Culture Team Doctoral Placements (Royal Holloway Students)

Archive Assistant Doctoral Placement: Contemporary Student Collecting  

Come and gain professional skills working as part of Royal Holloway’s Cultural Services Team! 

The university archives and special collections are a rich resource for research, teaching and public engagement with strengths in women’s history, theatre collections and rare books.

This is an exciting role for a current doctoral student to join our small team and play an important part in making our archival collections accessible to broad audiences, supporting their use in teaching, research, exhibitions and public engagement. The role holder will be introduced to a wide range of archival practice, and receive training in cataloguing, object handling, digitisation and the running of a professional archive service.

As part of the Contemporary Student Collecting Placement, the placement holder will help shape the future of our institutional archives by acquiring materials that reflect student experiences, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The placement also includes showcasing these materials and enhancing their accessibility through promotion online.

Working closely with the university Archivist and Special Collections Curator and wider Culture Team, including our regular programme of volunteers, the placement holder will gain a comprehensive understanding of archives and collections and their role within the higher education landscape, as well as a range of transferable professional skills.

This is a 3-month placement for current doctoral students at Royal Holloway. The University is committed to equality and diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community. We will be undertaking anonymised shortlisting for this post. Resumes/CVs and personal statements which may compromise this process will not be reviewed.  A copy of the Job Description and Person Specification is available here.

Curatorial Assistant Doctoral Placement: Young People

Come and gain professional skills working as part of Royal Holloway’s Cultural Services Team! The university’s art and object collections are a significant resource for research, teaching, and public engagement, with strengths in Victorian paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts.

This is an exciting role for a current doctoral student to join our small team and play an important part in making our collections accessible to broad audiences, supporting their use in teaching, research, and public engagement. The role holder will gain hands-on experience in collections management, curatorial research, digitisation, and exhibition planning.

As part of this placement, the student will work on developing inclusive materials and programmes to engage young people with the university’s collections and cultural spaces. The placement will explore ways to present collections in ways that are relevant and accessible to young people, linking themes and subjects of artworks and exhibitions to current social issues. The student will also create resources and outreach materials for use with community groups, colleges, and schools (ages 15-24), helping to foster connections and raise awareness of the collections.

Working closely with the Head of Cultural Services and the wider Culture Team, including our regular programme of volunteers, the placement holder will gain a comprehensive understanding of curatorial work, collections care, and public engagement within the higher education landscape, as well as a range of transferable professional skills relevant to the heritage, education, and third sectors.

 This is a 3-month placement for current doctoral students at Royal Holloway. The University is committed to equality and diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community. We will be undertaking anonymised shortlisting for this post. Resumes/CVs and personal statements which may compromise this process will not be reviewed. A copy of the Job Description and Person Specification is available here.

Closing Date: 17 Apr 2025

Section: Casual