£1.8m research scheme to explore Wales’ history, culture and identity

More than £1.8 million is being invested in a new research scheme that will see PhD students work with some of Wales’ biggest cultural and heritage organisations to explore the country’s history, culture and identity.

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales has secured funding for the research project, The Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award, from Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The investment of over £1.8m will invite 18 PhD students to work in collaboration with university partners across Wales and the UK over the course of four years.

Museum Wales will be the consortium lead for the new funding scheme, along with The National Library of Wales, the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Cadw and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW).

The scheme will include 12 research hubs, bringing together the collections and resources of five of the largest culture and heritage organisations in Wales, with students examining Wales’ past, its influence on life in the country today, and questions around the future of Welsh culture and identity.

The partnership will prioritise the following research areas:

• Everyone is represented: How can we interpret collections and engage new audiences to tell new stories and re-tell familiar stories through new voices?

• Healthy places: How can cultural heritage support people, places and nature to thrive?

• Digital access to collections: How can digital tools and methods improve the creation, accessibility and availability of data and collections, as well as their interpretation and the types of stories told?

• Conservation: How can we manage decisions about conservation in contexts of widening participation and collection use, climate change adaption and landscape-scale change?

Current students on a similar studentship, The Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme, are already covering a range of topics.

Third year student Elise Unwin is looking at more recent history, with her research focusing on collecting a Covid archive at Amgueddfa Cymru.

Elise Unwin said: “The most exciting part of my research so far has been inviting original archive contributors to take part in oral history interviews, talking about what they remember from lockdowns compared with how they felt at the time.

“We’ve spoken to a woman that was pregnant during lockdown, a refugee, an intensive care nurse – a mixture of people with varying experience of the pandemic.

“I have found that talking about it in the present is helping people process their emotions now. Doing this research also shows how we can use museums and heritage to help people’s mental health and well-being.

“This work is important because it captures a diverse range of experiences from lockdown across Wales that future generations will also be able to learn from.

“This CDP opportunity at Amgueddfa Cymru makes me feel like I am truly able to contribute to a pivotal moment in our history and academic knowledge.”

Meanwhile, Dr Christopher Griffiths completed his PhD in 2025, focusing on Bronze Age hoarding practices in south-east and west Wales.

Dr Griffiths’  research was grounded in collaborative fieldwork, working closely with metal-detectorists and landowners in the co-production of archaeological knowledge.

He said: “This studentship allowed me to focus on the subject that I love but also explore new pathways and potential career options. It was the perfect opportunity to research into this subject in more detail and get more experience on the curatorial side of the work too, for example, cataloguing and accessioning.

“I’m now a curator of archaeology at Manchester Museum, which I started in the summer of last year. I know I would never have been able to get that job without the experience that I got from doing the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership here.”

Dr Jenny Geroni,  Head of Research for Amgueddfa Cymru, added: “We are delighted to have been successful in our application for the Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award. This is a significant achievement that brings together five of Wales’ largest cultural organisations to deepen our understanding of Welsh culture and heritage.

“One of our shared priorities is to explore new ways of interpreting collections and engaging with audiences, enabling us to tell new stories and re-examine familiar ones through diverse perspectives and voices. This award presents an exciting opportunity for those directly involved in the scheme, but also for Wales and future generations who will benefit from the research.”

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