Postgraduate Virtual Open Week 11-15 March
sign up now

PhD, MPhil, MRes Modern languages

Apply
Back to course

Research opportunities

We have full-time staff in French, Italian, Spanish and Translation studies who can offer you great expertise and supervision in your area of research.

You'll be based in our Graduate School where you'll join our current research students working across many disciplines.

You can study an MPhil over one year or a PhD over the course of three years.

You can carry out your degree in any of our research areas:

  • Culture in France (including Francophone West African Culture), Italy, Latin America and Spain (19th and 20th century)
  • Women’s Writers and Readers
  • 19th and 20th-century History (particularly the Second World War)
  • Intellectual History
  • Translation Studies

MRes

Our MRes degree is available in:

  • French
  • Italian
  • Spanish

Mediterranean sea

Back to course

Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that tuition fees are revised annually and may increase in subsequent years of study. Annual increases will generally reflect UK inflation rates and increases to programme delivery costs.

Go back
Scotland
  • 2024/25: £4,786
  • 2023/24: £4,712
England, Wales & Northern Ireland
  • 2024/25: £4,786
  • 2023/24: £4,712
International
  • 2024/25: £18,050
Funding

Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information.

You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities.

Postgraduate research opportunities

Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities.

Additional costs

International students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information.

 

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year. Find out more about fees.

Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Scholarships

View all our scholarships

Our research

Our multidisciplinary research in modern languages (French, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin) investigates questions of representations, interpretations and transmissions in film, fiction, journalism, opera, print media, theatre, philosophy and translation.

Our main areas of research include:

  • literature and intellectual history
  • exile, trauma and wellbeing
  • women writers, performers and audiences
  • translating people, cultures and heritages

Within these areas, we have ongoing research projects which involve working closely with a range of external partners.

 

 

My advice for future PhD students is that before applying for this course, choose a topic that you will enjoy because you will study, eat, sleep and carry your research with you everywhere. Lean on your Supervisors and do not be afraid to admit that you need clarification or help from them.
Erica Zuniga
Back to course

Supervisors

NameAreas of expertise

French

 
Karine Varley          
  • France since 1789
  • France in the Second World War
  • Corsica
  • Franco-Prussian War
  • Memory and Commemoration
Caroline Verdier                 
  • contemporary French and Francophone Literature
  • medical humanities
  • writing Illness and the Body
  • gender and illness
  • contemporary Women's Writing
  • Belgian literature and culture
  • feminism in France and Belgium 
David Murphy 
  • anti-colonialism in Africa
  • French colonial history
  • colonial troops and the First World War
  • Francophone African Literature and Cinema
  • race and identity in France
Sharon Deane Cox 
  • Literary re(translation)
  • Multimodal translation
  • French Holocaust writing
  • French World War II memorial museums
  • Systemic functional linguistics 

Italian

 
Philip Cooke
  • modern Italian culture (literature, film, art, 'popular culture')
  • Italian history
  • language teaching and language teaching policy       
Katharine Mitchell
  • female-authored literary texts about women in 19th and 20th century Italy
  • cross-disciplinary female spectators (opera/silent camera) in late 19th and early 20th century Italy
  • Italian women’s periodicals and domestic fiction
  • Scotland and Europe’s connections and exchanges in the long 19th century
  • figure of the diva and celebrity culture
Paul Hare
  • literary and artistic patronage in Italian renaissance courts
  • language acquisition in Scotland   

Spanish

 
Lidia Acosta Mederos
  • 20th century Mexican politics and electoral reform.
  • history of 20th century Latin American revolutions and dictatorships
  • films of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Cuban cinema)
  • Spanish Second Language Acquisition

Charles Pigott

  • environmental humanities (e.g. ecocriticism)
  • indigenous studies
  • biocultural heritage
  • cultural memory
  • multilingualism 

Rhiannon McGlade

  • 20th and 21st Century Spain
  • Catalan cultural and political history
  • visual print media and ephemera: comics; cartoons; graphic novels; ‘zines; caricature
  • humour studies
  • Spanish and Catalan visual cultural studies
  • Spanish feminisms
  • censorship in Spain and Catalonia

Mandarin

 

 

Hui Li

  • cultural translation
  • translator and interpreter training
  • business translation
  • vocabulary acquisition and assessment

 

Back to course

Support & development

The Graduate School

The Graduate School is a friendly and supportive study environment for research students studying subjects within Humanities & Social Sciences.

