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Research programmes MPhil/PhD

Most doctoral students have already taken an MLitt or equivalent research-training degree.

  • PhD (three years; a thesis of up to 80,000 words)
    The three years of the PhD are devoted to writing the 80,000 word dissertation, and during those years further research training is provided as appropriate.

  • MPhil (two years; as for Postgraduate Diploma, plus 40,000-word dissertation)
    The first nine months are as for the Postgraduate Diploma, and the degree then continues with a supervised 40,000-word dissertation, written during the subsequent year.

For those intending to pursue a research degree, the preferred pathway is a one year reseach preparation Masters' e.g.M Litt, followed by three years PhD supervision.

Research subjects

Our staff are happy to discuss possible research topics with prospective students.

The School's outstanding record in research, which has been recognised by the international profiles of many of its staff and by a series of high rankings in the UK's Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), means that it can offer expertise across the whole spectrum of Graeco-Roman history, literature, languages, philosophy and culture. This fact is reflected both in the variety of taught postgraduate courses available and in the opportunities for supervised research. Research students come from a variety of backgrounds; those who may have taken a taught postgraduate degree at St Andrews and many from British, European and North American Universities. 

Students come to St Andrews to do research degrees on a wise range of subjects. Recent graduates have produced theses on Aristophanes, on Plato and gender, on late Greek epic, on Latin panegyric and on the cultural construction of women's bodies. Current theses on symposium literature, on the Roman army, on Greek slavery, on ancient Sicily and on Roman comedy are among those underway.

The School of Classics invites potential research students to consult individual members of staff about their proposed topic.

Postgraduate enquiries

Postgraduate Visting Day: Wednesday 13th March 2013.