Overview
- Degree awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Duration
- 3 years [full-time], 6 years [part-time]
- Entry requirements
-
- Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); 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)
- Number of places/applicants
- There is no limit on the number of places available.
- How to apply
-
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 13 January 2025.
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 2025 entry: 30 June 2025
- For January 2026 entry: 30 September 2025
Programme options
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PhD | Y | Y | N | N |
Programme overview
- Access expert supervision across an exceptional breadth of research areas in Linguistics.
- Join a vibrant and lively international centre for Linguistics with an active postgraduate research community.
- Alongside an exceptionally large cluster of experts on English language, we have particular strengths in Romance, Germanic, and Austronesian languages, as well as the languages of Latin America and Africa.
- 92% of our research activity was recognised as 'world leading' or `internationally excellent' REF2021.
Open days
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.
To stay up-to-date with future events and recorded sessions in the Faculty of Humanities, please join our postgraduate research email update list .
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2025, the tuition fees are as follows:
-
PhD (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £5,006
International, including EU, students (per annum): £22,000 -
PhD (part-time)
UK students (per annum): £2,503
International, including EU, students (per annum): £11,000
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 for 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 13 January 2025.
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.
You will need to be nominated by your proposed supervisor for a number of our scholarships. Therefore, we highly recommend you discuss these funding opportunities with your supervisor first, so they can advise on your suitability and ensure you meet nomination deadlines.
For more funding information, visit our funding page or use our funding database to search for scholarships, studentships and awards you may be eligible for.
- ESRC North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP) PhD Studentships 2025 Entry
- AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) PhD Studentships 2025 Entry
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures PhD Studentships 2025 Entry
- China Scholarship Council - The University of Manchester (CSC-UoM) Joint Scholarship Programme - Competition Closed for 2025 Entry
- Trudeau Doctoral Scholarships 2025 Entry
- Commonwealth PhD Scholarships (High Income Countries)
- Commonwealth PhD Scholarships (Least Developed Countries and Fragile States) - Competition Closed for 2025 Entry
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures New Generation PhD Studentships 2025 Entry
- President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards 2025 Entry
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
- Contact name
- Humanities Doctoral Academy Admissions
- hums.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk
- 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.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
- Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); 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)
English language
All applicants must provide evidence of English language proficiency:
- IELTS test minimum score – 7.0 overall, 7.0 in writing.
- TOEFL (internet based) test minimum score – 100 overall, 25 in all sections.
- Pearson Test of English (PTE) UKVI/SELT or PTE Academic minimum score – 76 overall, 76 in writing.
- To demonstrate that you have taken an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a majority English speaking nation within the last 5 years.
- Other tests may be considered.
English language test validity
Other international entry requirements
We accept a range of qualifications from different countries. For these and general requirements including English language see entry requirements from your country.
The University requires you to reside within a commutable distance from Manchester during your time as a registered student, unless you are on approved fieldwork/a formal placement or are on a period of Submission pending. This is to ensure that you are able to meet attendance expectations and participate in wider research activities within your discipline area and/or School.
Other entry requirements
Application and selection
How to apply
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 13 January 2025.
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 2025 entry: 30 June 2025
- For January 2026 entry: 30 September 2025
Advice to applicants
Before you start your application, you should:
- Develop your own research proposal and project title.
- Find a supervisor by browsing our academics’ profiles, and reach out directly to discuss if they are interested in supporting your research.
- 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.
Interview requirements
As part of the offer making process applicants will be required to undertake an interview assessment. This may be in the form of an in–person interview, or video call.
The interview is designed to assess your knowledge and understanding of the broad topic area, the viability of your proposed research and its intellectual contribution, alongside the fit of your project with the supervisory team. You also may be asked to identify and address any potential ethical considerations in relation to your proposed research, and discuss how best to progress your ideas in line with University of Manchester ethics guidance.
The interview panel will consist at minimum of your primary supervisor and an independent interviewer.
Deferrals
Re-applications
If you applied in the previous year and your application was not successful, you may apply again. Your application will be considered against the standard programme entry criteria for that year of entry.