Our staff will support you through your studies and you'll become part of a community of students who get involved with our workshops, seminars and competitions.

Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PgCert RPD)

Our PgCert RPD programme aims to ensure you get the most out of your current research activities at Strathclyde and helps you prepare for your future career as a researcher.

We'll help you recognise and develop your transferrable skills that'll have a positive impact on your research, now and in the future.

Careers

The University Careers Service can help you with everything from writing your CV to interview preparation. Take a look at our careers service pages to get more information.

Student support

From financial advice to our IT facilities, we have a wide range of support for all students here at Strathclyde. Get all the information you need at Strathlife.

International students

We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 140 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.

Visit our international students' section

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

The Strathclyde Doctoral School provides a vibrant and comprehensive student-centred research and training environment in order to grow and support current and future research talent.

The School encompasses our four faculties and is committed to enriching the student experience, intensifying research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring training is at the highest level. As a postgraduate researcher, you'll automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Find out more about the Doctoral School

Back to course

Apply

Entry requirements

You normally require to have a first-class or upper second-class UK Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, in Spanish, French or Italian.

The application

During the application, you'll be asked for the following:

  • your full contact details
  • transcripts and certificates of all degrees
  • proof of English language proficiency if English isn't your first language. For postgraduate studies, we require a minimum overall IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent (no individual test score below 5.5, the test must be taken within two years of the programme start date)
  • two references, one of which must be academic
  • funding or scholarship information
  • research proposal of 250 to 1,000 words in length, detailing the subject area and topic to be investigated

By filling these details out as fully as possible, you'll avoid any delay to your application being processed by the University.

Supervisors

You'll need to identify your research supervisor before you finalise your application, preferably as soon as possible. When you've identified a potential supervisor, based upon how well your research interests match theirs, drop them an email to introduce yourself.In the email, make sure you attach a draft of your research proposal along with a copy of your CV. Don't worry about how rough your research proposal may be at this stage – you'll have help from the Department of Humanities to refine it.

If your chosen supervisor is unavailable to work with you, they'll confirm this and nominate a potential second supervisor. As soon as a second supervisor is confirmed, an offer of study will be sent to you through Pegasus, our online application system.

When you accept our offer, you'll receive a full offer in writing via the email address you provide.

Accepting an offer

When you've accepted our offer, we'll need you to fulfil any academic, administrative or financial conditions that we ask.

UK or EU students

If you're applying as a UK or EU student, you'll then be issued with your registration documentation.

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Spanish

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Spanish

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Spanish

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Spanish

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Sep 2024

Spanish

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2024

Start date: Sep 2024

Spanish

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Spanish

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Spanish

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Spanish

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Spanish

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

French

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

French

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

French

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

French

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Sep 2024

French

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2024

Start date: Sep 2024

French

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

French

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

French

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

French

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

French

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Italian

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Italian

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Italian

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Italian

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2023 - Sep 2024

Start date: Sep 2024

Italian

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2024

Start date: Sep 2024

Italian

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2024

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Italian

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Italian

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Italian

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Italian

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Sep 2025

Spanish

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2025

Start date: Sep 2025

Spanish

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Spanish

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Spanish

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Spanish

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Spanish

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Back to course

Contact us

Katharine Mitchell

Email: hass-hum-pgr@strath.ac.uk

Modern languages

Telephone: +44 (0)141 444 8402

Email: hass-pgr-applications@strath.ac.uk