Digital Humanities
MPhil/PhD Programmes
Available to study anywhere in the world
The School of Advanced Study is the UK's national research hub in the humanities and offers a world-class research environment to our postgraduate students.
Doctoral research supervision in digital humanities, with a focus on classics, art history and history, is available in the School of Advanced Study in the following broad areas:
- Big data for humanities research
- Born digital data (including web archives and social media)
- Digital curation and preservation
- Digital editing
- Digital epigraphy, papyrology and manuscripts
- Digital libraries and librarianship
- Digital prosopography, onomastics and geography
- Historiography of digital humanities and impact on research
- Metadata theory
- Open access policy and practice
- Search methodologies and information-seeking behaviour
Digital humanities is an emerging field that has the potential to inform the development of transformative research in the humanities. It has become increasingly influential both as an academic field and as an area where the intersection of digital tools, methods and content can be seen in an interdisciplinary, transnational way.
The School of Advanced Study has a long history of digital research and innovation, and it combines the delivery of well-established digital resources and services with cutting-edge new projects.
Digital Humanities at the School of Advanced Study demonstrates the value of digital research to the wider humanities community and fulfils the School’s remit to promote and facilitate digitally enabled research across the disciplines. It fosters interdisciplinarity and takes a proactive approach in setting the national agenda for digital humanities.
The School of Advanced Study runs an extensive research training programme, open to all postgraduate students, as well as an active public engagement calendar. The School is part of the AHRC-funded London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP), through which we are able to offer a number of studentships in humanities disciplines, as well as the range of studentships and bursaries available through our institutes.
How to apply
Before agreeing to accept you, the School will require you to submit a research proposal, so it is worthwhile having this drafted ahead of a formal application. Once you have contacted the School, you will be put in touch with a potential supervisor.
Distance learning
Students are required to attend our London campus at set intervals to complete an intensive research training module, for upgrade, and for the viva but will otherwise study at their own location. This option is available to UK, EU and international students on the same basis as our on-campus PhD programmes (three years full time, six years part time). Fees are the same as for our on-campus PhD programmes. Please note that not all institutes and supervisors offer this option, and that some topics are not appropriate to be studied this way.
This programme is also available to be studied on campus in London. Visit the School of Advanced Study website to find out more about potential supervisors and subject areas, as well as details about available funding opportunities and more information about distance learning research degrees.
