AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award: Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC)

Institute of Commonwealth Studies awarded AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award


The ICwS, jointly with the Commonwealth Secretariat, has been awarded an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award to fund a research studentship to undertake a study of the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) in order to examine questions of the development of knowledge, expertise and cooperation in the context of a decolonizing and post-colonial world. T

he CFTC provides advice, expertise and training for development, through the provision of international experts in fields including agriculture, engineering, education, public service training and mineral extraction negotiations. The history of the CFTC charts an important transition in the post-colonial relations of the Commonwealth and in the development of notions of South-South cooperation. The fund piloted the use and sharing of expertise from developing countries rather than those from the North.

The PhD student who will be working on the study will be jointly supervised by Professor Philip Murphy, Dr Ruth Craggs (University of Hull) and Hilary McEwan, who is the Archivist at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The AHRC CDA scheme is designed to encourage and develop collaboration and partnerships between universities and non-academic organisations, providing opportunities for doctoral students to gain firsthand experience of work outside an academic environment. The support provided by both an academic and non-academic supervisor enhances the employment-related skills and training a research student gains during the course of their award. The studentships also encourage and establish links that can have long-term benefits for both collaborating partners, providing access to resources and materials, knowledge and expertise that may not otherwise have been available and also provide social, cultural and economic benefits to wider society.

The ICwS is currently actively recruiting to fill the AHRC CDA research studentship. Further details