PhD, MPhil, MRes History

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Research opportunities

You can study for a PhD over the course of three years, or you can study for an MRes or an MPhil over the course of one year, at the end of which you would submit a dissertation.

If you have already gained a Masters qualification, you can apply for a PhD, which culminates in a thesis built on original research up to 100,000 words in length. In the course of your research and writing the thesis, you will gain a range of professional skills in research methods, communications, presentation, organisation and other academic specialisms.

We can offer PhD supervision in a variety of areas, including:

Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow

View our current research opportunities

Life on Mars: reconstructing the welfare of boys admitted to the TS Mars, 1869 to 1929

This project is based on the records of the TS Mars. It will address questions including: what light can data shed on the welfare of children on the TS Mars? What light do these records shed on child & adolescent growth patterns since the mid-19th century? What light does the Mars shed on the relationship between the statutory & voluntary sectors in the management of welfare institutions? What role did the Mars play in the history of care & reformation in 19th and early 20th century Scotland?

Deadline:

Funding:

unfunded

Saint Andrew's Society Scholarships

For the academic year 2025-2026, the St Andrew's Society for the State of New York is offering two scholarships to Scottish students wishing to study for a postgraduate Masters in the United States. Each studentship will have a maximum value of $45,000 USD.

Preference will be given to candidates who have no previous experience of the United States and for whom a period of study there can be expected to be a life-changing experience. Selection will be based on an all-around assessment, including character, experience academic achievement, and need.

The selection process is conducted by the Scholarship Committee of the Saint Andrew’s Society of the State of New York.

Deadline:

28 February 2025

Funding:

Funded

John Anderson Research Studentship Scheme (JARSS)

John Anderson Research Studentship Scheme (JARSS) doctoral studentships are available annually for excellent students and excellent research projects.

There are two main sources of funding:

  • Central University funding
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - Doctoral Landscape Award (EPSRC - DLA) funding.

The JARSS 2025/26 competition will open in October 2024 and students successful in this competition will commence studies in October 2025. Faculties will set their own internal deadlines for the competition.

Academics/Supervisors make the applications for this scheme and there are various deadlines across Departments and Faculties, therefore, in the first instance, all interested students should contact the Department where they would like to carry out their research.

Deadline:

Funding:

Funded

THE Awards 2019: UK University of the Year Winner

MRes & MPhil research degrees

The MRes (Master of Research) and the MPhil (Master of Philosophy) in History are possible precursors to a PhD. Compared to the MSc taught postgraduate programmes in History, MRes and MPhil students take fewer classes and write dissertations that are considerably longer.  

MRes and MPhil students take at least one 20-credit research training class from the following:

  • Sources, Skills and Methods for Historians 1
  • Sources, Skills and Methods for Historians 2
  • Palaeography, c.1500-c.1800

MRes students can also elect to attend other classes, if their supervisors consider this would be useful.

MRes and MPhil degrees are suitable for recent graduates and also for those with good writing and research skills who graduated some time ago. Both degrees involve a substantial project undertaken over one year (or two years, part-time). The MRes and the MPhil differ slightly in terms of their demands and it's a matter of deciding which you think you would suit you best.

MRes and MPhil students work closely with two supervisors on a dissertation of 30,000 words. You have two years to complete this, but most students submit their dissertation by the end of the calendar year after they commence (ie a student beginning in September might submit the completed dissertation at Christmas the following year). Viva examination is not necessarily required. In certain circumstances, the MPhil allows direct transfer to a PhD.

A distinctive feature of the MRes is that it is often interdisciplinary, drawing on two Humanities & Social Sciences subjects for supervision and subject matter, and this sometimes appeals to students with Joint Honours degrees.  For example, we have close links with colleagues in Modern Languages who could support MPhil topics in European or Latin American history.

In recent years, competitive AHRC-aligned excellence awards have provided fee-waivers for interdisciplinary MRes research projects for students likely to apply for AHRC funding for a PhD.

The highlight of my PhD journey was winning the British Association for Irish Studies’ 2021 Essay Prize. The competition is run annually for PhD researchers based in Britain in the field of Irish studies…There are plenty of competitions for PhD researchers which I would strongly recommend applying for even just on a whim!
Niamh Coffey
PhD History
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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.

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Scotland

£4,786

England, Wales & Northern Ireland

£4,786

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

£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.

Our students

Lauren McDougall

I have found the community at Strathclyde to be second to none: between our students, faculty members, and administration teams, I have always been grateful for the time, attention, and advice I have received throughout my journey as a student at Strathclyde.

