A Paper World: The Collection & Investigation of Plant Materials for Paper
Making, c.1830-1914
AHRC PhD Studentship
Applications are invited for a fully-funded PhD studentship on the history of
collections of plant materials for paper making at Royal Holloway, University
of London, in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This award,
tenable for three years and covering both fees and an enhanced maintenance
grant, is made by the TECHNE AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership under the
National Productivity Investment Fund Partnership Award scheme. The project,
due to begin in September 2017 or as soon as possible thereafter, will be
supervised by Professor Felix Driver (at Royal Holloway) and Dr Mark Nesbitt
(RBG Kew).
The Project
Innovations in the technology of print and the vast expansion of publishing
during the nineteenth century stimulated the global search for new sources of
paper. A wide variety of natural sources for paper-making were experimented
with prior to the large-scale mechanisation of papermaking using wood pulp from
the 1880s. While the economics of papermaking attracted the attention of
industrialists and botanists, there was also a longstanding ethnographic
interest in techniques of indigenous papermaking, stimulated by the accounts of
overseas travellers and explorers. This combination of economic and
ethnographic interest inspired the assembling of collections of different types
of paper, analogous to collections of indigenous textiles in the period.
Focussing on the unrivalled collection of plant materials and manufactured
papers from many parts of the world held in the Economic Botany Collection at
Kew, the studentship provides an opportunity to explore the economic, cultural
and technical significance of the search for alternative sources of material
for paper making during the Victorian era. The PhD thesis is likely to take the
form of a series of well-chosen case studies, raising wider questions
concerning the formation of knowledge about raw materials, technologies and
commodities. In addition to work with the Economic Botany Collection at Kew,
the project will involve archival research in official, business and private
papers at Kew and elsewhere in the UK. There will also be opportunities within
the public programmes of RBG Kew to present this research to wider audiences.
The project forms part of an ongoing research collaboration between Royal
Holloway and Kew Gardens, including a large AHRC project led by the
co-supervisors ('The Mobile Museum: Economic Botany in Circulation').
The Studentship
The studentship includes a stipend of £16,553 (plus fees at home/EU rates) for
three years. There is an additional NPIF £550 per year to facilitate engagement
with the Partner, and students can apply for an additional six months stipend
to engage in extended development activities such as work placements. As a
TECHNE student, the successful candidate will have full access to the TECHNE
Doctoral Training Partnership development activities and networking
opportunities, joining a cohort of about 50 students per year from across seven
universities in London and the south-east. TECHNE students can apply for
additional funding to support individual or group training and development
activities.
Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree in history, geography,
anthropology or other relevant discipline. Preference may be given to
candidates with prior experience in working with material culture, museum
and/or archival collections, though others are encouraged to apply. Applicants
must meet the UK/EU residency requirements as described in paragraphs 43-46 of
the 'Conditions of Research Council Training Grants' and comply with conditions
set out in the AHRC Training Grant Funding Guide.
How to Apply
Applicants should submit (1) a two-page curriculum vitae, including contact
details of one academic referee, and (2) a 1-2 page letter outlining your
qualification for the studentship to: Professor Felix Driver, Dept of
Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX
([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>) no later than 4 August 2017.
Interviews are scheduled to be held at Kew on 16 August 2017.
Further Information
Full project details
https://www.rhul.ac.uk/geography/documents/pdf/newsarticles/ahrc-techne-partnership-award-full-description.pdf
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