University of Exeter Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences PhD Studentship Ref: 5316

Supervisors

Prospective supervisors to be named as part of application

Exeter’s Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences is offering up to four fully funded PhD studentships (open to UK fee-paying candidates only) for study commencing in September 2025, across any of its areas of research expertise.

Exeter's Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences is offering up to four PhD studentships (open to Home (UK) fee-paying students only) for candidates aiming to begin studying in September 2025.

Exeter is a centre for world-leading research across the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Our departments are consistently placed at the top of national and international rankings.

Our PhD studentships are available to support any excellent project connecting with, or across, our departments:

• Arab and Islamic Studies
• Archaeology and History
• Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology
• Communications, Drama and Film
• English and Creative Writing
• Humanities and Social Sciences, Penryn (Cornwall)
• Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies
• Law School
• School of Education
• Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology

Exeter is a portal to a rich variety of research resources offering unique archives in medieval and modern history, modern and contemporary literature and film. Dynamic partnerships with arts, culture and heritage organisations – British Museum, Historic England, London Film School, National Trust, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Tate Britain among many others – give our researchers access to a remarkable range of research collections and facilities.

Exeter offers PhD students exceptional support:

• A teamed approach to supervision combining research expertise from across our disciplines and access to a pastoral tutor
• A dedicated Doctoral College, a single point-of-contact for all programme and practical needs
• Access to a Digital Humanities Lab
• Research and career development opportunities within the Faculty and across the University
• Dedicated study space for HASS postgraduates
• A well-established postgraduate research culture including conferences, seminars and journals
• Funding opportunities for individual research needs

Awards will be granted to the strongest applicants based on an assessment of the applicant’s

·       Academic excellence

·       Research potential

·       Research proposal

·       Fit with research environment and supervision team

Applications will be assessed in line with the university’s commitment to supporting equality, diversity and inclusivity in postgraduate research.

Duration and value of award

The studentship will be for a period of up to 3 years (36 months), dependent on satisfactory progress, and will cover full tuition fees and an annual maintenance grant of £19,237 (2024/25 rate).

 For further information on research opportunities in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences please contact Dr Jonathan Doney HASS Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research: j.doney@exeter.ac.uk    

Entry requirements

Applicants should have at a minimum a good first degree (at least 2.1, or international equivalent) in a relevant field of the humanities, arts or social sciences, and have obtained, or be currently working towards a Master's degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Evidence of relevant professional expertise can also be taken into consideration.

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements and provide proof of proficiency. Click here for more information.

Applicants must have identified and approached a potential supervisor and have supervision agreed in principle. To help find an appropriate supervisor please look at the staff pages of departmental websites or use the Research Expertise search function on our Postgraduate Study pages: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/pg-research.

·       Applicants would be expected to start their studies in September 2025.

·       Recipients are expected to commit to engagement with the research environment of their discipline and the Faculty by participating in research activities, accessing skills development training and opportunities and career development etc. Continued funding would be dependent on satisfactory evidence of this engagement having taken place.

This award is only open to applicants whose fee status is classed as Home. Therefore this award is not open to International students. Click here for further information about fee status.

Please note that these studentships are only open to applicants who will start their study in September 2025, not those who have already started.

Applications for full-time or part-time study are welcome however applications will only be supported for campus-based programmes as this studentship is not open to Distance-Learning programmes.

How to apply

Apply now

To apply, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button above. You will be asked to submit the following by 17 February 2025:  

·       A research proposal of 1,500-2,000 words (exclusive of bibliography), with supervisors agreed in principle

·       A 200-500 word statement on your fit with the department/Faculty research culture and your prospective supervision team. You should also name which programme of study you are applying for

·       A CV

·       Proof of academic track record (transcripts/certificates)

·       Two references, at least one to be an academic reference

·       Proof of your English language proficiency, if relevant

Please submit all documents, apart from your references and degree transcripts, as one combined file and submit this against the research proposal section of the application form.

All application documents must be submitted in English. Certified translated copies of academic qualifications must also be provided.

Please note that we will seek a supporting statement from named prospective supervisors for all shortlisted candidates as part of the final assessment process.

Please quote reference 5316 on your application and in any correspondence about this studentship.

Reference information
It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees email their references to PGRApplicants@exeter.ac.uk, as we will not make requests for references directly; you must arrange for them to be submitted by 17 February 2025.  Please note that applications with missing documentation will not progress to shortlisting.

References should be in the form of a letter. Referees must email their references to us from their institutional email accounts. We cannot accept references from personal/private email accounts, unless it is a scanned document on institutional headed paper and signed by the referee.

No interviews will be held for these studentships. We expect to be able to communicate outcomes to all applicants by the end of April 2025.

For general information about this studentship and the application process, please contact PGRApplicants@exeter.ac.uk.

Summary