About the Project
This fully funded PhD project is part of the North-Sea Heritage in Transitions ( NHT ) AHRC Doctoral Focal Award between the University of Aberdeen, University of the Highlands and Islands, and Robert Gordon University, which addresses the role of art history, visual arts and creative practice in a region undergoing cultural transition. NHT supports place-based doctoral research to strengthen and empower a regionally-significant cultural workforce for a national and international creative…
economy.
This PhD will be hosted by Robert Gordon University under the lead supervision of Dr Chris Fremantle (Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University), with Dr Isabelle Gapp (University of Aberdeen) and Dr Jonathan Scott (Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, Robert Gordon University) as co-supervisors. The successful applicant will be part of an interdisciplinary cohort of North-Sea Heritage in Transitions students based in Aberdeen, Orkney and Shetland.
Over the past few centuries, Scotland has been an importer of wood from neighbouring Scandinavia, and whilst imports are now drawn from more diverse sources, the North Sea region remains a key part of the wider value chain. At the same time, processes of afforestation and reforestation are transforming Scotland's landscapes, with the Scottish Government targeting 21% forest cover by 2032.
Emerging from the forestry industry is what is commonly known as wood culture – a circular and interconnected system of relationships between people and wood, encompassing heritage, craft, design, making and sustainability. As the number of forested landscapes, new tree species, woodland enterprises, and timber products continues to grow, so too does the need for a productive wood culture capable of supporting these transitions.
This PhD project asks: How can heritage and creative practice help build a productive wood culture in Scotland's expanding forests?
Adopting a place-based approach within the North-East of Scotland, the student will draw upon the region's rich woodland heritage, landscape art history, archives and collections, and contemporary creative activity to investigate how culture-based action can contribute to sustainable woodland futures. The project will explore the role that heritage, creative practice and public engagement can play in shaping relationships between people, forests, timber and woodland products, considering how cultural knowledge, skills and traditions might support Scotland's changing forestry landscape. The student will also be encouraged to think transnationally, exploring shared heritage connections with Scandinavia as a way to inform contemporary culture-based approaches to afforestation and reforestation.
The successful applicant will develop their own research area within this broader theme. Projects might explore topics such as woodland heritage and changing forest landscapes; environmental art histories of timber production and trade across the North Sea region; traditional and contemporary woodworking practices; creative responses to forestry and woodland management; material cultures, architecture and timber design; imagined future products; community engagement with forests; or the role of heritage in supporting a circular wood economy. Applicants are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary approaches that combine humanities research with creative, practice-based or participatory methods.
Based at Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University, the student will be a part a vibrant multidisciplinary research community. In addition to joining the AHRC DFA North-Sea Heritage in Transitions, they will be involved in SPARK, the Practice-led Research Group at Gray’s as well as the cross -institutional Environment and Arts Research Network and The Centre for the North at the University of Aberdeen. They will benefit from a wealth of ongoing experience within Gray’s School of Art on afforestation and reforestation through the UKRI Future of UK Treescapes programme and the RSE-funded NewLeaves Network focused on the role of artists in developing living forest artworks.
Working closely with project partners across the forestry and agriculture (e.g. The James Hutton Institute), heritage and cultural sectors (e.g. National Trust for Scotland; Historic Environment Scotland; Deveron Projects), the student will develop original research that demonstrates the value of culture-based action in supporting the North Sea regions’ expanding forests. The project will contribute to wider debates surrounding sustainability, environmental heritage and the future of productive landscapes, while producing research with academic, cultural and societal impact.
North-Sea Heritage in Transitions Training Programme
Each studentship will benefit from NHT’s bespoke training programme developed by the three partner institutions and in collaboration with international project partner, the University of Stavanger. Further information on the training on offer can be found on our website.
Candidate Background
Applicants should hold a first-class or upper second-class degree and/or master's degree in a relevant discipline such as Fine Art, Design, Architecture, Art History, Environmental History or Cultural History. Where relevant, the applicant might include evidence of a portfolio of research-led creative practice, and/or a substantial research-led professional creative practice will be considered as an alternative to a master's degree. Evidence of existing work focused by place-based ecological or regenerative concerns is desirable, as is experience of interdisciplinary and co-creative or participatory approaches.
Enquiries are encouraged, for further information please contact Dr Chris Fremantle (c.fremantle@rgu.ac.uk)
Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion is core to the AHRC North-Sea Heritage in Transitions Doctoral Focal Award. We actively encourage applications from diverse career paths, backgrounds, and all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status, amongst other protected characteristics.
We also invite applications from those returning from a career break, professional practice or other roles. We typically require a minimum 2:1 in your first degree (or equivalent), but exceptions can be made where applicants can demonstrate excellence in alternative ways, including, but not limited to, performance in master’s courses, professional placements, internships or employment experience – this will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and is dependent upon approval from the relevant host institution. We offer flexible study arrangements such as part-time study (minimum 50%), however this does depend on the nature of the project/research so will be assessed individually.
Application Procedure
The full application procedure can be found on our website.
Please ensure you follow the application procedure carefully, as we cannot consider incomplete or incorrectly submitted applications.
This project ID is NHT_RGU_CF
Funding Notes
This fully funded, 42-month PhD project is offered through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) North Sea Heritage in Transitions Doctoral Focal Award.
The studentship provides an additional six months for placements, work experience, or writing up. It is open to UK and international applicants, but international recruitment via AHRC funding is capped at 30%.
Funding covers tuition fees, a tax-free stipend at the applicable UKRI rate (£21,383 for the 2026/27 academic year), and access to a Research Training Support Grant for research activities.
Please note we cannot fund visa costs or healthcare surcharges for international students.
References
- Fremantle, Chris, Deirdre Heddon, and Rachel Clive. 2026. ‘NewLeaves Network Case Study’. Culture for Climate Scotland. https://cultureforclimate.scot/casestudy/newleaves-network/.
- Fremantle, Chris, Jo Vergunst, Louise J. Barwell, et al. 2025. ‘What Do Indeterminacy and Uncertainty Mean in Landscape Research? Perspectives from Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts’. Landscape Research, August 21, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2025.2537772.
- Douglas, Anne, and Chris Fremantle. 2024. Thinking with the Harrisons: Re-Imagining the Arts in the Global Environment Crisis. Leuven University Press.
- Gapp, Isabelle. 2024. A Circumpolar Landscape: Art and Environment in Scandinavia and North America, 1890-1930. Northern Lights. Lund Humphries.
- Heddon, Deirdre, and Misha Myers. 2020. ‘A Library to Walk into the Forest’. The Ecologist, July 3. https://theecologist.org/2020/jul/02/library-walk-forest.
- Wallen, Ruth. 2019. ‘Walking with Trees’. Dark Matter: Women Witnessing 9. http://www.darkmatterwomenwitnessing.com/issues/Oct2019/articles/Ruth-Wallen_Walking-with-Trees.html.
- Collins, Timothy M., Reiko Goto-Collins, and David Edwards. 2018. ‘A Critical Forest Art Practice: The Black Wood of Rannoch’. Landscape Research 43 (2): 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2017.1318119.
- Hemery, Gabriel, and Sarah Simblet. 2014. The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest & Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century. Bloomsbury.
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