Research opportunities in the School of History
General information
The School of History is one of the leading centres for the study of history in the UK. It was recently given the highest rating for its teaching by the government’s Quality Assurance Agency. We have more than 30 academic staff who conduct significant research into subjects as diverse as medieval heresy, urban culture, modern Japanese intellectual history and British foreign policy.
As a PhD student at the School, you will become a full member of a thriving research community which includes both staff and research students. You will be able to attend and present your work at regular joint staff-postgraduate research seminars as well as to participate in and help organise the annual postgraduate research conference. During your studies you will have many other opportunities to develop your skills and widen your intellectual horizons.
The University offers excellent research and training facilities through its Graduate School, numerous libraries and advanced information technology infrastructure. Postgraduates also benefit from the social, cultural and sports facilities available in the University and the City of Nottingham.
Thriving research culture
Academic staff of the School of History take a leading role in numerous University research institutes and research centres. The School is also developing particular areas of strength through investing resources in its own interdisciplinary research networks ‘Belief and Ideology’ and ‘Histories of Work’. For further details, please see here.
The School of History now has nearly forty part-time and full-time students currently registered for PhD degrees, making for an energetic and supportive community of postgraduate researchers. The breadth of their interests and the wide range of possible subjects for research is evident in the list of current and past doctoral projects undertaken here. Please see current student profiles in the School of History.
Doctoral students are fully integrated in the School of History’s research community. They are encouraged to attend and present papers at regular School research seminars, which feature distinguished visiting speakers as well as papers by our own academic staff and postgraduates. At these seminars PhD students have the opportunity to share their findings with a sympathetic and supportive audience of staff and fellow students and receive constructive feedback on their progress.
Many research postgraduates read papers at conferences, and are given appropriate support from academics to enable them to do so (including opportunities for formal training in the Graduate School on making presentations and public speaking). In recent years, School of History postgraduates have spoken at many international conferences, including:
The annual Leeds International Medieval Congress
The African Studies Association of the United Kingdom
The Gladstone Centenary International Conference
Pope Innocent III, Hofstra University, New York
University of Texas, Austin
Annual British Association of Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) Conference, Cambridge
Others have spoken at research seminars at the universities of Princeton, Hull, Keele, Leeds, Southampton and York.
In Nottingham itself PhD students in History regularly organise their own conferences, including an annual Postgraduate Interdisciplinary Research Conference (since 2008) which attracts students from universities across the UK.
Research students have also participated in the annual PROGRESS postgraduate conference, organised by the University's Graduate School.
PhD students are integrated into the School’s wider academic life. For example, they nominate their own representatives to the School committee. For those doctoral students intending to pursue an academic career, being a representative on this committee offers an insight into the workings of a modern British university department. There is also a Staff-Postgraduate Consultative Committee to provide a forum for regular communications and feedback between academics and students.
A wide range of resources for historical research in the University and the region
The University and the region boast a rich range of resources for historical research. The University's own Hallward Library holds some important collections of private papers as well as a wide range of published primary sources, many of which are rarely found in UK libraries. In recent years, the University and the School of History have also directed substantial investment into building up an impressive stock of primary materials for historical research on microfilm, microform and electronic media.
See further details on research resources in the University and the region.
Attention to the personal and professional development of PhD students
The School of History is committed to promoting the personal and professional development of its postgraduate research students, and offers extensive opportunities for research and skills training, both in-house and via the University's Graduate School . Several of our recent postgraduate students have subsequently taken up academic posts.