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As a PhD researcher, you will become a producer of academic knowledge and part of our lively research community of students and staff.
A PhD in history offers you the chance to explore your chosen area in depth, contributing to the innovative and original scholarship for which our Department is renowned.
Our students often go on to work in academia as postdoctoral researchers or lecturers but also enter professions including teaching, archives and publishing.
Our research has a global reach, with expertise in American, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian history, as well as British and European. Our core research strengths include political, cultural, social, gender and transnational history, the history of ideas and beliefs, and the history of science and health.
Our current and recent PhD students have researched topics ranging from medical approaches to old age in the early modern period to women's narratives of conflict in Tigray in Ethiopia, and from pregnancy in the medieval period to US and British soft power in modern Iran.
The Department of History is part of the University's Heritage and Creativity research theme. We are actively involved in a number of interdisciplinary research centres and clusters, including:
We are proud to hold unique resources of international significance, all of which are available for your use and to enhance your learning. We encourage a collections-based approach to study, and actively teach students how to use these resources to bring their studies to life.
Highlights include:
As a postgraduate research student in the History Department you will benefit from a wide range of excellent resources including:
Throughout your PhD you will have opportunities to communicate your work and network with other researchers.
Our research centres host monthly seminars, workshops and conferences, while the Department's postgraduate community also has its own annual workshop where students present on their research.
The Graduate School co-ordinates a range of activities that bring students together from across the University. These include the annual Doctoral Research Conference, an event that showcases the variety and excellence of postgraduate research taking place at Reading.
The conference features a number of competitions and presentations including the PhD researcher of the year award. Another event that celebrates academic excellence is the Graduate School's annual public lecture – the Fairbrother Lecture – delivered by a current or recent postgraduate research student.
Training is an intrinsic part of your development as a researcher. During your degree course, you will benefit from training sessions covering a variety of topics.
Join a healthy and active doctoral community within the Department of History, working alongside post-doctoral researchers and academic staff.
