it proposes to explore the local, national and international networks of astronomy, practical mathematics, navigation, education, print and instrument making that supported its work and developing reputation. It will focus on the period of the first two Astronomers Royal, John Flamsteed and Edmond Halley, aiming to better understand the role, milieu and development of this key institution in its foundational years. This research will draw on work on geographies of knowledge, material culture and book history in order to gain a fuller picture of contexts in which mathematical and instrumental knowledge was developed and used. The project will make use of a range of archival sources and object, book and image collections, especially those of the NMM. The student will have the opportunity to enhance the Museum’s cataloguing and interpretation within public programming and displays, and to feed into the development of plans for the 350th anniversary of the Royal Observatory (2025-26), which forms part of the NMM (collectively, with The Queen’s House and Cutty Sark, known as Royal Museums Greenwich). They will also be able to contribute to Dr Higgitt’s research project, Metropolitan Science: Places, Objects and Cultures of Knowledge and Practice in London, 1600-1800, in partnership with the Science Museum.

Studentship information

The standard tuition fees and stipend (maintenance grant) will be paid by the AHRC to the award holder subject to the eligibility criteria outlined by them. The AHRC stipend for 2018/19 is £14,777 (full-time, pro-rata for part-time) plus an additional stipend of £500 for Collaborative Doctoral Students. The funding is for 3 years (full time) and there is an opportunity to apply for an additional six months of funding from the AHRC’s Student Development Fund, which can (subject to agreement) be used to support appropriate training or a placement based on the student’s individual training needs. The NMM will also provide £1000 per year for three years (subject to agreement) to support the student’s research-related expenses such as travel costs.


To apply:

Applicants should have: a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours degree in an appropriate discipline; a masters degree in an appropriate discipline, although applicants who do not hold a masters degree will be considered if they can demonstrate sustained and relevant experience and meet the criteria outlined in the AHRC guidelines.

Candidates must meet the AHRC's academic criteria and eligibility criteria: AHRC.


To apply please send the following by email as a single document (Word or PDF) to r.higgitt@kent.ac.uk.

• A cover letter.
• A current CV, including your academic qualifications to date and anticipated results if you are still studying.
• Two letters of academic reference to be included with the rest of your application. 

The deadline for applications is 17.00 on Monday 7 May. Shortlisted applicants will be asked to supply a writing sample on a related topic. Interviews will likely be held on 3 July.

For further information please contact Rebekah Higgitt r.higgitt@kent.ac.uk or Richard Dunn RDunn@rmg.co.uk.

https://www.kent.ac.uk/scholarships/search/FN05AHRCNM02​

Dr Rebekah Higgitt | Senior Lecturer in History of Science
Centre for the History of the Sciences | School of History
W2.W6 Rutherford College | University of Kent | Canterbury | Kent CT2 7NX
Web: http://www.kent.ac.uk/history/staff/profiles/higgitt.html

CALL FOR PAPERS: Thomas Harriot Seminar

Are you a researcher working on the late-sixteenth or early seventeenth century? Do you have research interests in any of the following fields: history of science, history of mathematics, the history of maritime exploration, navigation and early colonial America? If so, you might be interested in the Thomas Harriot Seminar, which meets annually (alternating between Durham University and Birkbeck, University of London). The seminar is named after the Elizabethan mathematician Thomas Harriot (1560-1621), and is devoted to the study of all of the areas in which Harriot was involved, this includes topics such as astronomy, atomism, alchemy and metallurgy, optics, statics and mechanics, algebra, geometry, number theory, navigational mathematics, maritime history, ballistics, the art of war, and early linguistics and cryptography. We would particularly welcome papers from younger scholars working in any of these fields (or cognate areas).

For more information please contact the Chairman, Dr Stephen Clucas or visit the Seminar’s website: Thomas Harriot Seminar


Dr Stephen Clucas,
Editor, Intellectual History Review

Reader in Early Modern Intellectual History,
Birkbeck, University of London,
Malet Street,
London WC1E 7HX

Tel: 020 3073 8421

Longitude: back and forth across the years

6:30 pm — 7:30 pm on Thursday 25 September 2014
at National Maritime Museum, London

Public event with Lord Martin Rees FRS and Dr Rebekah Higgitt, in partnership with the National Maritime Museum

The search for an accurate measurement of longitude is a fascinating story that transformed seafaring navigation forever. Many designs were submitted after the passing of the Longitude Act in 1714. Two complementary methods were developed that, ultimately, allowed the widespread adoption of the marine chronometer.

Was parliament's decision to offer a reward essential to these innovations? Are there lessons to be drawn about how we support science and technology? As the Royal Museum Greenwich open their exhibition Ships, Clocks & Stars about the quest for longitude, exhibition curator Dr Rebekah Higgitt and Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees explore these and other questions whilst discussing the impacts of the Act over the last 300 years and what the future may bring from the discoveries of Nesta’s newly launched 2014 Longitude Prize.

This event will be followed by a late opening of Ships, Clocks & Stars.

The discussion will be chaired by UK Space Agency research Fellow, Dr Lewis Dartnell.

Attending this event:

Tickets are required for this event and may be purchased from the National Maritime Museum. Tickets are £5, £4 members for event-only; £12 for event and exhibition ticket.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/tickets
Enquiries: Contact the events team – events@royalsociety.org
Read more about the quest for longitude here: http://blogs.royalsociety.org/history-of-science/2014/09/15/longitude/

Benjamin Palmer
Events Officer, Public Engagement
T +44 20 7451 2241
The Royal Society
6-9 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AG
royalsociety.org

Registered Charity No 207043