22 September 2011

Prestigious boost for humanities at Sheffield

The University of Sheffield's Faculty of Arts and Humanities has been given a substantial grant to enhance postgraduate research, thanks to the Wolfson Foundation.

The Wolfson Foundation is a charity that awards grants to support and promote excellence in the fields of science and medicine, health, education, and the arts and humanities.

Sheffield is one of only nine universities across the UK selected to take part in a pilot funding programme of postgraduate scholarships. Sheffield has been selected due to its track record in research excellence and proven success in attracting promising postgraduate students.

The Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarships in the Humanities will be in three disciplines - history, literature and languages, with each university being offered three Wolfson Scholarships, one for each of the disciplines. The Foundation will be donating up to £225,000 over three years, funding scholarships for three PhD students within the Faculty.

The scholarships will be awarded to outstanding students who demonstrate the potential to make an impact on one of these fields and to be future academic leaders. They will be awarded solely on merit to students aspiring to an academic career.

Professor Keith Burnett, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: "Receiving these scholarships is superb recognition of the outstanding work that goes on in our Faculty of Arts and Humanities. We are delighted to be one of the few universities on the Wolfson Foundation funding programme - an accolade that reflects the Faculty´s commitment to academic rigour and research excellence in the face of a challenging higher education climate."

Professor Mike Braddick, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Arts and Humanities at the University of Sheffield, said: "This very generous grant gives a tremendous vote of confidence in the value of the Arts and Humanities and in the role our Faculty will play in the future development of these disciplines. We are absolutely committed to the view that the Arts and Humanities have the power to change lives for the better. The students who take up these awards will be joining a Faculty which is committed to excellence in research and teaching, and through public engagement to demonstrating the civic value of education in these disciplines. We are extremely grateful to the Wolfson Foundation for its generous support for our work."

Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: "High quality research in the humanities is of critical importance to British society. The announcement of this pilot scheme reflects our concern about the effect of undergraduate debt on numbers of students continuing to postgraduate research. We are also acutely aware of pressures on funding in the humanities. The hope is that many students funded through this programme will be future academic leaders."

The first awards are for students beginning their doctoral study at the start of the academic year 2012-13.


To find out more about the University of Sheffield's Faculty of Arts and Humanities, visit: Faculty of Arts and Humanities