Nicola Cacciatore

Historical research can feel quite lonely. However, perhaps precisely because of this, PhD students in the humanities tend to band together strictly. The interaction with your peers provides you a much-needed psychological support during the research process.

Ewan Keddie Hearns

Studying a PhD has opened many doors for me already and I’m not even halfway through it as of yet. I’ve attended the political studies association conference, visited several historical archives and am completing an SGSSS internship this summer.

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

The Strathclyde Doctoral School offers a vibrant, student-centred research and training environment, dedicated to supporting both current and future research talent.

Bringing together all four of our faculties, it is committed to enhancing the student experience, increasing research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring that training is delivered at the highest standard.

As a postgraduate researcher, you will automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Find out more about the Doctoral School

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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
Catriona Ellis
  • History of childhood and education
  • Social history of health and medicine in the British empire
  • History of South Asia
Richard Finlay 
  • Scottish history since 1700
  • Scottish and British political history 
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
Yvonne McFadden
  • oral history 
  • gender history 
  • social & cultural history of twentieth-century Britain & Scotland 
  • feminisms in Scotland
  • housing 
  • social class & social mobility 
  • labour history 
Arthur McIvor 
  • Oral history
  • Labour history
  • Deindustrialisation
  • Work in Britain since 1945
  • History of occupational health and safety
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
Emma Newlands 
  • War and health/medicine
  • Military culture and experience
  • History of human experiments
  • History of masculinity
Rogelia Pastor-Castro 
  • International History in the twentieth century
  • Cold War Europe
  • Diplomacy and international security
  • British and French foreign policies
Matthew Smith 
  • Mental health and psychiatry
  • Allergy and immunology
  • Food and nutrition
  • Childhood Health
  • Environment Factors and Health
Manuela Williams 
  • Arab nationalism
  • The history of propaganda and information
  • History of Egypt and Iraq
  • Italian Fascism
  • European Integration
John Young
  • The Scottish Covenanters
  • Scotland and Ulster
  • The Scottish Parliament
  • History of Glasgow
  • The 1707 Act of Union
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
David Wilson
  • Colonial maritime, naval, and coastal history from 1500 onwards
  • Piracy, privateering, and maritime predation
  • Legal history in the British empire
  • Atlantic and early modern imperial history
  • Maritime histories of Africa
  • History of fishing and fisheries science
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
David Murphy 
  • Anti-colonialism in Africa
  • French Colonial History
  • Colonial Troops and the First World War
  • The History of Cultural Festivals (particularly in Africa)
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)
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
Phil Cooke
  • Italian social, political and cultural history, 19th to 21st centuries
  • The European Resistance Movement
  • The history of science and medicine in Italy, 19th to 21st centuries
  • Italian terrorism
  • Transnational history
Rhiannon McGlade
  • 19th, 20th and 21st Century Spain
  • Catalan Studies: Cultural and Political History
  • Dictatorship and Democracy in Spain and Catalonia
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
Niall Whelehan
  • modern Ireland
  • the Irish diaspora
  • terrorism and political violence
  • activism and social movements
  • colonialism and empire
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

 

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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.

Our research

History at the University of Strathclyde has a long tradition of the highest quality research in its field. Our historians focus on:

  • Scotland and the world
  • European and International History
  • History of science, technology and medicine
  • Oral history

Two of these themes are supported by leading centres – the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare, run jointly with Glasgow Caledonian University and the Scottish Oral History Centre.

Find out more about our research

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

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Apply

Entry requirements

Normally, a first-class or upper second-class UK Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, in history or a related subject. For PhD applications, we also normally require a Masters degree, or overseas equivalent, in history or a related subject.

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 1,500-2,000 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 on 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 staff in the Department of History to refine it.

If your chosen supervisor is available 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.

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

Accepting an offer

Once 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 2024 - Sep 2025

History

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

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

History

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

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

History

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

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

History

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

Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

History (partner organisation)

full-time
Start date: Oct 2024 - Sep 2025

Start date: Sep 2025

History

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2025

Start date: Sep 2025

History

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2025

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

History

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

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

History

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

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

History

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

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

History

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

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

History (partner organisation)

full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

History

MPhil
part-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

History

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

History

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

History

MPhil
full-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

History (partner organisation)

full-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Start date: Sep 2026

History

MRes
part-time
Start date: Sep 2026

Start date: Sep 2026

History

MRes
full-time
Start date: Sep 2026

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Contact us

Katharine Mitchell

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

Graduate school

Telephone: +44 (0)141 444 8400

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