PhD Classics and Ancient History / Overview

Year of entry: 2024

Degree awarded
Doctor of Philosophy
Duration
3 years [full-time], 6 years [part-time]
Entry requirements
  • A Bachelors (Honours) degree at 2:1 level or above (or its international equivalent) in a related subject; and
  • Master's degree in a relevant subject – with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent)
  • Any strong relevant professional experience will be considered on a case by case basis.

Full entry requirements

How to apply

Apply online

Please ensure you include all  required supporting documents at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered. 

Application Deadlines 

For consideration in internal funding competitions, you must submit your completed application by  12 January 2024. 

If you are applying for or have secured external funding (for example, from an employer or government) or are self–funding, you must submit your application before the below deadlines to be considered. You will not be able to apply after these dates have passed. 

  • For September 2024 entry:  30 June 2024 
  • For January 2025 entry:  30 September 2024

Programme options

Full-time Part-time Full-time distance learning Part-time distance learning
PhD Y Y N N

Programme description

Our PhD Classics and Ancient History programme is aimed at students who want to make a genuine contribution to scholarly knowledge and understanding of the field through their thesis.

You will acquire an excellent general knowledge of the wider field in question and high competence in relevant languages - ancient and modern - and associated skills, both subject-specific and generic.

Our research covers Greek and Roman history, Classical literature and its reception, and ancient philosophy.

We enjoy close links with researchers in areas including Medieval and Modern History, Archaeology, Art History, English and American Studies, Linguistics, Religions and Theology, the John Rylands University Library and the Manchester Museum.

Research centres of special importance to us and our research students include the Centre for Correspondence Studies, the Centre for the Cultural History of War, and the Cultural Theory Institute.

We offer supervision in a very broad range of subjects spanning Greek and Roman culture, history, literature and language from the archaic period to late antiquity.

Certain research clusters stand out within our present constellation of permanent staff and research fellows, especially in the areas of Greek and Roman history and Greek and Latin literature. Areas of specialism include epistolography, epigraphy, Hellenistic and Augustan poetry, drama, oratory, historiography, Greek and Roman warfare, Greek institutional history, critical theory, and ancient philosophy. For a comprehensive list of our research interests, click here

Open days

Find out what it's like to study at Manchester by visiting us on one of our  open days.

Potential graduate applicants are always welcome to visit the department outside of open days, and these visits can often be arranged to give you a chance to meet existing graduate students and/or to attend one of the graduate seminars. Please contact Dr Ina Berg ( ina.berg@manchester.ac.uk ) for more information.

Fees

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2024, the tuition fees are as follows:

  • PhD (full-time)
    UK students (per annum): £4,786
    International, including EU, students (per annum): £21,500
  • PhD (part-time)
    UK students (per annum): £2,393

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

Please note for the majority of projects where experimentation requires further resource: higher fee bands (where quoted) will be charged rather than the base rate for supervision, administration and computational costs. The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive and, therefore, you will not be required to pay any additional bench fees or administration costs.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of the course for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your project.

Scholarships/sponsorships

There are a range of scholarships, studentships and awards to support both UK and overseas postgraduate researchers, details of which can be found via the links below.

To apply University of Manchester funding, you must indicate in your application the competitions for which you wish to be considered. The deadline for most internal competitions, including AHRC NWCDTP and School of Arts, Languages and Cultures studentships is 12 January 2024. 

All external funding competitions have a specified deadline for submitting the funding application form and a separate (earlier) deadline for submitting the online programme application form, both of which will be stated in the funding competition details below.  

For more information about funding, visit our funding page to browse for scholarships, studentships and awards you may be eligible for.

Contact details

School/Faculty
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
Contact name
Humanities Doctoral Academy Admissions
Email
Website
https://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/
School/Faculty

See: About us

Programmes in related subject areas

Use the links below to view lists of programmes in related subject areas.

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