Funded Ph.D. Opportunity at Northumbria University

The Northern Echo and the Politics of Place

The establishment of The Northern Echo newspaper, in 1870, disrupts our understanding of the concept of a “regional/national” press in Britain. This project seeks to challenge current understandings of nineteenth-century press history through a detailed examination of The Northern Echo, once termed “the best newspaper in Europe.” Partnering with the British Library and through innovative use of their digitized collections of nineteenth-century British newspapers, the research will critically reframe our understanding of the “provincial” press in the late nineteenth century.

The project will be based in the Humanities department at Northumbria University, with two further skills-development opportunities at the British Library and at The Northern Echo itself. The project will be hosted by the cross-faculty Scholarly Editing and Print Culture Research Group, which shares interests in book history, print culture, bibliography, textual scholarship, and periodical cultures.

How to Apply

The closing date for applications is 31st May 2025. Interviews will take place in June for a projected start date of October 2025.

We strongly encourage you to make contact with the named supervisor, Dr Helena Goodwyn (Helena.Goodwyn[at]Northumbria[dot]ac[dot]uk) to discuss the project at an early stage.

Applicants will need to complete Northumbria’s online postgraduate application form. Your application should discuss your academic and/or professional experience, and describe how this has prepared you to undertake this project. The “Research Proposal” should be based on the advertised project and should set out what your proposed approach to the project will be.

For further details on the project and deadlines, please visit Northern Bridge Consortium (NBC) Doctoral Training Partnership.