MPhil/PhD English at University of Plymouth

Course Details

We offer a rich and warm postgraduate culture in English and creative writing at the University of Plymouth, based in fellowship and scholarly interaction with the other departments in the Faculty, especially history and the history of art. We offer full or part-time PhD and ResM independent study supervision.

English and creative writing staff have published widely, and the subject had outstanding results in the last Research Assessment Exercise (over 70% was ranked at 3* or 4*, internationally excellent and/or world leading, making our outputs per staff amongst the best in the UK).

This full time or part time doctoral programme is suitable for people who have a particular research question or topic in mind, and wish to explore this through independent study in order to produce an original contribution to the subject. If you aspire to a research career this is the most appropriate research degree to undertake.

You will be guided by a small supervisory team of academic experts under the direction of a Director of Studies. Even if you already have a masters degree, you will normally be registered as a ‘MPhil/PhD’ candidate and may apply to transfer to ‘PhD’ status around 10–22 months after registration, based on your progress to date. 

You will be expected to fully engage with skills development and training and to present your research in a range of scholarly contexts.

Your PhD will be assessed via submission of either a written thesis (approximately 80,000 words), or one that combines critical writing with artistic, creative and/or professional practice, and a viva voce (an oral examination).

For full details of what doing a PhD entails at the University of Plymouth, please visit our postgraduate research degrees pages.