MRes History with Genealogical Studies

Key facts

  • Start date: September
  • Study mode and duration: Full‑time (12 months) | part‑time (24 months)
  • Location: online

Study with us

  • develop advanced research expertise in two closely connected disciplines
  • build your knowledge and skills in genealogical methodologies, historical research techniques, and source analysis
  • complete a substantial dissertation with dedicated one‑to‑one supervision
  • strong foundation for PhD study or research‑focused careers
  • delivered fully online, with full and part-time study options

The Place of Useful Learning

UK University of the Year

Daily Mail University of the Year Awards 2026

Scottish University of the Year

The Sunday Times' Good University Guide 2026

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Course content

The programme combines taught modules, one‑to‑one supervision, research training and independent project work.

The MRes can be completed full-time over 1 or 2 years, or part-time over 2 or 3 years, culminating in a thesis built on original research of 25,000 words. You will also take 40 credits in skills and methodology classes in History and in Genealogical Studies in semester one of the programme, to prepare for your dissertation research.

Core modules

Semester 1

Professional Practice & Methodologies 1

This session provides a context for genealogical practice in a wide variety of environments. You'll progress with a common level of knowledge and understanding of key concepts and practice, including:

  • ethics & standards in genealogy
  • analysis of evidence problems
  • business practice
  • an introduction to palaeography
  • the recording & presentation of data

Civil & Church Records

This class is a systematic foundation in the use of various sources, including birth, marriage, death and census records from across the United Kingdom.

Census substitutes (poll books, electoral rolls, valuation and taxation assessments and subsidy lists, poor law registers, etc) and ecclesiastical records (OPR, parish registers, bishops' transcripts, Kirk Session and parish administration records, etc) are also covered.

Advanced Topics in History

This module will enable you to work with a History staff member on a mutually agreed research topic, incorporating detailed study of historiography and methodology. This option is designed to give you the opportunity to work closely with a member of staff to develop a specialist area of study and build methodological skills.

Semester 2 & 3

Dissertation

A MRes in history with a genealogical dimension may incorporate one or more of the following areas:

  • using genealogical techniques and/or sources to advance knowledge in associated areas. This includes historical demography, local history, sociology etc. This research may focus on a particular event, area or question in history viewed through the ‘lens’ of its effect on a group, set of families or individuals.
  • reappraising previous research findings using genealogical research techniques and/or records and tools such as genetic genealogy. These can be historical, genealogical, demographic, etc.
  • assessing and evaluating newly available or not-often-used resources. These can include archival collections, ways of using software, etc. This research might examine and evaluate primary sources and/or research methods for the enhancement of genealogical practice
  • assessing and evaluating development in genealogical practice or supporting areas such as archives. This research can include questioning what, why and how genealogists do things, with the aim of delivering a better and more effective service

This is not an exhaustive list. You may wish to select a different focus altogether.

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Entry requirements

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Academic requirements
  • first‑class or upper second‑class Honours degree (or overseas equivalent)
  • two references, one of which must be academic
  • transcripts and certificates of all degrees
English language requirements

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.

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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 the majority of fees will increase annually.

The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year. This cap will apply to fees from 2026/27 onwards, which will not increase by more than 10% from the previous year for continuing students.

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Scotland
  • Full-time: £5,238
  • Part-time: £2,619
England, Wales & Northern Ireland
  • Full-time: £5,238
  • Part-time: £2,619
Republic of Ireland

If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process.

International
  • Full-time: £5,238
  • Part-time: £2,619
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.

How can I apply?

  Tip: Start early – exploring projects and reaching out to supervisors takes time, and it’s worth getting ahead!

1. Discover research projects

Browse our list of supervisor-led projects – these are ready-made opportunities designed by our academic experts. Found something that sparks your interest? Great!

  Prefer to shape your own research? You can propose a student-led project too. We welcome students interested in research with a focus on family history or a related area.

2. Get to know our supervisors

Your supervisor will play a key role in your success.

