German PhD

Birkbeck, University of London

Our doctoral programme aims to respond to the needs and interests both of students seeking an academic career or other professional employment and of those who wish to pursue a line of intellectual enquiry for its own sake. We aim to recruit both recent graduates and mature students who now have the time to pursue an intellectual enthusiasm, perhaps after a lifetime of professional work.

We offer supervision in most areas of German studies, including: baroque literature; eighteenth- to twenty-first-century literature, especially the novel; Anglo-German cultural relations; German literature in philosophical context; gender studies and women's writing; twentieth-century German history; history of German thought; German film and memory studies. There are also opportunities for supervision in interdisciplinary research, and candidates with such interests are especially welcome.

An PhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires original research and the submission of a substantial dissertation. The MPhil thesis is not more than 60,000 words; the PhD thesis is not more than 100,000 words. The thesis requirements for a practice-based project vary according to the nature of the research and can be discussed with the admissions tutors. Both the MPhil and the PhD are assessed by a viva voce examination.