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Funding for postgraduate research students

The School's postgraduate community is one of the largest and most diverse and dynamic postgraduate communities in the UK, and is committed to supporting financially the best qualified applicants. Funding your studies will be a crucial factor in your decision to apply for a postgraduate degree, so the earlier you consider your funding options, the better.

Each year the School distributes approximately £800,000 in studentships and bursaries for postgraduate study. There are a range of awards on offer for both Home/EU and Overseas students at MA level and PhD level.

The School of Arts, Languages and Cultures is committed to helping students find ways of meeting the financial commitments of postgraduate study. Please note that all of our postgraduate programmes are available on a full-time or part-time basis.

Funding is available from various sources:

European Research Council (ERC) PhD Studentship - Arabic Commentaries on the Hippocratic Aphorisms

In the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

This competition is still open

Start Date of Studentship: 1 October 2013

Nature of Award: Fully funded PhD studentship, comprising payment of tuition fees (Home/EU or Overseas) and a maintenance award of £13,726 per annum.

Application deadline: Friday 31 May 2013

Research Project and Supervision

The Hippocratic Aphorisms have exerted a singular influence over generations of physicians both in the East and in the West. Galen (d. c. 216) produced an extensive commentary on this text, as did other medical authors writing in Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew. The Arabic tradition is particularly rich, with more than a dozen commentaries extant in over a hundred manuscripts. The present project breaks new ground by conducting an in-depth study of this tradition through a highly innovative methodology: it approaches the available evidence as a corpus, to be constituted electronically, and to be analysed in an interdisciplinary way. Professor Peter E Pormann has obtained €1.5m from the European Research Council, and he will be the project lead.

Application Information

To apply for the studentship you should hold a First Class undergraduate degree and a Distinction, or expected Distinction in a related Master’s degree. Good knowledge of Arabic is essential, as is knowledge of Classical Greek, or the proven ability to acquire it over the course of the PhD programme. Knowledge of Syriac, familiarity with Hippocratic and Galenic texts, and experience with Arabic manuscripts would be advantageous, but are not a prerequisite.

You must apply to the PhD Classics and Ancient History programme via the University’s online application form. This must include the standard supporting documentation: research proposal; academic references; transcripts; degree certificate(s); English language test certificate (where applicable). Please indicate on the online application form (under the heading ‘Funding’) that you would like to be considered for this studentship.

You must submit a research proposal of no more than 1000 words (the word-count to include footnotes but exclude bibliography), detailing how you would approach this research topic. Before writing this proposal, you should contact Professor Pormann for additional guidance.

All inquiries should be directed to Professor Peter E Pormann at peter.pormann@manchester.ac.uk

School awards for PhD students

This competition is now closed

In addition to Research Council funding and the PDS awards, the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures offers a number of Graduate Scholarships and fee bursaries. These School awards often come with the opportunity to teach or assist in research-related activities. These awards are open to both Home/EU and Overseas students. The awards are usually for three years full time or six years part time (subject to satisfactory progress) for new starters. The closing date for applications for the School awards is Friday 12 April 2013

To ensure that you are holding an offer of a place by the closing date, you must submit your online application for a place on your chosen PhD programme no later than Tuesday 12 March 2013. This will ensure that you are in receipt of an offer of a place in advance of the funding deadline of Friday 12 April 2013.

All applications must be submitted to Mrs Joanne Marsh, the Graduate School Senior Research Administrator: joanne.marsh@manchester.ac.uk

You will be informed of the outcome of your application by the end of June 2013.

The application form and guidance notes are available below:

President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Competition

This competition is now closed

The University of Manchester has launched a multi-million pound investment in PhD training with the creation of the President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards. These awards are open to all nationalities and research areas.

Benefits to be enjoyed by PDS award-holders will include opportunities to:

  • Be invited to attend a series of exclusive events where you will have the opportunity to meet the University’s President and Vice Chancellor, interact closely with our academic community and network with other PDS students.
  • Become a PDS ambassador for the University
  • Receive a President’s Doctoral Scholar medal at graduation

For further information, please see the links below:

All PDS applications must be received by the School by Friday 1 March 2013. Please note that you must submit your online application for a place on your chosen PhD programme by Friday 1 February 2013. This will ensure that you are in receipt of an offer of a place on a PhD programme in advance of the Friday 1 March 2013 deadline.

You must complete the application form and submit this, together with your transcripts and references, to Mrs Joanne Marsh, the Graduate School Senior Research Administrator: joanne.marsh@manchester.ac.uk

Research councils

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Competition

This competition is now closed

The University of Manchester is now a member of the ESRC's North West Doctoral Training College (DTC). The North West DTC receives the largest number of ESRC PhD studentships in England. UK and EU students intending to take a PhD degree (+3) or an MA followed by a PhD (1+3) in the School may be eligible to apply for support from the ESRC. Applicants working within various pathways are eligible for awards. Successful applicants will benefit from joint training provision with Lancaster and Liverpool. The relevant pathways are:

  • Economic and Social History
  • Language-Based Area Studies (LBAS), including PhD studentships in:
  • Middle Eastern Studies
  • East Asian Studies
  • Latin American and Caribbean Studies
  • Russian and East European Studies
  • Linguistics and English Language
  • Development and Humanitarianism (for HCRI applicants)

All ESRC applications must be received by the School by Monday 4 February 2013.

Please note that you are advised to submit your online application for a place on your chosen PhD programme by Thursday 17 January 2013. This will ensure that you are in receipt of an offer of a place on your chosen PhD programme in advance of the ESRC deadline of Monday 4 February 2013.

Further information including the application form can be found here:

You must complete the ESRC application form and submit this, together with your transcripts and references, to Mrs Joanne Marsh, the Graduate School Senior Research Administrator: joanne.marsh@manchester.ac.uk

You will be informed of the outcome of your ESRC application by the end of March 2013.

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Competition

This competition is now closed

UK and EU students intending to take a research degree (PhD) in the School may be eligible to apply for support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). AHRC awards are competitive and provide payment of tuition fees and a maintenance stipend for UK students, and tuition fees (and a maintenance stipend, subject to eligibility criteria) for EU students.

The School expects to have the following AHRC studentships available for UK and EU students starting a PhD programme in September 2013:

  • Archaeology
  • Classics
  • Dance, Drama and Performance
  • English (including American Studies)
  • German Studies
  • History
  • History of Art
  • Linguistics and English Language
  • Museum Studies
  • Music
  • Religious Studies
  • Russian and East European Studies
  • Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
  • Translation and Interpreting Studies

Whilst we expect to make awards in the above areas, please note that all studentships are subject to confirmation by the AHRC.

Full details and guidance notes on how to apply are available here:

The closing date for AHRC applications is 5pm, Friday 1 March 2013. You must have an offer of a place on your chosen PhD programme before you can be considered for an AHRC studentship in our School.

To ensure that you are holding an offer of a place by the AHRC closing date, you must submit your online application for a place on your chosen PhD programme no later than Friday 1 February 2013. This will ensure that you are in receipt of an offer of a place in advance of the AHRC deadline of Friday 1 March 2013.

AHRC applications must be submitted to Mrs Joanne Marsh, the Graduate School Senior Research Administrator: joanne.marsh@manchester.ac.uk

You will be informed of the outcome of your AHRC application by the end of April 2013.