In your new application you should demonstrate how your application has improved. We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen programme.
Programme details
Programme description
Our PhD Linguistics programme enables you to carry out research in a field of linguistics that matches the interests of one of our members of staff.
The Department of Linguistics and English Language is an international centre for Linguistics, with 20+ full-time members of staff and approximately 15-20 postgraduate research students.
We are virtually unique in the UK and beyond in the breadth of subject areas and theoretical approaches represented by our members, many of whom are internationally renowned scholars in their specialisms.
Our academics' areas of expertise include:
- phonetics and phonology
- morphology
- syntax (lexical-functional grammar, role and reference grammar, construction grammar, and minimalism)
- (formal) semantics
- pragmatics
- historical linguistics
- dialectology
- the linguistics of English
- language contact
- variationist sociolinguistics
- child language acquisition
- field linguistics and language documentation
- typology
- quantitative corpus-based approaches
- forensic linguistics.
In our research, we combine the advancement of theoretical approaches with a strong concern for their empirical and methodological foundations.
Each member of staff also has a special interest in particular languages and language families, including major European languages, as well as lesser known languages of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Australia.
*Please note, we do not offer supervision in second language teaching and learning or language pedagogy. Please do not contact members of Linguistics & English Language with research projects in these areas.
Joint supervision arrangements for interdisciplinary projects are available.
Find out more about our Linguistics research , staff members , and what our current postgraduate research students are working on.
Additional programme information
Humanities Doctoral Academy
Our Humanities Doctoral Academy combines the strengths of our four schools to bring expertise, knowledge, support and high-quality services for postgraduate researchers.
We are a community of academic leaders and postgraduate researchers across all levels in the Faculty of Humanities. The Doctoral Academy Hub houses our specialist professional service teams who support postgraduate researchers throughout the programme journey.
This includes admissions, registration, student experience, progression, examination, and graduation. We collaborate closely with other University directorates including Manchester Doctoral College, Researcher Development team, and the corresponding Doctoral Academies in the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. Together we provide the best experience and support for your studies and research.
EDI
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
Supervision will involve regular meetings with two supervisors, of which records will be kept.
Research Panels (consisting of at least three academic staff, including the supervisors) are held once per semester to monitor progress.
Supervisory arrangements at Manchester are governed by a Code of Practice .
In addition, you will be supported by a strong research culture in the department and excellent opportunities for research training, including general research methods in the arts, humanities and social sciences, as well as subject-specific masterclasses, reading groups and a PhD seminar series for the discussion of ongoing work, and an annual postgraduate conference in Linguistics.
Coursework and assessment
The PhD involves three years of full-time study or six years of part-time study, and the preparation of a thesis of not more than 80,000 words that makes a significant contribution to knowledge.
A satisfactory PhD topic is one that a suitably qualified and properly supervised student can bring to completion within the permitted timeframe.
Please note that the first year of the full-time programme and the first two years of the part-time programme are probationary. This means you will be required to show evidence of satisfactory progress to proceed with the programme.
Related research
REF 2021
In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) Linguistics was assessed as part of The University of Manchester's 'Modern Languages and Linguistics' submission.
The University of Manchester was ranked in the top 10 in the UK in terms (by grade point average) among the 47 departments assessed under Unit of Assessment 26.
92% of our research was judged to be in the highest two categories (4*) 'world-leading' or (3*) 'internationally excellent'. Our research environment was also judged to be strong, with 100% judged to be (4*) 'world-leading' or (3*) 'internationally excellent'.
Find out more about our Linguistics research .
What our students say
Find out more about what it's like to undertake a postgraduate research degree at Manchester on our Humanities PGR blog .
Read more about current student Nuria' s experience studying PhD Linguistics
Facilities
We have a Psycholinguistics Laboratory as well as a Phonetics Laboratory with facilities for signal analysis, speech synthesis, laryngography and electropalatography, a large collection of specialist software and linguistic corpora, and, in The University of Manchester Library, one of the largest holdings in linguistics in the UK.
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.
Find out more about facilities for Linguistics students.