University of Exeter Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences International Student PhD Studentship

Exeter’s Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences is offering up to three PhD studentships (open to International fee paying students only) for candidates aiming to begin studying in September 2025.

Exeter is a centre for world-leading research across the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Our departments are consistently placed at the top of national and international rankings.

Our PhD studentships are available to support any excellent project connecting with, or across, our departments:

• Arab and Islamic Studies
• Archaeology and History
• Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology
• Communications, Drama and Film
• English and Creative Writing
• Humanities and Social Sciences, Penryn (Cornwall)
• Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies
• Law School
• School of Education
• Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology

Exeter is a portal to a rich variety of research resources offering unique archives in medieval and modern history, modern and contemporary literature and film. Dynamic partnerships with arts, culture and heritage organisations – British Museum, Historic England, London Film School, National Trust, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Tate Britain among many others – give our researchers access to a remarkable range of research collections and facilities.

Exeter offers PhD students exceptional support:

• A teamed approach to supervision combining research expertise from across our disciplines and access to a pastoral tutor
• A dedicated Doctoral College, a single point-of-contact for all programme and practical needs
• Access to a Digital Humanities Lab
• Research and career development opportunities within the Faculty and across the University
• Dedicated study space for HASS postgraduates
• A well-established postgraduate research culture including conference, seminars and journals
• Funding opportunities for individual research needs

Awards will be granted to the strongest applicants based on an assessment of the applicant’s

·      Academic excellence

·      Research potential

·      Research proposal

·      Fit with research environment and supervision team

Applications will be assessed in line with the university’s commitment to supporting equality, diversity and inclusivity in postgraduate research.

Duration and value of award

The studentship will be for a period of up to 3 years (36 months), dependent on satisfactory progress, and will cover full tuition fees and an annual maintenance grant of £19,237 (2024/25 rate). This studentship also provides additional funds to help with visa fees and health surcharge costs. Successful applicants will need to initially pay the costs of these fees themselves and top-up funding to cover these costs will be provided upon registration with the University.

Please note that this studentship does not include funding for travel to the UK to take up this studentship, successful applicants must be prepared to cover these costs themselves.

For further information on research opportunities in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences please contact Dr Jonathan Doney, HASS Faculty Director of Postgraduate Research: j.doney@exeter.ac.uk.

Applicants should have at a minimum a good first degree (at least 2.1, or international equivalent) in a relevant field of the humanities, arts or social sciences, and have obtained, or are currently working towards a Master’s degree at Merit level, or international equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Evidence of relevant professional expertise can also be taken into consideration.

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements and provide proof of proficiency. Click here for more information.

Applicants must have identified and approached a potential supervisor and have supervision agreed in principle. To help find an appropriate supervisor please look at the staff pages of departmental webpages or use the Research Expertise search function on our Postgraduate Study pages: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/pg-research.

·      Applicants would be expected to start their studies in September 2025.

·      Recipients are expected to commit to engagement beyond their doctoral studies through contributing to the research environment of their discipline and the Faculty by participating in research activities, accessing skills development training and opportunities and career development etc. Continued funding would be dependent on satisfactory evidence of this engagement having taken place.

This award is only open to applicants whose fee status is classed as International. Click here for further information about fee status.

Please note that these studentships are only open to applicants who will start their study in September 2025, not those who have already started.

Applications will only be supported for campus-based programmes as this studentship is not open to Distance-Learning programmes.

This studentship, including full tuition fees and maintenance allowance, is available to International fee-paying candidates.

For further information regarding this studentship, please visit the following website: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/award/?id=5319