The University of Westminster is delighted to invite applications for 3 Collaborative Doctoral Awards as part of the University’s AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award.
The AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award is a major new funding scheme from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Its aim is to grow the UK’s capacity for doctoral research in the arts and humanities and to create a vibrant, inclusive research culture.
Project overview
Soho is located at the heart of the City of Westminster and contains the largest concentration of LGBTQ+ businesses in the UK. Using a case study of queer businesses in this location, the project will aim to address the following research questions:
- What is an LGBTQ+ business
- Why, when and how did these businesses become established in Soho
- What role have they played in developing the gayborhood of Soho
- How do they identify and develop their market
- What challenges have they faced and how have they overcome them.
In the process, it is hoped that the project will help to identify factors and policies which support business resilience in this sector.
Core sources for this project already exist and have been identified within Westminster City Archives. Many papers within those archives have already been identified as containing relevant material ranging from photographs and newspaper cuttings to planning documentation and business records. This material nonetheless has yet to be investigated and interrogated. It is intended that this will be supplemented by:
- Additional archival sources, including material from the Soho Society, the London Archives and Bishopsgate Institute
- A programme of actively seeking to acquire relevant business archives because the records of LGBTQ+ businesses have rarely been actively collected
- Interviews with those involved in the development of key businesses and/or research on the memoirs of queer business owners.
This project will benefit from the partnership with Westminster City Archives. It will both draw on its existing LGBTQ+ collections and enhance them by providing additional context and content. It will also build upon a growing collaboration developed over the past three years. This has included the Westminster Creative Socials jointly organised by Westminster City Archives and the Westminster LGBT+ Forum (of which Professor Catterall is the co-chair). It will also benefit from a preliminary recently conducted jointly with Arc of Triumph on queer black nightlife in London.
Eligibility
The candidate should have the following required requisites:
- A good standard of spoken and written English
- Qualifications up to MA level, preferably in History or Business
In addition, the following qualities are desirable:
- Experience with archives
- Experience with oral history
- Familiarity with business history
- Understanding of queer theory and history
- Capacity to network (with the businesses involved)
- Capacity to work collaboratively within a team
How to apply
Under ‘Additional Course Questions’ in your application, it is essential that you include the title of the studentship: WCA - CDA.
Application deadline: 30 April 2026 (for a start date of 1 October 2026)
Interviews (online): the week commencing 25 May 2026
For informal enquiries about the project, please contact the lead co-supervisor Professor Pippa Catterall ([email protected]).