Moving the Frame: New Computational Practices for the Description and Organisation of the BT Film Collection (AHRC CDP Studentship)
This fully funded AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) PhD studentship, offered jointly by the BT Group Archives (BTGA) and University College London (UCL), invites applications from candidates interested in advancing computational methods for the description and organisation of the BT Film Collection. Starting 1st October 2026, the project is based in the Department of Information Studies at UCL and will be supervised by Dr Daniel Wilson and Professor Andrew Flinn, alongside BTGA supervisors. The successful candidate will critically investigate and develop new research methods, leveraging machine learning, computer vision, and knowledge organisation to enhance access to a significant moving image archive spanning over eighty years of British communications history.
The BTGA is undertaking a major digitisation initiative, creating lossless digital copies of vulnerable film and videotape formats, linked to metadata. This project addresses the challenges of cataloguing and organising such a vast collection, exploring how recent advances in audio recognition and AI can automate metadata creation and facilitate new forms of enquiry. The student will conduct substantive research, potentially producing comprehensive new metadata, publishable code, documentation, and research papers. There are opportunities to develop workshops, teaching materials, and proof-of-concept tools for BTGA and similar archives, with a focus on discoverability and ethical AI use in the heritage sector.
As a UCL doctoral student, you will join a vibrant research community, benefit from compulsory research methods training, and access personal development programmes. At BTGA, you will gain hands-on experience in a corporate archive, work with analogue and digital audiovisual formats, and collaborate with BT’s Data and AI team. As a SMAC CDP student, you will also participate in a national cohort, networking events, and professional development activities across the UK’s leading museums and archives.
The studentship is open to both Home and International applicants. Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a Masters-level qualification in a relevant field (e.g., archival studies, library and information studies, history, film/media studies, computer/data science, computer vision, multimodal AI, digital humanities, or cultural analytics), or demonstrate equivalent professional experience. An interest in archives, digital cultural heritage, and technical skill development is essential. UCL and BTGA particularly encourage applications from underrepresented backgrounds.
Funding covers full tuition fees (home rate; international fee waiver applies), a tax-free stipend (£21,805 plus £2,000 London weighting and £600 CDP maintenance per year), and a travel grant of up to £1,000 per year for four years. The deadline for applications is 24 April 2026. For further details and to apply, visit the project page.
