Work placements and residencies

MA student placements

The Institute of Cultural Practices runs a popular work placement programme for post-graduate students from a range of MA programmes in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.

Each year, 60-70 students apply skills and expertise they've gained from their courses in projects at over 40 different cultural organisations across the region.

The projects they work on are designed to have real benefit to host organisations and might involve: curating an exhibition or display, conducting research, fundraising or marketing activities, designing educational workshops, developing performances and a wide range of other activities.

Students learn practical skills, find out more about working in cultural organisations and gain valuable experience that helps ground their learning in real world contexts.

As a result of all the excellent experience I was able to gain at Gallery Oldham I have just been offered a role as Collections Assistant at Staffordshire County Council.

Jane Brown / MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies

Placements create a variety of connections between the university, the city and its communities and help students gain employment in competitive sectors.

The diverse range of work conducted by students is documented further on the Institute for Cultural Practices' Blog.

For more details about MA work placements please contact Dr Emma Martin, ICP Work Placement Tutor using the email below:

PhD student placement scheme

Our placement scheme gives postgraduate research students the opportunity to apply for placements at a range of non-HEI organisations. In the past, these placements have included the British Library, HOME, the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) and John Rylands Library.

Woman wearing protective clothing whilst working on artwork
Conserving wallpaper panels at The Whitworth.

It is a great way to apply your research skills and deliver tangible project outcomes that demonstrate impact.

You can read about some of our students' experiences of going on placement below:

For further details please contact Dr Louise Davies, PGR Placements & Partnerships Officer: