Postgraduate Research Courses
The School of English offers the following research degrees:
Both are gained following a period of supervised research, the submission of a thesis and an oral examination (viva.)
Postgraduate research students in the School of English are an integral part of a culture in which curiosity-driven research of international significance is conducted across the key disciplinary areas of English language and applied linguistics, medieval studies, and literature and drama from the early modern period to the contemporary.
Listen to Jemima, Sam and Teva talk of their PhD experience at the School.
Areas of supervision
The School has research strengths in areas such as:
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second language acquisition
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applied linguistics
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corpus linguistics
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professional communication
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health communication
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the interface between language and literature
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Viking studies
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early-modern drama
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text-editing
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late C20th and contemporary fiction
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individual author-specialisms (eg. Richard Brome, Lord Byron, J. M. Coetzee, Ben Jonson, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, William Langland, Ian McEwan, James Shirley, Robert Southey and Oscar Wilde)
A full list of areas of research supervision is available here.
Research Culture
The School has a highly successful and rapidly expanding culture of externally-funded, single and interdisciplinary research projects with linked postdoctoral fellowships and Research Fellows.
Postgraduate Community
The School has a vibrant, distinctive and growing postgraduate culture, with both Masters and Research Students working in a uniquely wide variety of single and interdisciplinary fields. Our students join a lively, diverse and truly international body of researchers, one in which an exceptionally wide range of specialist interests is combined with a close-knit sense of community. All staff are research active and involved in advanced teaching and supervision.
Research Training and Supervision
The School has a large range of modules on research methodology, teaching practice and career development (including training sessions in completing applications for external funding), delivered in conjunction with the University's Arts Graduate Centre. The School prides itself on the level of support it offers to postgraduates and the flexibility of our teaching methods.
Supervision for research leading to a PhD or MPhil is provided across the School and each student is assigned a primary and secondary supervisor.
Co-supervision of postgraduate research students allows greater utilisation of the School’s research expertise and further embeds individual students within our research culture, particularly those involved in cross-disciplinary projects.
Professional Development and Careers
The School plays an important part in the career progression of its postgraduates, who benefit from a research and mentoring culture which includes:
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Opportunities for postgraduates to teach and to develop a teaching profile and teaching-related skills
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Postgraduate-led weekly research seminar and annual conference
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Provision of infrastructural and support for postgraduate-organised international conferences
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Research networks created by the research Centres, Institute, and individual research projects
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Research Council-funded international research exchange visits with leading universities
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Co-authorship with members of staff
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Dedicated staff-postgraduate reading groups
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Interdisciplinary research seminars
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Postgraduate participation in international conferences/seminars
Our Postgraduates are extremely successful in securing academic posts and postdoctoral positions.
The School welcomes applications from any student interested in pursuing research at postgraduate level.
For further information please contact english-postgrad@nottingham.ac.uk
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