Geographical Sciences (Human Geography)

The excellence of Bristol's social science research was confirmed by the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021). According to the Times Higher Education's analysis of REF 2021, The School of Geographical Sciences ranked first in the UK for the fifth REF cycle in a row.

We have a large and vibrant postgraduate community, focusing both on PhDs by research and on taught programmes. Our postgraduate community is international and interdisciplinary and offers an exceptional academic environment for postgraduate research. We also have a 100% completion rate over the past five years for UKRI-funded PhD students.

Research opportunities span a variety of subjects at the leading edge of geographical research. Our research groups span a range of human geographical research. These include the History and Culture Research Group; the Geographies of Political Economy Research Group; the States, Economies and Societies Research Group; and the Quantitative Spatial Science Research Group. Within these four groups, postgraduate research covers the gamut, from health and housing inequalities to embodied posthuman geographies, to urban sustainability futures, to the environmental humanities, to improving techniques of quantitative modelling and machine learning, to geopolitics, decolonial geographies, and political ecology.

There is also a range of exciting possibilities for interdisciplinary research that cross and connect research groups and departments. Candidates typically have two supervisors based in the school, but supervision is possible across schools and faculties.

There is an active postgraduate research community whose representatives not only meet formally with staff representatives on issues of mutual interest, but who arrange social and other support for the PGR cohort.

There is dedicated PGR space in Beacon House.

Alternatively, you may be interested in our PhD in Geographical Sciences (Physical Geography).