  • explore their profiles to understand research areas, expertise, and recent work
  • identify who best matches your interests and goals

Our supervisors

You will be supervised by academic staff in History with co-supervision by staff in the Strathclyde Institute of Genealogical Studies, giving the opportunity to undertake an MRes in History with a distinctive genealogical dimension.

3. Contact a supervisor

If applying for project-led:

  • email the supervisor to introduce yourself to check suitability and their capacity
  • make your email subject heading clear
  • include: 
    • a short summary of why you want to do an MRes in History with Genealogical Studies
    • your CV
    • a clear statement of your interest

If applying for student-led:

  • email the HaSS Graduate School to introduce yourself
  • make your email subject heading clear
  • include: 
    • a short summary of why you want to do an MRes in History with Genealogical Studies
    • your CV
    • research proposal of 1,000 words 

This step helps you build a positive connection before applying.

Please note: There are times during the academic year when supervisors may be very busy, which could delay their response to your email.

  • if you haven’t received a reply within a week, send a polite follow-up email
  • you can also contact the HaSS Graduate School for advice or support at any stage (hass-pgr-applications@strath.ac.uk)
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Supervisors

Name  Areas of Expertise 
Patricia Barton 
  • Indian economic links with the British empire
  • Disease in colonial South Asia
  • Social history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals
  • Social history of health and medicine in the British empire
  • History of modern empires
Tanja Bueltmann
  • diaspora history, especially Scottish diaspora history
  • history of migration to Scotland
  • history of associational culture
  • history of immigrant community life/identity
  • history of immigrant activism
Matthew Eisler 
  • environmental and energy studies
  • cultures of knowledge and practice
  • social relations of energy and materials conversion
  • political economy of industrial innovation and production
Hannah Elizabeth
  • history of HIV/AIDS and sexual health
  • history of children's media
  • history of adolescent media
  • history of sex education
  • LGBTQ+ history
  • 20th century public health history
  • history of activism, especially health activism and queer activism
  • history of health promotion
  • history of health conspiracies
  • history of emotions
Catriona Ellis
  • History of childhood and education
  • Social history of health and medicine in the British empire
  • History of South Asia
Erica Fudge
  • animal studies
  • Renaissance studies
  • animal literary & cultural studies
  • Renaissance to modern animal history

Graham Holton

 
Laura Kelly
  • Social history of medicine in nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland
  • History of reproductive and sexual health
  • History of activism
  • History of the medical profession and medical education
  • Student culture

