Programme description
Our English and American Studies PhD programme offers the opportunity to undertake an in-depth piece of research in the area that most interests you.
Manchester has a strong tradition in research, and our current profile includes both traditional areas of research and new fields and methods.
Research in English and American Studies is conducted across both the chronological span and the theoretical range of the subject. Specific areas of international research excellence include:
- Old and Middle English
- Renaissance literature
- Romanticism
- Victorian literature and culture
- Contemporary literature
- Modern Irish and Scottish studies
- American studies
- Post-colonial and world literatures
- Cultural theory.
Special features
Research environment
In the 2014 Research Exercise Framework:
- 75% of our research outputs were graded either 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent'.
- 100% of our research environment was judged to be 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent'.
- 100% of our impact case-studies were graded either 'outstanding' or `very considerable'.
- 83% of our research activity received these classifications, with 38% graded as 4*.
Find out more about Manchester's research in English and American Studies .
Graduate School
All of our postgraduate students become members of the Graduate School when you start at Manchester. It has dedicated facilities for students and offers opportunities to collaborate with other postgraduates.
Additional programme information
Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities.
We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.
We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.
All appointments are made on merit.
The University of Manchester and our external partners are fully committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Teaching and learning
We offer a very wide range of supervision to our postgraduate researchers thanks to the diverse expertise of our academic staff.
We also have a strong record of success in joint supervision, where a PhD student works with two supervisors who have complementary specialist fields.
Coursework and assessment
PhD students have regular one-to-one meetings with a specialist supervisor and twice yearly meetings with a research panel.
Facilities
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. If more demanding computer access is required, our specialist computing division can provide high-end and specialist computing services.
The Graduate School offers dedicated state of the art facilities to research students, including common rooms and workstations.