PhD Religions and Theology

Our virtual week took place October 2024 – to find out about future sessions to explore postgraduate research opportunities across the university, please visit our study fairs and events page.

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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 2026.

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 2026 entry:  30 June 2026
• For January 2027 entry:  30 September 2026

Before you start your application, you must:

1. Develop your own research proposal and project title.
2. Find a supervisor by browsing our academics’ profiles . We strongly encourage you to confirm that your chosen supervisor’s interests align with your proposed research and that they are willing to support your project.
3. Consider how you plan on funding your research and discuss this with your supervisor.

When you submit your application, you must include each of the below required documents:

• A 1,500 word PhD research proposal ; Please state the word count on page 1 of the document.
• A copy of your Bachelor's academic transcript and certificate.
• A copy of your Master's academic transcript and certificate. If your Master's degree is pending, please provide an interim transcript.
• If you have completed more than one Bachelor's or Master's degree, please provide evidence for each. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, you must provide an official English translation. If your weighted average mark or GPA is not included on these documents, please also include an official document from your university verifying this information.
• An up-to-date academic CV summarising your academic record, employment history, publications and highlighting experience demonstrating your research potential.
• The names of two academic referees, including one from your most recent institution. Your referees will be contacted directly via the Referee Portal following the submission of your application form. You may wish to notify your referees to submit their references promptly, as this is part of the review process.
• A certificate or evidence demonstrating your English language ability and proficiency. Applications can be considered without this evidence but any offer would be conditional on meeting minimum requirements.

Our full-time and part-time Religions and Theology PhD programme involves substantial original research in Religions and Theology, leading to the production of a thesis (of up to 80,000 words) that constitutes asignificant contribution to knowledge.

Areasavailableforresearchinclude:  

• Biblical studies, especially the Bible in context (Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, Graeco-Roman), linguistic approaches, Bible and gender;

• early Christianity;
• papyri and other manuscripts in the John Rylands Library;
• Rabbinic and medieval Judaism;
• Jewish thought;
• Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations;
• Islamic philosophy and medicine;
• Christian doctrine;
• philosophical and political theology;
• applied theology;
• ecotheology;
• theology and technology;
• contemporary Christianity;
• religious archives in the John Rylands Library;
• religion and philosophy;
• existentialism;
• philosophy of law;
• ethics;
• religion and science;
• religion and politics;
• religion and gender.

Find out more about our staff's research interests on the People page.

One of our particular strengths is the ability of our research students to draw on the expertise of specialists in a wide range of disciplines.

This offers the possibility of developing interdisciplinary projects with high level expertise in both disciplines. For instance, recent PhD students have had supervision jointly between lecturers in Biblical studies and Roman social history, theology and music, and theology and philosophy.

Within Religions and Theology, our doctoral students also participate in a thriving disciplinary research culture. There are regular research seminars in Religions and Theology, Biblical Studies, and Jewish Studies.

Research students are also welcome at a wide range of seminars in other areas, for instance, in linguistics or in gender, sexuality and culture.

PhD students in Religions and Theology get to meet and discuss with many top international visiting scholars at seminars and public lectures. These include The Manson Memorial Lecture in New Testament, The Sherman Lectures in Jewish Studies, the Bogdanow Lectures in Holocaust Studies, and The Ferguson Lecture in Theology.

Many of our students undertake some undergraduate teaching, following appropriate training which is offered to all doctoral students.

Funds are available for students to organise conferences and travel to attend events and undertake research.

There are opportunities to organise, participate in, and present papers at conferences led by PhD students and joint events, such as the Manchester-Durham-Sheffield PhD student conference in Biblical Studies.

The PhD programme is based on supervised independent research. The student-supervisor relationship thus sits at the heart of this programme.

Doctoral supervision is on a one-to-one basis, with meetings usually fortnightly in the first year.

Each student has a main supervisor, a co-supervisor and an additional panel member who acts as an independent reviewer. The Religions and Theology Postgraduate Research Officer provides more general academic advice and support.

In addition to regular personal supervision, our graduate research students each have a research panel which meets a minimum of two times per year (on more occasions if necessary).

The research panel increases the breadth of expertise available to the student and widens the informational and networking opportunities accessible to them.

In addition the panel reviews the development of the student's research proposal, provides feedback on draft chapters and conference papers, discusses research progress, and provides guidance on the formulation of realistic objectives.

During the course of your programme, research postgraduates need to develop both broad generic research skills and specialised skills relevant to your specific discipline and field study.

Some of these skills will be acquired as part of our skills training, as well as a range of courses available across the University. Weekly seminars are sponsored by various research centres.

artsmethods@manchester  is a programme of talks, workshops and events running throughout the academic year, which explores approaches to arts research, research methods and the dissemination of arts and languages research at Manchester.

There is also training available in a wide range of disciplines that can support a Religions and Theology PhD. For instance, Manchester provides one of the UK's widest selections of language teaching.

The single most important piece of advice I could give anyone considering a PhD is to pick a research topic that you're obsessed with. I've come across too many PhD students who have a really hard time getting through it because they find it a drag.

You want to pick something that you spend every day thinking about, where you have to force yourself to hang up the keyboard and leave your office or desk as you've overdone it again. It's not unusual that I leave my office at 8 or 9pm, only to carry on when I get home. I just can't leave it alone - I'm obsessed with my research and love every minute of it!

-  Lev Eakins, PhD Religions and Theology student. Read the full blog post here .

Find out more about what it's like to undertake a postgraduate research degree at Manchester on our Humanities PGR blog .

Manchester is home to one of the UK's five National Research Libraries - one of the best-resourced academic libraries in the UK and widely recognised as one of the world's greatest research libraries.

Find out more about libraries and study spaces for postgraduate research students at Manchester.

We also have one of the largest academic IT services in Europe - supporting world-class teaching and research. There are extensive computing facilities across campus, with access to standard office software as well as specialist programmes, all connected to the campus network and internet.

Every student is registered for email, file storage and internet access. Ifmore demanding computer access is required, our specialist computing division can provide high-end and specialist computing services.

Many of our Religions and Theology PhD graduates have gone on to leading academic positions in countries such as the UK, USA, South Korea, Australia, Burundi and South Africa.

Among past PhD graduates are Morna Hooker, Donald Hagner, W Ward Gasque, Robert Gundry, Itumeleng Mosala, Quek Swee Hwa, Seyoon Kim, Ronald Fung, Moises Silva, Charles Wanamaker, David Wenham, Peter O'Brien and Peter H Davids.

Recently, our PhD graduates have gone on to become department heads, post-doctoral fellows, principles and professors at leading institutions in the UK, Canada and Burundi, as well as going on to positions the John Rylands Research Institute, and with leading European research projects.

Through this PhD, you will develop research skills valuable for careers other than academic teaching. Many professions today require investigative skills, while some in the media spend time researching angles of events that relate to religions. Others in the health service investigate the experiences of various cultural groups in accessing services, and many in museums, libraries and other archives require the textual and historical research skills that our courses teach.

To read about careers that our PhD graduates have followed, see our Careers Page .

PhD study in Religions and Theology gives you a high level qualification for a wide range of investigative tasks. More broadly, careers in a wide range of fields are available as for all those graduating with PhDs in Humanities subjects.

Whatever employment area you choose, your studies will provide you with transferable skills, as well as enhancing your intellectual and personal development.

The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help support you with your goals for the future.