Playing at War - AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award

About the Project

The Imperial War Museums (IWM), and the University of Glasgow announce a fully funded Collaborative Doctoral Studentship from October 2026 under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP) scheme.

The project will investigate how IWM may find new, responsible ways of meaningfully transforming selected objects and narratives into playable experiences that support public engagement with war and conflict. By focusing on object-centred gamification, the project asks how games, analogue or digital, might deepen emotional, cognitive, and ethical understanding for diverse audiences, with particular emphasis on families and children.

This project will be supervised at IWM by Ian Kikuchi, and at the University of Glasgow by Dr Timothy Peacock and Dr Matthew Barr. You will be expected to spend time at both the University of Glasgow and IWM, as well as becoming part of the wider cohort of CDP-funded students. The studentship can be studied either full or part-time.

About the Project

Using a structured, object-centred approach through IWM’s Collections, this CDP will investigate how specific artefacts and narratives may be transformed into meaningful playable experiences for diverse audiences, including children, families, and intergenerational groups.

Selected Collections, chosen by the doctoral scholar consulting with IWM/HEI supervisors, will serve as a focal point (for example, particular conflicts or themes such as filmic, decolonial, and/or environmental impacts).

A combination of collection analysis, audience research, and co-design workshops (IWM visitors/staff) will allow iterative co-development of an analogue/digital game prototype to test hypotheses.

These case studies will provide exemplar outputs of best practice while also contributing to insights ensuring transferability and long-term value beyond the CDP:

• A practical, inclusive, evidence-based model around potential methods for gamifying conflict-related collections.
• A co-designed exemplar template, from researching how to gamify a selected IWM collection, evaluated with IWM staff and visitors.
• New understandings of ethical, emotional, and environmental considerations facing conflict museums adopting games and gamified methods.

This CDP builds on such initiatives as the War Games Exhibition and War Games Jam, while resonating with ongoing IWM projects from Duxford’s digital play and North’s ‘Mission Room’ to London’s expanding Schools Learning Sessions, and will contribute to IWM’s strategic priorities, including broadening participation and increasing interactivity, by offering directly actionable insights for future programming, family engagement, and onsite/digital experiences.

Research questions include:

• How can inclusive, ethical and sustainable playable experiences be built upon specific objects from the IWM collection?

Additional supplementary research questions (which may help inform the core research) include:

• How can we evaluate the suitability of different modes of playable experience (such as digital, analogue, or augmented reality) for application to different types of museum objects?
• How do children, families, and intergenerational groups engage with games about conflict within museum settings?
• What ethical, emotional, and environmental considerations may shape a museum’s responsible use of games in representing war?
• How may these insights produce a practical, transferable framework and a prototype game for IWM?

You will:

• Have flexibility in choosing the case-study collections, game formats, methods for audience testing, and the focus of prototype development, in consultation with IWM and the University of Glasgow.
• Have scope to pursue particular interests within the overall framework of the project, such as in emphasising analogue vs digital play, Augmented Reality potential, family learning, accessibility, and/or emotional engagement.
• Spend time carrying out research and gaining relevant experience with the partner in London and Duxford, enabling you to explore professional development opportunities within the IWM Institute for the Public Understanding of War and Conflict, and other parts of IWM.

Eligibility

See the latest revision of the AHRC Training Grant Funding Guide

We are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. Applications are particularly welcome from people of Global Majority backgrounds currently underrepresented at this level in this area.

Applicants should ideally have or expect to receive a relevant Masters-level qualification in a relevant subject Archaeology, Anthropology, Art History, History, War Studies or Museum Studies, or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a relevant professional setting.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest and aptitude for exploiting the unique possibilities of undertaking a collaborative doctorate that will allow them to develop career-enhancing skills in heritage, museum curation, and public engagement and potential and enthusiasm for developing skills more widely in related areas.

You will be expected to spend time at both the University and at IWM.

All applicants must meet UKRI terms and conditions for funding

How to Apply

You should complete an application to study a PhD in History (Research) at the University of Glasgow (supervisor Dr Timothy Peacock). All suitable applications will be considered for the scholarship. There is no need to complete a separate scholarship application. PhD applications should be submitted through the University of Glasgow’s postgraduate application system. Full information, advice and access to the application system is available here:

History Postgraduate Research at the University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is required to share your application and supporting documents with IWM. By applying you are agreeing to share your data with the IWM co-supervisors and research team.

Interviews will take place online on 1st July.

You are asked to complete a voluntary, anonymous EDI monitoring form.

Contact Details

• For questions regarding the project itself, contact Dr Timothy Peacock (Timothy.Peacock@glasgow.ac.uk)
• For queries about the University of Glasgow’s application process, contact Elison Roberts (Elison.Roberts@glasgow.ac.uk)
• For queries about the interview process or to request reasonable adjustments as part of the process, contact Dr Maria Castrillo Llamas (research@iwm.org.uk)

Funding Notes

CDP doctoral training grants fund full-time studentships for 48 months (4 years) or part-time equivalent up to a maximum of 8 years.

The award pays tuition fees up to the value of the full-time home fee. Research Councils UK Indicative Fee Level is £5,238* Students with an 'overseas' fee status are welcome to apply. The University of Glasgow have waived the difference between international and home fees, so international candidates do not need to cover this cost. They will be required to reside in the UK until completion of the PhD.

The award pays an annual stipend for all students, both home and international students. This stipend is tax-free, and is the equivalent of an annual salary, enabling the student to pay living costs. The UKRI Minimum Doctoral Stipend is £21,805*. There is also a CDP maintenance payment of £600 per year, plus an allowance of £1,000/year.

Further details can be found on the UKRI website.

The successful candidate is eligible to receive an additional travel and related expenses grant during the course of the project courtesy of IWM worth up to £1,000 per year for 4 years.

*current rate