Thirteen research projects involving UK museums, archives and libraries have been awarded over three million pounds of funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

This is the latest investment of government funds to support UK universities, in partnership with museums, archives and libraries, in researching projects specific to their collections and their locales. These new projects will also involve the institutions collaborating with local authorities, NHS hospitals and art institutes.

These awards have been made through a competition under the AHRC's Museums and Galleries Research Programme.

This three million pound investment will allow UK museums, galleries, archives and libraries to co-produce with universities high quality research enabling them to better interpret, communicate and present their collections to a wider public. As such, UK museums, galleries, libraries and archives act as key intermediaries between the UK research base and the wider public. Each project could apply for up to £350,000 for up to three years.

The AHRC recognises that a great deal of high quality research takes place outside of our universities and that research in many areas of the arts and humanities is founded on the unique resources and expertise of the UK's museums, galleries, archives and libraries. In fact, on this occasion, so high was the quality of the applications that additional funding was found for more awards than originally envisaged.

The topics to be researched are varied and in this round of awards, key projects have included:

• 'Taking Heritage into Hospitals' - It is recognised that arts programmes can have a positive effect on patient well-being. This project aims to take museum collections into NHS hospitals and other health organisations and to study the potential benefit for patients.
• Connecting Cornwall - a look at the very early days of telecommunications in the West of England. The intention is to show how UK telecommunications developed and Cornwall's key role in this.
• Shipshape - The most substantial medieval ship found in Britain will be rebuilt digitally to allow visitors to the museum to see what it truly looked like. At the same time a 1:10 scale replica will be built of the ship as the five year conservation process of the original timbers takes place.

The outcomes of these research projects will include online and print scholarly catalogues; major regional and national exhibitions; pod-casts and the creation of digital archives allowing everyone access to the research.

In addition the research will lead to the creation of invaluable educational resources for UK school children.

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Media Contact: Jake Gilmore, Communications Manager, j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk. Tel: 0797 099 4586

Editors Notes:

Arts & Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £100 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,000 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.

Further information on AHRC Museum and Galleries Research Programme can be seen here. 

Dr LM Burn £277,101.00
University of Cambridge & Fitzwilliam Museum
Greece and Rome at the Fitzwilliam Museum

Dr HJ Chatterjee £293,142.00
University College London & UCL Hospitals, Islington Local Authority, British Museum, University of Oxford, Reading Museums Service, Museums, Libraries + Archives Council
Heritage in Hospitals: An investigation of the therapeutic and enrichment potential of object handling in hospitals and other healthcare organisations

Dr R Clay £282,299.00
University of Birmingham & Birmingham Museums and art Gallery, Birmingham Libraries and Archives
Suburban Birmingham: spaces and places: 1880-1960

Professor JEA Dawson £303,660.00
University of Edinburgh & The British Library
The world of Reformation Britain: seen and heard in the Wode Psalter

Professor CM Divall £300,752.00
University of York & National Railway Museum
The commercial cultures of Britain's railways 1872-1977

Professor F Driver £168,799.00
Royal Holloway, University of London & Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers
Hidden Histories of Exploration: Exhibiting Geographical Collections

Dr S Kaner £282,205.00
University of East Anglia & International Centre for Albanian Archaeology, Agency for Cultural Affairs, The British Museum, Cardiff University
Dogu: Spirits of Clay.

Dr J Loxley £148,799.00
University of Edinburgh & National Library of Scotland
The Relevance of the Major Scottish Collections of Printed Renaissance Drama to the Cultural History and Contemporary Reception of Shakespeare

Dr R Mason £276,616.00
University of Newcastle upon Tyne & Tyne and Wear Museums
'Art on Tyneside': Redeveloping a Permanent Display about Art, Place and Identity at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle.

Dr S McKendrick £265,006.00
The British Library & Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
ROYAL: Illuminated Manuscripts of the Kings and Queens of England

Mr N Nayling £76,446.00
University of Wales, Lampeter & Newport City Council
ShipShape: solid modelling and visualisation of the Newport Medieval Ship from 3D digital record

Dr RJ Noakes £288,527.00
University of Exeter & Porthcurno Telegraph Museum
Connecting Cornwall: Telecommunications, Locality and Work in West Britain 1870-1918

Professor T Turville-Petre £243,162.00 University of Nottingham & Manuscripts and Special Collections at University of Nottingham, University of Oxford
The Wollaton Medieval Manuscripts: texts, owners and readers

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Total number of awards: 13

Total value of awards: £3,206,514.00