For 2026, Corpus Christi College & Cambridge Digital Humanities are launching a brand new postgraduate outreach programme - Experience Postgrad Digital Humanities. 

Experience Postgraduate Digital Humanities is a new outreach programme run by Corpus Christi College and Cambridge Digital Humanities, and offers a taste of postgraduate life in the Digital Humanities at Cambridge. The programme is open to arts, humanities, and social science undergraduate students in their penultimate and final years of study at a UK or Republic of Ireland University, and who are aspiring to apply for postgraduate study in the Digital Humanities (or a related field). Our theme for the first programme is Digital Archives and Decolonisation. 

Applications for the 2026 programme are now open and close on Friday 5 June, 9am. 

About the Programme

Experience Postgrad Digital Humanities is a new programme running between July to September 2026, offering aspiring postgraduate students a chance to learn more, study, and complete a short research project in the growing interdisciplinary field of Digital Humanities. The programme is designed to offer new insights into interdisciplinary ways of researching and learning for arts and humanities students at postgraduate level, utilising world-renowned teaching expertise from Cambridge Digital Humanities (CDH). The programme starts with online sessions in July and August offering an introduction to the Digital Humanities and the programme’s theme ‘Digital Archives and Decolonisation’, followed by an in-person residential from Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th September 2026 where you will stay at Corpus Christi’s dedicated postgraduate site, Leckhampton. 

During the four-day residential, you will: 

• have academic sessions across Cambridge, where you will learn about archival, digital, and decolonial methods
• work on a mini research project and give a research presentation on the final day
• attend postgraduate application workshops, including guidance with writing an academic CV, a research proposal, and applying for funding 
• social activities in and around Cambridge (including punting and a formal dinner in Corpus Christi’s hall. 

The overall goals of the programme are to: 

• Encourage you to consider applying for Masters and/or PhD study in the Digital Humanities, and make a competitive postgraduate application to a selective university, like Cambridge  
• Learn about postgraduate funding opportunities at Cambridge 
• Learn new methods, skills, and interdisciplinary approaches for research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences (including decolonial and digital methods) 
• Explore future career pathways through postgraduate study in the academic sector and Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector. 
• Engage with inspiring arts and humanities research staff and students across the University of Cambridge 
• Experience life as a postgraduate student at Corpus Christi College 

The programme is free (accommodation, food, and travel within the UK are paid for) and is funded by the Isaac Newton Trust Widening Participation and Induction Fund. 

Who are we?

Corpus Christi College is one of 31 colleges within the University of Cambridge. We are committed to supporting postgraduate students and their research and have a dedicated postgraduate campus, Leckhampton. Following five successful years of running the Experience Postgrad Life Sciences programme, Corpus Christi is excited to run this brand-new project in collaboration with CDH, encouraging students from widening participation backgrounds to consider postgraduate study at Cambridge. 

Crossing multiple schools and disciplines, Cambridge Digital Humanities offers an exciting, transdisciplinary space that you might never have studied before or encountered previously. Digital humanities intersects with multiple emerging and interdisciplinary research areas across diverse fields, including (but not limited to) Art History, English, Languages, Anthropology, Sociology, Human Geography, History, and Museum Studies. Cambridge Digital Humanities remains an area of strategic importance for the University of Cambridge, and offers MPhil and PhD programmes. 

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, students must:

• Be in their penultimate or final year of undergraduate study at a UK or Republic of Ireland University (that is not the University of Cambridge or Oxford) 
• Have attended a UK maintained state school at secondary level
• Have achieved, or be on track to achieve a 2:1 or 1st in an arts, humanities or social science subject at undergraduate level
• Have an interest in undertaking a postgraduate degree (MPhil or PhD) in Digital Humanities or a cognate discipline
• Not have already completed, or be currently studying, a postgraduate research degree (e.g. MPhil, MRes, PhD, DPhil) or have an offer to start a postgraduate research degree 
• Be available to participate in the online parts of the programme on 1st July, 3rd July, and 5th August, and the in-person residential from 3rd to 6th September 2026.

