RWCMD and USW awarded prestigious AHRC Doctoral Focal Awards to power the creative economy

The Celtic Crescent Creative Economy Doctoral Focal Award will spearhead innovative research into the role of bilingual, rural and post-industrial communities in the creative economy, with a focus on regions often overlooked in national creative strategies.

This award will fund 20 PhDs, and brings together a consortium of universities committed to bilingualism, led by Bangor University and including Aberystwyth University, Falmouth University, Glasgow School of Art, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, The University of Aberdeen and the University of South Wales. The consortium is supported by 27 industry and sectoral partners, ranging from national public bodies, theatre groups, media producers and global craft producers like Harris Tweed.

AHRC’s awards are designed to deliver leading doctoral training that develops research capacity in strategic areas, tackles societal challenges through interdisciplinary arts and humanities research, and prepares students for diverse careers within and beyond academia. They also aim to address underrepresentation, close skills gaps, and strengthen collaboration between academia, industry, and communities for wider societal benefit.

USW was recently awarded a prestigious AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award and is also a partner in a second AHRC Focal Award, Lles, led by Swansea University, on behalf of the Wales Arts and Humanities Alliance, along with RWCMD. Lles focuses on the arts and humanities for a healthy people, planet and place, in a consortium of all Welsh HEIs who will work closely with the Office of Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.

Professor Christopher Smith, Executive Chair of the AHRC, said: 'Introducing Focal Awards allows us to support cohorts of students in centres of excellence for strategically valuable areas such as health and the creative economy.

'In the future, this approach will allow us in consultation with the sector, to provide support where it is needed to disciplines across the arts and humanities, vital skills and digital humanities. But the scope for individual projects is wide and autonomy for researchers remains as important as ever.

'The Focal Awards exemplify AHRC’s approach to doctoral training and our ambition for a sustainable portfolio providing support for training, investigator-led research, strategic direction and building the infrastructure necessary for people and ideas for the future of arts and humanities.'

Professor Lisa Lewis, Associate Dean for Research & Innovation, Faculty of Business and Creative Industries at USW said: 'USW is proud to be working in collaboration with partners on the AHRC Celtic Crescent Creative Economy Doctoral Focal Award to support research talent in underrepresented areas, regional innovation and cultural life. These PhD studentships, working in collaboration with industry and across three nations, will build research and innovation capacity, strengthening creative industries microclusters beyond urban centres and for the benefit of the wider creative economy.

'Our participation in this award, along with our recent AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award, and a further AHRC Doctoral Focal Award, underscores the excellent research and innovation in the Arts and Humanities and the Creative Industries at USW, and our commitment to developing the next generation of researchers to strengthen the creative economy and benefit our communities.'

Dr Jamie Lea, Senior Lecturer in Research & Innovation at RWCMD, added: ‘This award will enable inclusive research offering new approaches to producing creative work and experiences that enrich our sense of place. Professional practice and industry participation will be integral to this award, and RWCMD is proud to be able to bring our industry knowledge and expertise to a collaboration that develops doctoral research and innovation for the benefit of the creative economy across three nations.'

Recruitment for the Celtic Crescent PhDs will open next year, with students beginning in autumn 2026.