Rhiannon Lloyd

 
Alasdair MacDonald
  • Genetic genealogy
  • surname studies
  • Scottish genealogy
  • Medieval and modern genealogy
Raquel Martinez Martin
  • 20th and 21st Century Spanish history and culture
  • narratives of crisis and activism
  • labour and precarity
  • ageing, motherhood and gender
  • cinema history
Tahitia McCabe
  • American and British genealogy
  • nineteenth century
  • migration studies
Yvonne McFadden
  • oral history 
  • gender history 
  • social & cultural history of twentieth-century Britain & Scotland 
  • feminisms in Scotland
  • housing 
  • social class & social mobility 
  • labour history 
Rhiannon McGlade
  • 19th, 20th and 21st Century Spain
  • Catalan Studies: Cultural and Political History
  • Dictatorship and Democracy in Spain and Catalonia
Jim Mills
  • Social history of drugs and narcotics
  • Social history of health and medicine in the British empire
  • History of modern empires
Katharine Mitchell
  • early twentieth-century print media
  • female (silent) screenwriters
  • women spectators of opera, theatre & silent film
Martin Mitchell
  • The Irish in Scotland
  • The social history of religion in modern Scotland
  • Labour and radical movements in Scotland
  • Scottish political and social history since 1750
David Murphy 
  • Anti-colonialism in Africa
  • French Colonial History
  • Colonial Troops and the First World War
  • The History of Cultural Festivals (particularly in Africa)
Emma Newlands 
  • War and health/medicine
  • Military culture and experience
  • History of human experiments
  • History of masculinity
Hannah Proctor 
  • the history of psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis and mental health in the twentieth century
  • histories of activism and the left in twentieth-century Europe
  • the history of science and social science in the Cold War
  • intellectual history (particularly Marxism and psychoanalysis);
  • histories of state socialism (particularly the relationship between the former East and the West)
  • histories of Communism and anticommunism
  • histories of second wave feminism in the UK and US
Rogelia Pastor-Castro 
  • International History in the twentieth century
  • Cold War Europe
  • Diplomacy and international security
  • British and French foreign policies
Elsa Richardson 
  • Social and Cultural History of Nutrition, Diet and Digestion
  • History of Popular Health Movements
  • Cultural History of Psychology and Psychoanalysis
  • Science, Medicine and the Supernatural
Jesus Sanjurjo-Ramos
  • the history of enslavement, the slave trade, race, and resistance
  • crime, punishment, and carceral systems
  • abolitionism and the politics of emancipation
  • Spanish, Spanish Imperial, and Latin American histories
  • transnational diplomatic, political, and cultural relations in the atlantic world interdisciplinary historical methodologies and the use of AI in historical practice
Matthew Smith 
  • Mental health and psychiatry
  • Allergy and immunology
  • Food and nutrition
  • Childhood Health
  • Environment Factors and Health
Natalia Telepneva
  • Russia in the 20th century
  • Global history of socialism and Marxism
  • Post-colonial Africa, especially issues around decolonisation, development, conflict/ conflict resolution
  • Portuguese-speaking Africa
  • Cold War in the Third World
Angela Turner 
  • History of Disability and Health
  • Oral History Theory and Practise
  • World War Two and the British Home Front
  • Social and Cultural History of Twentieth Century Britain
Karine Varley
  • France in the Second World War
  • Relations between France and Britain
  • Franco-Prussian War
  • Memory and Commemoration
  • European diplomacy
Ksenia Wesolowska
  • International mediation
  • Conflict resolution
  • Arab-Israeli dispute
  • US foreign policy
  • International history in the twentieth century
  • East European secret intelligence
  • Eastern Europe
Niall Whelehan
  • modern Ireland
  • the Irish diaspora
  • terrorism and political violence
  • activism and social movements
  • colonialism and empire
Calista Williams
  • British and Irish genealogy
  • Welsh history
  • nineteenth century
  • history of reading
Manuela Williams 
  • Arab nationalism
  • The history of propaganda and information
  • history of Egypt and Iraq; Italian Fascism
  • European Integration
  • the political and social history of the Middle East in the late 19th and 20th Centuries
David Wilson
  • maritime, naval, and coastal history from 1500 onwards
  • legal history and European empires
  • environmental history and European empires
  • early modern Atlantic and Indian Ocean history
  • piracy, privateering, and maritime predation
  • history of fishing and fisheries knowledge
  • maritime histories of Africa
John Young
  • The Scottish Covenanters
  • Scotland and Ulster
  • The Scottish Parliament
  • History of Glasgow
  • The 1707 Act of Union
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Careers

This MRes is designed to prepare graduates for doctoral study and a range of research-focused careers. Through advanced training in historical and genealogical research methods, source analysis and independent investigation, you’ll develop the skills required for further academic research, professional genealogy, heritage and archives work, and other roles requiring advanced research and analytical expertise. The programme also provides a direct pathway to the University’s PhD in History with Genealogical Studies.

Potential career outcomes include archivist, museum professional, historian, family history researcher, or heritage consultant. 

Careers & Employability Service

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.

The Graduate School

All Postgraduate Research Students within the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences are members of the Graduate School and have access to dedicated study facilities, social events and training, development and funding opportunities.

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Apply

After a positive discussion with your chosen supervisor, you’re ready to submit your application. You can apply for a full-time or part-time programme.

Start date: Sep 2026

History with Genealogical Studies

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2026

Start date: Sep 2027

History with Genealogical Studies

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2027

Start date: Sep 2026

History with Genealogical Studies

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2026

Start date: Sep 2027

History with Genealogical Studies

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2027

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