The UK¡¯s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is to cut the number of PhD students it funds by a quarter, from 425 to 300 a year.

Unveiling to its doctoral training provision on 20?September, the funder said it will reduce the number of students supported via doctoral training partnerships (DTPs) ¨C which represent 85?per cent of its postgraduate research portfolio ¨C to enable ¡°strategic investment¡± in other areas.

These include extra resources to maintain PhD entry levels in ¨C in which museums, libraries and other non-university organisations work with universities to support about 50 doctoral students a year ¨C and the reintroduction of , in which university consortia bid for doctoral funding relating to either the creative economy or environmental issues.

Under the plans, the number of PhDs funded by Britain¡¯s smallest research council, which had a budget of ?82 million this year, will fall to 300 per year by 2029-30.

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Announcing the changes, the council¡¯s executive chair, Christopher Smith, said the organisation¡¯s new approach ¡°will mean that we support fewer studentships¡±.

¡°We fully appreciate that this will be a major change for many institutions and it is not a decision that we have taken lightly,¡± said Professor Smith, noting that it is ¡°true that the costs of PhDs are going up and our funding does not stretch as far as it used to¡±.

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¡°However, we believe that our new approach will, crucially, ensure that our doctoral training provision is sustainable, scalable and equitable,¡± he added.

The cuts follow a substantial reduction in the AHRC¡¯s operating budget this year, mainly caused by the loss of about ?9 million related to non-core income streams such as the government¡¯s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Strategic Priorities Fund and the Fund for International Collaboration.

By 2024-25, it will receive only about ?3.8 million from these cross-UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) strategic programmes, compared with ?20.5 million in 2022-23, with its overall budget down from ?93 million to ?84 million, according to its .

The AHRC will also need to fund a higher PhD stipend that was raised by 5 per cent to, following a?10 per cent increase by UKRI in 2022-23.

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Professor Smith said the changes had been ¡°designed with future sustainability, both for AHRC and the students and institutions we support, in mind¡±, and following a report published in February, which highlighted ¡°challenges to our current approach, such as an inequality of participation and lack of diversity¡±.

On the reduction in support for DTPs, he added that ¡°we cannot maintain it at this level when there is a need to ensure that we address skills gaps in sectors that are key to the economy and society, and further diversity across the ecosystem through our investments¡±.

¡°AHRC doctoral provision is being structured to be in line with core strengths of the arts and humanities, enable a focus on skills that is responsive to high growth sectors, and the demands of the workforce of the future,¡± added Professor Smith, who said the ¡°AHRC will remain the UK¡¯s largest strategic funder of postgraduate research in the arts and humanities, and also continue to have the highest proportionate spend on postgraduate research of UKRI¡¯s councils¡±.

¡°We are committed to ensuring that we provide the very best support that we can for researchers across the ecosystem; this is the profound commitment that has driven these changes, and everything we do,¡± he said.

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Under the plans, DTPs will also be funded using a ¡°formula approach to allocate funding to DTPs rather than a competition¡± and ¡°will no longer need to apply for DTPs¡±.

¡°Funded HEIs will be informed in 2024, following light touch assurance to ensure a high-quality doctoral training environment,¡± the AHRC said.

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com