We will prioritise applications from students who meet a number of the following criteria: 

• Were in receipt of government-funded Free School Meals at secondary school 
• Were in the first generation of their family to study at undergraduate level 
• From a low-income background (whose home postcode during secondary school was in quintiles 1 or 2 in the Indices of Multiple Deprivation) 
• From an under-represented ethnicity or ethnic group at Cambridge, including (but not limited to) Black British, British Bangladeshi, and British Pakistani 
• Are undertaking their undergraduate degree at a non-Russell Group university
• Are or were previously young carers during undergraduate study or at secondary school
• Have entered university at undergraduate level from a care background or as a Foyer resident  
• Receive the maximum Maintenance Loan for undergraduate study 
• Recognised as a refugee, stateless person, or asylum seeker, or been granted humanitarian protection status by the UK government
• Be estranged from your parents/guardians
• Be a single parent, lone foster parent, or lone guardian of a young person who is aged under 18 and/or is still in full-time education 
• Are a mature undergraduate student, or would be a mature postgraduate student (i.e. aged 21 or over at start of undergraduate study and would be 25 or over at start of postgraduate study)

Applicants must not have previously studied at the University of Cambridge or University of Oxford. 

Key Dates and Expectations

With a limited number of places on the programme, we expect you to commit to attending the following online and in-person elements of the programme: 

• Wednesday 1 July (Online) – Introduction to the Programme (1-3pm) 
• Friday 3 July (Online) – Introduction to Digital Archives and Decolonial Methods (11am-3pm) 
• Wednesday 5 August (Online) – Postgraduate Application Process and Funding Q&A (1-3pm) 
• Thursday 3 September to Sunday 6 September (In Cambridge) – Digital Archives and Decolonisation Residential at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 
   

2026 Applications: 

To apply, please fill out the online application form by the deadline of Friday 5th June, 9am. We can’t wait to read your applications! 

The application form asks for: 

• Personal and academic details 
• Contextual information related to Widening Participation criteria set by the University of Cambridge’s Access and Participation Plan 
• Contact information for a referee who is an academic member of staff who has taught you during your undergraduate degree (and ideally knows your work). When you submit your application, your referee will be sent an email asking them to provide a short reference to support your application to the programme by the reference deadline of Thursday 11 June, midday. 
• Three short personal statement questions 

1. Why would you like to take part in the Experience Postgrad Digital Humanities Programme? What interests you about the Digital Humanities and pursuing research through interdisciplinary methods and approaches (which cross multiple subjects and disciplines)? (250 words) 
2. What research interests and skills can you bring to the course theme of ‘Digital Archives and Decolonisation’? It would be helpful to provide examples of topics you have studied during your undergraduate degree that might be relevant, or activities or professional skills beyond your studies that you could bring to the course theme. (250 words)
3. Finally, can you tell us about your aspirations to study at postgraduate level and/or your future career aspirations? (250 words) 

If you have any questions about the programme or the application process, please get in touch with Lucy (programme coordinator) at outreach@corpus.cam.ac.uk 

Guidance for finding a referee

• A reference is a vital part of your application for the Experience Postgrad Digital Humanities programme, and without a reference, your application will be considered incomplete. 
• We will ask your referee to comment on your academic performance at undergraduate level, your suitability for the programme, and potential to progress to postgraduate study.
• Your reference should be written by an academic from your undergraduate course (like your personal tutor, dissertation supervisor, adviser of studies, lecturer, or module coordinator). A referee should know you and be familiar with your work.
• We strongly advise asking your potential referee in advance to check that they are able to submit a reference by the deadline of Thursday 11 June, midday. If you don’t get a reply immediately, don’t be afraid to contact them and ask again or remind them of the deadline. 
• Once you have your referee’s permission, you will need to upload their contact details (including name and institutional email address) on the application form. 
• In order to write their reference, it’s very helpful to send some essential information to them early (and in plenty of time before the deadline), including your name, details of the Experience Postgraduate Digital Humanities Programme, your future academic plans, your answers to the three motivation questions, and a reminder of the reference deadline. 
• All references should be emailed to outreach@corpus.cam.ac.uk by Thursday 11 June, midday.