Pension scheme
Flexible working
Discounts & tickets

PhD Placement - Cataloguing and Rehousing the Royal Photographic Society Collection

Salary Unpaid PhD Placement
Location Cromwell Road, London
{Mergefield Value}
{Mergefield Value}

This is a Temporary, Part Time vacancy that will close in {x} days at {xx:xx} BST.

The Role

About the V&A PhD Placement Scheme

The V&A PhD Placement Scheme offers PhD researchers in the UK and internationally the chance to gain professional experience outside a university setting. Placements are designed by V&A staff across collections departments, archives, the National Art Library, research, and collections care and access. Through them, researchers contribute to the V&A’s strategic objectives. Alongside hands-on experience and mentoring from their supervisors, placement students can join the museum’s wider programme of workshops, talks and postgraduate training, as well as a training package designed for the placement cohort.

V&A doctoral placements are unpaid and are only open to students currently studying on a funded PhD programme. Applicants will be asked to show that they receive a stipend for the duration of the placement that is at least equivalent to the UKRI national minimum doctoral rate. International students are welcome to apply.

About the Role

The V&A holds the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Collection, one of the most significant photography collections in the world. This placement introduces core archive practice through work on a series of photographic documentary material in the RPS Archive’s institutional records. You’ll help to describe, catalogue and rehouse the series, and use it as a practical case study to learn how archives are organised, described and preserved so that material is physically safe and discoverable by researchers. You’ll also come to understand photographs not only as images, but as records and physical objects with their own provenance, histories and material needs. The placement is supervised by Isidora Bell, Project Manager for the Royal Photographic Society.

The V&A

The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects, books and archives that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance.  

Our mission is to be recognised as the world's leading museum of art, design and performance, and to enrich people's lives by promoting research, knowledge and enjoyment of the designed world to the widest possible audience. We strive to make the V&A matter to more people and in that context we work to the following six strategic objectives:

  • To create a world class visitor and learning experience across all V&A sites and collections.
  • Focus and deepen the relevance of our collections to the UK creative and knowledge economy.
  • Expand the V&A's international reach, reputation and impact.
  • To operate with financial and organisational initiative and efficiency.
  • Showcase the best of digital design and deliver an outstanding digital experience.
  • Diversify and increase private and commercial funding sources.

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Benefits

Generous pension scheme

29 days plus bank holidays

Flexible working​

Tickets to V&A exhibitions

Subsidised staff canteen

25% discount in V&A shops

Give as you earn scheme

Bicycle loan

Interest-free season ticket

Interest-free rental deposit loan

Free safety checks and small repairs to your bike with Doctor Bike

Wide range of training and professional development opportunities

Employee Assistance Programme

Staff diversity networks

ED&I at The V&A

At the V&A, we are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for all and strive to go above and beyond public duty placed upon us by the Equality Act 2010.  As such, we are delighted to share that we are a Disability Confident Employer Level 2. The V&A makes the following commitments to all applications:  

  • The Disability Confident Employer scheme offers guaranteed interviews – Interviewing applicants with a disability who successfully evidence the essential criteria on a person specification and consider them on their abilities;  
  • Providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process.  
  • Making reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process so disabled job applicants have the best opportunity to demonstrate that they can do the job.  
  • Supporting employees and adjustments during employment.  

In some circumstances, such as when we receive a high volume of applications that meet the minimum criteria, we may not be able to guarantee an interview under the scheme. In these cases, we will interview only the highest-scoring applicants, from both people with disabilities and people without a disability.

Job Descriptions are currently uploaded as PDF's, if for any reason you require the documents in Word Format, please email careers@vam.ac.uk with your request.

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