Ph.D studentship (Aberystwyth University)

Ph.D. Studentship
Aberystwyth University

Department of European Languages, Anglo-Norman Dictionary Project

Following the award in July 2012 of a (further) AHRC grant to support the Anglo-Norman Dictionary project, under way since 2001 (www.anglo-norman.net)

The University is offering “a PhD Studentship with a specific remit that includes the development of specialist skills in the subject”, the aim being “both [to] aid the employability of the student and help provide continuity to your project”. The studentship, then, is intended to be a form of capacity building and also consolidation.

Candidates should have at least a 2.1 (or equivalent) degree and normally a Master’s degree, normally in French. Previous experience of medieval French and/or of historical Romance linguistics is also expected.

The thesis topic, to be decided in discussion with the PI and the project team, will take the form of an edition of unpublished Anglo-Norman material (to be determined). This might be in the form of a broadly “literary” text, or collection of short texts; or of a set of Anglo- Norman charters. The text of texts will be selected for its or their lexical interest, and will be accompanied by a thorough glossary and other linguistic and lexical commentary. The lexis uncovered by the Ph.D. thesis will feed into the AND. This model is the one successfully used for the “Anglo-Norman in the National Archives” project (2007/08, also AHRC-funded) and is directly analogous to the work recently carried out for a doctorate (edition of the Anglo-Norman version of a crusade chronicle by Baudri de Bourgeuil) by Jennifer Gabel, who was funded by a joint AHRC/Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant, held between the AND and the Dictionnaire Étymologique de l’Ancien Français (DEAF) in Heidelberg.

The PI, and indeed all the project team, have themselves edited medieval texts, and thus (in conjunction with the unrivalled Anglo-Norman resources of the AND project) are particularly well placed to form a high-quality supervisory and mentoring team. Working within the AND will provide the student with a very good environment for his/her work. At present, an Aberystwyth-funded Ph.D. student is working on medieval documents produced by or connected to Italian merchants in England (supervised by Professor Trotter), and is able to benefit from the facilities, advice, and indeed networking possibilities which the AND project is able to offer. These include not only the opportunity to become involved in various international colloquia and exchanges, but also access to funding for research materials and travel. We would want the new Ph.D. student to be similarly involved.

Value of Scholarships:
Successful candidates will receive a grant for up to three years which will cover their tuition fees (up to the UK/EU rate of £3,932) and also provide them with a maintenance allowance of approximately £13,590 and access to a travel and conference fund (£500 per annum).

Deadline
We hope that the successful candidate could start at or before Easter 2013. The latest start date is September 2013.

Informal discussion: Professor David Trotter; Tel. +44 (0)1970 622551, email: dtt@aber.ac.uk (en français aussi)