AHRC studentship: Enabling Activities: Narratives of Health and Wellbeing in Wales and Beyond

The School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University are delighted to offer a four-year fully funded Lles studentship on: Enabling Activities: Narratives of Health and Wellbeing in Wales and Beyond.

The studentship is part of an AHRC-funded Doctoral Fund Award entitled Lles. It will commence in October 2026.

Lles

Lles will fund 28 PhD studentships over 4 cohorts. Lles studentships will explore and demonstrate how the arts and humanities can contribute to a healthy planet, people, and places. At the project’s heart is the Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015. This unique legislation was designed to improve the wellbeing and sustainability of people and places in Wales. The underpinning goal of Lles is to work with and take forward that vision. All its students will receive bespoke training delivered in collaboration with the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales about the Act, its five ways of working and how these can be used in public life and policy. Every Lles student will undertake a sustained placement with a Welsh public body where they will develop their research and employment experiences.

A webinar for applicants will be held on 3 March at 16:00. This will be an opportunity to understand the Lles project and ask questions. To register for the webinar, complete this form.

Project overview

Enabling Activities: Narratives of Health and Wellbeing in Wales and Beyond.

How do people feel about exercise, health, and wellbeing activities? What prevents them from starting? What keeps them going? What makes them stop?

This doctoral project uses the rich analytical approaches of film, media, literature, and cultural studies to uncover these stories – not from surveys or statistics, but from real literary and audiovisual accounts of people's health and exercise journeys across Welsh, British, and Anglophone popular culture. We're looking for an intelligent, curious researcher who wants to make arts and humanities research speak directly to health policy. Your research will examine media and literary sources – film, television, journalism, blogs, vlogs, novels, memoirs, and more – that capture people's experiences of hesitancy, beginning, continuing, or ceasing participation in health, exercise, and wellbeing activities (whether weight-lifting, swimming, dance, theatre, martial arts, sports, or other health and wellbeing activities). Using textual analysis and cultural theory, you'll explore how narratives of exercise and health are shaped by intersectional considerations, including age, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, location, and disability. Your analysis could draw on feminist theory, race and ethnicity studies, affect studies, phenomenology, cultural geography, or embodiment studies – or other approaches that emerge as your project develops. Importantly, this isn't purely academic. You'll produce not only a doctoral thesis but also a policy-facing report for the Welsh Government's Health and Social Services Group, ensuring your insights directly speak to real-world decision-makers about public messaging, outreach, and health provision.

You'll be supervised by Professor Paul Bowman (Professor of Cultural Studies) and Dr Diana Garrisi (Lecturer in Media and Communication), both at Cardiff University's world-leading School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC). Paul has supervised 22 PhDs and published extensively on media, exercise, and physical culture (eight of his twelve monographs and half his articles focus on these themes). Diana specialises in journalism, body studies, and disability representation, with award-winning published research on news narratives of bodies and compassionate communication.

Placement

All Lles students are required to undertake a placement that totals at least three months. For this project, the placement will be in the Health and Social Services Group of the Welsh Government, the body responsible for NHS Wales, health and social care strategy, and policy.

Entry criteria

To receive Lles studentship funding, you should have qualifications or experience equivalent to a UK honours degree at a first or upper second-class level, or a masters. Students with non-traditional academic backgrounds are also welcome to apply.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Lles is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and creating an inclusive environment for all. We welcome applications from all members of the global community irrespective of age, disability, sex, gender identity, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

Assessment

Short-listed applicants will be invited to interview. As part of the interview process, applicants will be asked to give a short presentation and answer a series of panel questions. Interviews may be held in person, but should also be available through Zoom/Teams for all students who wish to participate in that way. We offer travel reimbursement and overnight accommodation for interviews. If requested, interviews can be conducted in Welsh.

How to apply

Applications should be received no later than 27 March 2026, including all required documents. Due to the volume of applications received, incomplete applications will not be considered.

All applications should be submitted to the Journalism, Media and Culture postgraduate research programme page.

Include the following documents with your application:

CV - This may be in a narrative form, demonstrating how your lived experience, educational and/or work journey showcases your potential
Statement outlining your interest in this project, your ideas for it and your suitability to undertake it (2 pages max)
Academic or professional references (candidates must approach referees themselves and include references with their application. The reference must detail the applicant’s research strengths).
Degree certificates and Transcripts (including translations if applicable)
If relevant, proof of English Language Competency (see institutional requirements for entry)

Funding

The studentship funded by the AHRC covers tuition fees, an annual tax-free living stipend in line with UKRI minimum rates (currently £20,780 for 2025-26 full-time) and includes access to a Research Training Support Grant. Full and part-time applications are welcomed.

If you have a disability, you may be entitled to a Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) on top of your studentship.

This studentship is funded as part of a wider doctoral focal award funded by the AHRC entitled ‘Lles’.