The School of English is notable for the range of its postgraduate programmes and research training opportunities, covering the following areas: literatures in English from the Anglo-Saxons to the present day; drama of all periods, with a particular focus on drama as performance; modern English language, applied linguistics and literary linguistics; historical language study including place names; and Old Norse and Viking Studies.
The school has a vibrant research culture and all academic staff are active researchers with many of them internationally renowned authorities in their fields. Seminars, workshops and conferences are organised regularly and the school has the following research centres and institute:
Major research grants from the AHRC, British Academy, ESRC, EPSRC and Leverhulme have been awarded to the school for research projects, some to be pursued collaboratively, with Biology, Computer Science, Geography, History, Humanities, Medical School, Pharmacy and Psychology. The school has also benefited from British Academy and Leverhulme Visiting Professorships.
The school is involved in the promotion of IT in research, produces on-line journals and uses electronic media to disseminate research projects in electronic editions and digital data-bases. New laboratory space has also been built to support areas of research in applied linguistics.
The school is the base for major survey and reference works: the CANCODE, CANBEC, and NHCC corpuses; the Survey of English Place-Names and Vocabulary of English Place-Names; the English Dictionary of Runic Inscriptions; and the e-edition of The Collected Letters of Robert Southey.
The Hallward Library has excellent provision of books, periodicals and online resources in all aspects of English Studies, with some notable special collections relating the school’s research, and manuscripts and special Collections in custom-built premises.
Download the School of English Postgraduate Research leaflet.
How to apply for a research opportunity
Prospective candidates for PhD study should contact the school about possible areas for postgraduate research before completing a full application. Please contact Jane Pytches-Walker, PG Admissions Administrator, in the School of English in the first instance with a short summary of your research proposal. The school encourages applicants to look at the school's website to see up to date information about staff research projects and research specialisms for further guidance about possible research topics. The website also provides more detailed information about making an application.
See the School of English research page for further information about our research.