History PhDs
A PhD is likely to be the most challenging type of academic work you have ever done, but it will also be the most rewarding. It's an independent piece of research and writing that presents an original contribution to existing historical knowledge.
Specialisms
We have over 40 members of academic staff specialising in history from the ancient period to the modern-day with options encompassing the history of Britain and Europe to America and the wider world.
Key areas of specialism include:
- Medieval history
- Early modern England and Europe
- The history of pre-colonial, nineteenth- and twentieth-century America
- The history of Britain and of Europe from the nineteenth century to the present day
- Global, international and imperial modern history
- Social, religious, cultural, gender and political history
- Medical humanities
- The history of enslavement
Supervision
You will normally have a supervisory team made up of a primary and secondary supervisor. Your supervisors will guide you in your research, helping you to plan your work and make sure that you have the skills that you need to succeed.
Training and development
As a PhD student you’ll have access to a range of training and development opportunities to help you get the best out of your research and develop professionally. The School aims to create a research culture where your ideas can develop and flourish, and provide you with the facilities and support to complete your research project successfully.
Facilities
The Western Bank Library is the main library for research students and houses a number of outstanding bodies of research materials. These include several collections on modern British History, such as the wide-ranging holdings on fascism and anti-fascism, and the National Fairground Archive covering many aspects of popular entertainment.
The Professor Sir Ian Kershaw and William Carr collections provide extensive materials on German history, and the library also has substantial microfilm holdings covering areas of US and European history.
The Library contains complete runs of medieval sourcebooks in nineteenth-century editions, as well as the papers of Samuel Hartlib, the seventeenth century educationalist and natural philosopher.
Study space for PhD students
In addition to the over 4,000 study spaces in our three main libraries, history has its own dedicated PhD student workspaces with hot desks and access to networked computers, or the option to use your own laptop, and printers.
The Arts and Humanities Graduate School Centre also offers additional dedicated and bookable workspace for PhD students.
Entry requirements, applying and your research proposal
Entry requirements
When assessing PhD applications, we take into account an applicant's academic background (including references and academic transcripts), the nature of the project and quality of the research proposal, as well as the capacity of the School to offer appropriate supervision over the duration of the PhD.
In terms of academic entry requirements, applicants should normally have a suitable MA in History or Archaeology as applicable with a research-training element. The quality of performance at MA level will be taken into account when considering potential for PhD study.
We also normally expect applicants to have achieved a 2.1 or equivalent in a Bachelors degree in history or a related subject (i.e. English, languages, politics, philosophy, archaeology or journalism) from a recognised UK or overseas university.
If you are an international student, you need to provide proof of English Language proficiency with a minimum IELTS score of 7.0 with no less than 6.5 in each component (or equivalent).
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