Call for Applications: Fully Funded 2026 CAMHRA Doctoral scholarships for applicants from the UK and internationally

Ednah Carrick November 11, 2025

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Closing Date: 5 January 2026

Call for Applications: Fully Funded 2026 CAMHRA Doctoral scholarships for applicants from the UK and internationally

CAMHRA Doctoral scholarships Overview

The Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action (CAMHRA) is holding the second and final year of its current Doctoral Scholarship Programme. CAMHRA invites applications from those seeking to advance research that brings anthropological insight to bear on the field of mental health.

Recently established within the SOAS Department of Anthropology and Sociology, CAMHRA is a globally oriented and locally connected hub for cutting-edge anthropological research, education, and public engagement on mental health. Working with partners across academia, statutory healthcare, and policy, and alongside service users, CAMHRA contributes distinctly anthropological perspectives to a growing global understanding of how societies can understand and respond to mental distress and build effective systems of care.

This prestigious scholarship offers the opportunity for successful applicants to pursue a fully-funded 3-year PhD under the mentorship of leading experts in the fields of anthropology and mental health. The scholarship will cover student fees (Home/Overseas) and include a living stipend of £22,780 per year (in line with UKRI stipends, inclusive of London weighting).

Five CAMHRA doctoral scholarships are available, allowing successful applicants to dedicate their time to producing transformative research that addresses some of the most pressing mental health challenges faced by communities in London and around the world.

The five successful scholars will join a large and established Department of Anthropology and Sociology and play an active role in a dynamic and growing research community, both across the department and connected to CAMHRA.

The Doctoral Scholarship Programme holders automatically become Research Student Affiliates with CAMHRA and receive speciality training through the PhD Programme’s Medical Anthropology/Mental Health cluster and CAMHRA’s specialist researcher workshops on methods, fieldwork skills, and self-care for clinical ethnography and other forms of deeply embedded research practice. This bespoke training draws on the expertise of CAMHRA’s affiliated academics and on input from CAMHRA’s partnership with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

CAMHRA is excited to invite proposals from PhD applicants whose academic trajectory and anticipated project lie at the intersection of anthropology and mental health. Applicants must have a prior degree in anthropology. CAMHRA strongly welcome applications from persons with lived experience of mental health service use, and from members of underrepresented groups. CAMHRA welcome applicants from the UK and internationally.

Project details

CAMHRA particularly welcome applicants whose proposed project aligns with the Centre’s areas of interest, outlined below. CAMHRA also welcome applicants who are excited about generating a new thematic area that strengthens, activates, and grows CAMHRA’s network and partners.

Current areas of research focus within CAMHRA:

relational approaches to healing and cultivating wellbeing
environmental and ecological distress
care work and carers
lived experience research practices
race and inequality
social isolation, loneliness and intentional community
religion and spirituality
institutions, organisational culture and mental healthcare
models and metrics of distress and healing

Applicants are welcome to reach out to prospective PhD supervisors to enquire about a possible fit, but are not required to do so prior to application. Please note that due to the high volume of enquiries received, it is possible that applicants may not hear back from a prospective supervisor. This will not affect their consideration for the PhD programme.

Candidate criteria

Scholarship applicants must have a proposed project that deploys anthropological approaches and ethnographic methods to the study of mental health, broadly conceived.
Applicants can be home or international students.
Applicants must have a bachelors and/or masters degree in anthropology, with a merit or equivalent in the masters degree and a masters dissertation grade of 65% (UK) or higher. In exceptional cases, CAMHRA may accept applicants who do not meet these criteria if they show evidence of a strong masters degree and/or appropriate level of relevant work experience.

International applicants should also see Doctoral School English language requirements.

Application Process

You must submit an application to the PhD programme in Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS by the deadline. Applicants will be notified by mid-February if they have been accepted to the PhD programme.

Please be sure to mention in your personal statement that you would like to be considered for the CAMHRA Scholarship.

Stage 1: PhD application

The portal for PhD applications will open in early November. As part of this application process, applicants are expected to submit:

A formal application form.
A supporting/personal statement.
An up-to-date academic CV.
A research proposal (2000 words) focused on anthropology and mental health.
Full academic transcripts.
Degree certificates.
English language evidence (if relevant).
An academic reference letter from one academic referee familiar with the applicant’s academic performance and research skills.

Successful applicants will be notified by mid-February if they have been accepted to the MPhil/PhD programme in Anthropology and Sociology.

Stage 2: internal shortlisting and invitation to interview

Applicants who have received offers of acceptance for the MPhil/PhD in Anthropology and Sociology will be assessed by an internal committee for CAMHRA’s doctoral scholarships. Shortlisted applicants can expect to hear if they are invited to interview by the start of March 2026.