The King’s Foundation PhD Scholarship

The King’s Foundation PhD Scholarship
in Traditional Building & Vernacular Architecture
at the University of Cambridge Department of Architecture

About the Scholarship

Applications are now open for The King’s Foundation PhD Scholarship in Traditional
Building & Vernacular Architecture—a fully funded Scholarship for doctoral study in
the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge.

This  prestigious  Scholarship  offers  a  unique  opportunity  to  study  sustainability  in
traditional building practices, examining how socio-cultural and technical elements of
vernacular architecture can inform and enable sustainable contemporary design.

The  Scholarship  recipient  will  join  a  research  group  working  across  The  King’s
Foundation’s areas of interest, and will be admitted to the PhD in Architecture in the
Department  of  Architecture.  They  are  expected  to  actively  engage  in  the  research
communities at both The King’s Foundation and the University of Cambridge.

Research Project Background

Working within a group of researchers and practitioners at The King’s Foundation, the
PhD Candidate will focus on questions relating to the synthesis of socio-cultural and
technical aspects of traditional and vernacular building.

Applicants should respond to the following research brief in their research proposals:

The study of vernacular and traditional architecture in the late-twentieth century had
an anthropological focus, studying the reciprocal relationship between building and
sense  of  place,  community  structure  and  culture.  In  the  last  20+  years,  focus  has
turned  to  documenting  the  sustainability  benefits  of  vernacular  and  traditional
building techniques, such as low embodied carbon in materials and design systems,
their  potential  building  physics  benefits,  and  their  ecological  and  human  health
implications.

To  work  with  traditional  buildings  today,  architects,  planners  and  development
professionals  should  synthesise  these  two  approaches—utilising  the  sustainability
benefits  of  vernacular  building  techniques  without  compromising  their  social  and
cultural functions. Few studies have acknowledged this divergence or tried to bridge
it, and there is a significant research gap in how building techniques, typologies and
designs combine the socio-cultural with the technical—and further in how to develop
frameworks that can help designers bring them together. Study in this field is essential,
given the parallel calls for people-centred, environmentally sustainable development.

The PhD Candidate will have access to The King’s Foundation and its ongoing work,
including  international  projects,  traditional  building  techniques  and  international
centres teaching traditional arts and building arts. They will also have access to The
King’s  Foundation’s  wide  range  of  heritage  sites,  urban  development  projects  and
networks of practitioners in the UK and internationally. The PhD Candidate will be
supervised  and  advised  by  members  of  an  interdisciplinary  group  from  across  The
King’s Foundation and the University of Cambridge based on the  relevance of their
expertise to the research proposed.

Award Information

Applications  are  welcomed  from  diverse  disciplinary  backgrounds  across  the  built
environment,  including  but  not  limited  to:  architecture,  landscape  architecture,
urbanism,  planning,  engineering,  and  architectural  history.  The  recipient  of  the
Scholarship will be recommended to the University of Cambridge for consideration for
doctoral study, for which they will need to apply separately (and will be supported by
The King’s Foundation in their application).

The  PhD  Scholarship  will  cover  fees  at  the  Home  rate  for  the  PhD  in  Architecture
(within the Department of Architecture) and provide a stipend above the UK Research
and  Innovation  rate  (a  minimum  of  £20,780  pa)  for  the  duration  of  fee  liability
(typically 3 years). Students with overseas status are welcome to apply but must fund
the remainder of their fees from alternative sources.

The  Scholarship  will  further  include  an  additional  provision  for  research  expenses.
Recipients  will  also  receive  mentoring  and  career  development  training,  including
organising and taking part in conferences and events with The King’s Foundation.

Applicants  must  have  a  degree  in  a  relevant  discipline  at  2:1  or  higher,  though
candidates with non-academic experience are encouraged. Applicants will be expected
to complete a PhD during the award period.  Please note that selecting highly-ranked
applicants for this Scholarship is a competitive process.

How to apply

To be considered for The King’s Foundation PhD Scholarship, applications must be
submitted directly to The King’s Foundation by Monday 6 April 2026.  To apply,
please  email  the  below  materials  to  “hr.recruitment@kings-foundation.org”,  with
subject line “PhD Scholarship Application – Architecture”:

•  Research Proposal (1000-1500 words)
•  CV/Resume (3 pages maximum)
•  Cover  letter  (2  pages  maximum),  including:  your  degree  grade  (as  can  be
evidenced in your transcript); the names of two  referees willing to give you a
reference;  the  title  of  your  Sample  of  Work  (maximum  5,000  words);  and
evidence  of  your  competence  in  English.  Details  of  each  of  these  will  be
requested at the shortlisting stage before interview.

Interviews will take place online in the week of 20 April 2026.

The  successful  candidate  will  then  be  supported  to  submit  their  University  of
Cambridge application online by Thursday 14 May 2026. Please see the University of
Cambridge Postgraduate Study Application Guide for more information on what will
be required on the University application form and supporting documents.

We will contact all candidates as soon as possible with the outcome of their application.

Support and Contact

For more information on the application process or to query a potential topic, please
contact  Dr  Wilfrid  Middleton  at  wilfrid.middleton@kings-foundation.org  or  Dr
Matthew Hardy at matthew.hardy@kings-foundation.org.