PhD Studentship: The Music Collection of Paul Hirsch (1881-1951): The Collecting Practices of a German-Jewish Emigré to England in the WWII Period

Royal Holloway, University of London and the British Library invite applications for an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) Studentship on the project ‘The Music Collection of Paul Hirsch (1881-1951): The Collecting Practices of a German-Jewish Emigré to England in the WWII Period’.

This project will investigate the history and provenance of Paul Hirsch’s music collection, one of the world’s most significant private music libraries at the time of his escape from Germany to the UK in 1936. The student will investigate how Hirsch built his collection and how it acted as a salon and sanctuary for intellectuals in Frankfurt, within the context of other collections which the Nazi regime targeted and which were subsequently relocated, dispersed, or destroyed during the 1930s and early 1940s. The student will use bibliographical and archival techniques to uncover the provenance of Hirsch’s music books and will map the journeys of these books using digital humanities methods.

This project will be supervised by Professor Stephen Rose and Dr Simone Gigliotti at Royal Holloway, University of London and by Dr Loukia Drosopoulou and Mr Chris Scobie at the British Library. The student will spend time at both Royal Holloway and the British Library and will become part of the wider cohort of AHRC CDP funded PhD students across the UK.

The student will be registered in the Music Department at Royal Holloway, within a vibrant and supportive community ranked no.1 for music research in the UK (Complete University Guide 2022-25, based on REF 2021 results). The student will benefit from training in academic methods at Royal Holloway along with experience of research and public engagement at a major cultural institution, to gain a wide range of transferable skills relevant to careers in the galleries, libraries, archives and museum sector.

The studentship is open to Home or International students. It includes full tuition fees for a Home student, and an annual stipend of £20,780 plus London allowance and additional CDP maintenance payment. If the successful candidate is an International student, they will receive a fee award from Royal Holloway covering the difference between Home fees and International fees.

For more information about the project, studentship and application process please consult the advert: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/media/gc5f4vrp/rhul-british-library-collaborative-phd-hirsch-music-advert.pdf. A webinar will be held on Friday 21 March 2025 (3pm-4pm) to give more information about the project and the application process. To join this webinar please follow the link in the advert.

Royal Holloway and the British Library encourage applications from a diverse range of people from different backgrounds and career stages, and particularly welcome those currently underrepresented in doctoral student cohorts.

Candidate specification

Applicants should have or expect to receive a Masters-level qualification in a relevant discipline such as Music, History, Library Studies, Museum Studies or Museum Languages; or have equivalent experience in a professional setting such as a library, museum, or heritage institution.

Essential criteria include:

• Knowledge of early 20th-century music history or cultural history.
• Ability to read music notation.
• Ability to read German (intermediate level).
• Interest in the library, museum and archives sector.
• Experience of working in a team and on independent projects.

Deadline for applications is Friday 25 April 2025 at 12:00 noon UK time. Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held on Thursday 15 May. For informal queries please contact Stephen Rose (stephen.rose@rhul.ac.uk) and Loukia Drosopoulou (loukia.drosopoulou@bl.uk). 

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