Arts and Humanities Research Council
Encyclopedia
Established in April 2005 as successor to the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Research Council
Research Council
The UK Research Councils, of which there are currently seven, are publicly-funded agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research, including the arts, humanities, all areas of science and engineering...

 and non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...

 that provides approximately £102 million from the Government  to support research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 and postgraduate study in the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....

 and humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded.

Stonehenge Riverside Project

The Stonehenge Riverside Project
Stonehenge Riverside Project
The Stonehenge Riverside Project is a major AHRC-funded archaeological research study of the development of the Stonehenge landscape in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain...

 is a major 5 year AHRC-funded archaeological research study interested in the development of the Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

 landscape in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain. In particular, the project is interested in the relationship between the Stones and surrounding monuments and features including; The River Avon, Durrington Walls, the Cursus, the Avenue, Woodhenge, burial mounds, and nearby standing stones.

In August 2009 the project discovered a new stone circle, which was named Bluestonehenge
Bluestonehenge
"Bluestonehenge" or "Bluehenge" is a prehistoric henge and stone circle monument that was discovered by the Stonehenge Riverside Project about south-east of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England...

 by the research team, about 1 mile away from Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

 in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, England.

The project is run by a consortium of university teams. It is directed by Prof. Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University, with co-directors Dr Josh Pollard (Bristol University), Prof. Julian Thomas (Manchester University), Dr Kate Welham (Bournemouth University) and Dr Colin Richards (Manchester University).

Medieval Soldier Database

Researchers at the University of Reading and University of Southampton analysed historic sources such as muster rolls records in the National Archives at Kew and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (for records of English garrisons in France). The resulting Medieval Soldier online database enables people to search for soldiers by surname, rank or year of service. The online database contains 250,000 service records of soldiers who saw active duty in the latter phases of the Hundred Years War (1369–1453).

Old Bailey Online

An AHRC research grant enabled academics from the University of Hertfordshire, Sheffied and the Open University to double in size the Old Bailey trail proceedings available to view on the Old Bailey Proceedings Online website and provide access to the largest single source of searchable information about ordinary British lives and behaviour ever published.

The Old Bailey Proceedings Online makes available a fully searchable, digitised collection of all surviving editions of the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1674 to 1913, and of the Ordinary of Newgate's Accounts, 1679 to 1772. It allows access to over 197,000 trials and biographical details of approximately 2,500 men and women executed at Tyburn.

Mission

The AHRC's vision is to be a recognised world leader in advancing arts and humanities research.

The main aims of the AHRC are:
  • To promote and support the production of world-class research in the arts and humanities.
  • To promote and support world-class postgraduate training designed to equip graduates for research or other professional careers.
  • To strengthen the impact of arts and humanities research by encouraging researchers to disseminate and transfer knowledge to other contexts where it makes a difference.
  • To raise the profile of arts and humanities research and to be an effective advocate for its social, cultural and economic significance.

Funding

The AHRC receives its funding through the Science and Innovation Group which is part Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...

 (BIS).

History

In 2005 the AHRC replaced the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), founded in 1998.
See: Creating the AHRC: An Arts and Humanities Research Council for the United Kingdom in the Twenty-first Century (Oxford UP, 2008)

Publications

The AHRC publishes a magazine called Podium twice a year, which contains news and case studies based on research that they have funded.

Structure

The AHRC is one of seven Research Councils in the UK.

The current Chairman of the AHRC is Sir Alan Wilson, and its Chief Executive is Professor Rick Rylance who took up post on 1 September 2009. His appointment is for four years.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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