2026
The Roman Society is pleased to invite applications for its 2026 Museum & Heritage Summer Placement Scheme. The placements may be held at the following museums / heritage organisations listed below.
The successful candidate will help to devise and deliver family activities at Kings Weston Roman Villa and at Bristol’s Brilliant Archaeology, a large family festival at Blaise Museum. There will also be an opportunity to work behind the scenes on Bristol Museum’s extensive Roman collections.
Placement dates run between 20 July and 1 August.
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/corbridge-roman-town-hadrians-wall/
The successful candidate will work on an aspect of the Hadrian’s Wall Collections with English Heritage. This will be based at the store at Corbridge Roman site, and will include work with a visiting international team working on architectural stone as well as other store based tasks with our important collections. This placement will take place w/c 7th and 14th September
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to complete work on three different tasks to enable the completion of museum or virtual exhibitions on Roman Britain: 1) historical and/or archaeological research on Roman Britain; 2) the preparation of the interpretation materials for the public, for example, graphic display panels, web articles or reconstruction drawings; 3) shadowing a historian at project meetings and help prepare internal project documents. These examples are indicative and the location, format and expected outputs of the placement programme will be determined by project timings and requirements, and a discussion with the candidate about their interests and skills.
This placement offers the opportunity to gain experience in digital classics research. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to implement a small, supervised but independent piece of work involving the photography, 3D imaging and cataloguing of antiquities in the ICS's Ehrenberg Collection. Advanced digital skills are not a requirement, but familiarity with basic tools such as spreadsheets, database tables and/or digital photography would be an advantage.
The successful candidate will work on a small gallery project. There will be plenty of opportunity to work with curators, collections managers, and of course, with the artefacts.
It is expected that the successful candidate will work on increasing awareness and access to the Corinium Museum’s Roman collections. The Corinium Museum is in the process of developing content for Bloomberg Connects, a visitor engagement app that offers depth to the museum experience. The nature of this platform requires content creation to populate the museum’s guide in interesting and innovative ways. The candidate will create Roman content for the Corinium museum’s Bloomberg Connect guide based on the collection – both on display and in the store, increasing the collections’ accessibility. There will also be some public facing engagement; the opportunity to create a temporary display of Roman archaeology and deliver creative activities with visiting families. We will invite the successful candidate to help raise the public profile through social media and blogs – all creative ideas are welcome.
The Roman Baths placement is an exciting opportunity to be involved in the ongoing cataloguing and care of the Roman Baths collection, alongside the Curatorial team responsible for collections care, documentation, and conservation of the site. This placement will provide experience in all areas of collections care and management, opportunities to engage with visitors and participate in learning activities, and work with archaeological objects in the collection representing all time periods. During the placement, students will also contribute to our online content by producing a blog and social media posts about collections at the Roman Baths, and create a virtual display for the World Heritage Centre. The placement will be held on site at the Roman Baths with occasional planned days at our off-site storage spaces in the region.
This placement will provide an opportunity to work on the Society’s archive which stretches back to the foundation of the Society in 1910 and includes the Minute Books, letters and other documents. The work will include digitising these materials, and designing and producing the content for a new archive section on the website. There may also be opportunities to become involved with other aspects of the work of the Roman Society.
The Vindolanda Trust’s placement student would be working across both our sites at Roman Vindolanda fort and museum and the Roman Army Museum. Over the two week placement, the successful applicant would have a variety of experiences, including a day with our Roman pottery specialist, assisting our visitor experience teams with running engagement activities and working with staff and volunteers to catalogue some of the archaeological collection. There would also be time to find out about the Trust’s contemporary art programme and the archival work we are doing to preserve the modern history of Vindolanda and Hadrian’s Wall. The placement student will also be asked to choose and then develop ideas on a new display area in one of the museums.
How to Apply
- The dates of the placements may be determined by consultation between the successful candidates and institutions but are usually for 2-3 weeks during the summer vacation.
- All Undergraduate and Masters students are eligible to apply.
- Bursaries of £500 will be offered as a contribution towards travel or living expenses.
- Candidates should apply by letter setting out their reasons for wishing to undertake a placement and outlining any previous experience.You should also provide the name and email address of a referee.You may specify the Museum or organisation you would prefer to be based at, or submit an open application.
- Queries and letters of application should be addressed to the Secretary, Dr Fiona Haarer, and sent by email by 31 May 2026 to: office@romansociety.org
Reports
Read reports from previous bursary holders here.