MPhil/PhD with the Institute of English Studies

Undertaking doctoral research allows you to develop in-depth knowledge, while making a meaningful contribution to your chosen field.

The Institute of English Studies (IES) provides a unique scholarly community in which to pursue doctoral research. We offer research supervision in a number of literature-related subject areas, ranging from book history to contemporary writing. With guidance from our expert supervisors, you'll carry out extensive independent research culminating in a thesis of up to 100,000 words.

This degree presents the opportunity to gain expertise in your area of interest while also honing a range of transferable skills. On completing this course, you'll be well prepared for specialist career paths both within academia and beyond.

Subject Areas and Supervision
The Institute of English Studies(Opens in new window) offers doctoral research supervision in the following broad areas:

- Bibliography

- Book illustration

- History of the book from the medieval period to the present

- History of collecting

- History of printing

- History of publishing from 1800 to the present

- History of readers and reading

- Textual scholarship, scholarly editing and digital humanities

- Author-focused studies (e.g. J.M. Barrie, Dickens, Scott Fitzgerald, Hardy, D.H. Lawrence, Melville, Shakespeare, R.L. Stevenson, Twain, W.B. Yeats)

- Medieval manuscript studies and palaeography

- Early modern print culture

- Victorian literature

- Twentieth-century literature

- American literature

- Anglo-American Modernism

- Scottish literature

Before submitting an application you are advised to contact a member of the academic staff who has interests in your proposed field of study to discuss your proposal