phd in history oxford university

Graduate Admissions

Admissions are now closed..

Graduates are encouraged to make use of these opportunities as widely as possible. Striking the right balance between intellectual curiosity and discipline, and remaining focused without becoming blinkered, is an integral part of a successful graduate career. The Oxford environment provides all the ingredients for you to develop these skills while engaging fruitfully with others in the field.

All graduate students have an academic supervisor (or sometimes two or more co-supervisors) with expertise in relevant areas, to help you identify and acquire the knowledge and skills you need to complete your research. You don’t need to find your own supervisor before you apply.

We admit about 250 graduate students each year, with an overall equal gender balance. Approximately half of our graduate students are from beyond the UK, and about 20% of the annual intake receive university funding.

The Faculty offers a range of taught graduate courses (Masters) as well as three research-based DPhil options.

Getting in Touch

The Faculty and University pages should give you the information you need before applying, and guide you through the application process – please do read them thoroughly!

If you have a question that’s not covered, please email [email protected]

Graduate Admissions

Graduate admissions for MSt and DPhil are handled by the Faculty of History .  All queries regarding current or prospective applications should be directed to [email protected]   Further details about the graduate admissions process can be viewed here .

History of Art at the University of Oxford draws on a long and deep tradition of teaching and studying the subject. The Department offers a distinctive Master's degree, possibilities for advanced postgraduate research degrees, and also hosts visiting scholars.  Over fifty associated academic staff (e.g. in Anthropology, Classics, History, Oriental Studies, and the Ruskin School of Art) include teachers and researchers across the full global and historical range of art and visual culture. This offers students exciting possibilities to take courses and receive supervision on a wide-range of topics, and to develop their own interests in art history.

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Doctoral: DPhil in HSM

Dphil in history of science and medicine.

The DPhil is an advanced research degree, awarded on the basis of a thesis and an oral examination. The thesis will be based on extensive original research and engagement with current scholarship. DPhil students are expected to submit their thesis three, or at most four, years from the date of admission. 

All research students in the Oxford History Faculty benefit from the advice of a specialist supervisor or supervisors, and all are encouraged to take advantage of the wide range of expertise available within the Faculty and the University more widely.  

As a DPhil student, you will have many opportunities to present your work and to share ideas through the Faculty’s wide and varied range of research seminars. You are also encouraged to gain valuable experience by establishing and convening your own networks and workshops. DPhil students in the History Faculty may also gain experience in teaching and lecturing through the Introduction to Teaching scheme.

• DPhil in the History of Science and Medicine

Doctoral Funding

Alongside Arts and Humanities Research Council scholarships, applicants who submit by the January deadline will also be considered for Oxford Clarendon Scholarships , and applicants are also eligible to apply for Ertegun Scholarships in the Humanities .  Applicants may need to provide further details to be eligible for a number of specific scholarships for research degrees in History .  Wellcome Studentships are also available to applicants in the area of medical humanities.

Level: Postgraduate research

Duration: 4-8 years part-time

Closed to applications for entry in 2024.

Applications for 2025 entry will open in September 2024. 

To be notified when applications open,  please register your interest . 

Questions? Email: [email protected]

DPhil in Literature and Arts

Course details.

The DPhil in Literature and Arts is an advanced research degree by part-time research. Usually this course is intended for students who have already completed the  MSt in Literature and Arts , although other suitably qualified students who have completed a master’s degree in the humanities may also apply. Students will often be building on research and skills developed during the MSt in Literature and Arts.

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Programme details, assessment methods, level and demands, teaching methods.

• Application details – fees, funding and how to apply

The DPhil programme shares the same historical and multi-disciplinary scope as the MSt. It may encompass the disciplines of literature, art and architectural history, history, and history of ideas.

Compared to the MSt, however, students will be working independently towards their own deeply researched 100,000 word thesis, building on sustained independent research over a number of years, and focusing on a specific subject in depth.

 The thesis can be completed in four to (a maximum) eight years. We encourage students to work towards completion in four to six years and the supervisors help to structure a realistic work schedule and timetable for completion.

The research students on this course carry out independent doctoral research on a subject linked to the British past, c.1450- c.1914. British history is interpreted in the broadest possible sense to include global and imperial connections. For instance, the formation of British culture through the stimuli of influences beyond Europe, from Chinese porcelain to commodities like sugar and tea. Research proposals are welcome across the period, from, for example, Tudor and Jacobean Art and Architecture to the changing place of women in early twentieth century Britain. We have a democratic view of cultural history in which all men's and women's lives play their part.

Students work in at least two of the disciplines and are supervised by academics with two different areas of specialism. The course enables students to make the most of the university's resources (e.g. its libraries, computer facilities, museums and historic monuments) Students are also likely to need to consult archives and other primary sources in different locations depending on their project. There is an attendance requirement for this course of thirty days per academic year, and students will be encouraged to fully participate in the Graduate School in the Department for Continuing Education and to take part in other seminars, workshops and training activities offered across the University.

The DPhil will be awarded on the basis of a thesis and an oral examination. Your thesis will be based on extensive original research and engagement with current scholarship. Students undertaking a part-time DPhil will normally study for four to six years from the time of admission. This compares with a full-time doctorate, which normally takes three to four years to complete.

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:

• a master's degree with distinction or a high pass in a Humanities subject or from;  and 
• a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in any relevant subject.
• Show prior interest in the area of research proposed

Students will be strongly encouraged to participate in seminars and informal meetings with staff and other researchers in the University of Oxford. The major commitment of time will be to individual study and research, involving wide and intense reading, collection of primary evidence, analysis and writing. Students will be expected to attend and to contribute to the wide range of research seminars, conferences and workshops organised in the University. They will also have access to specialist training courses offered by the Bodleian Library and IT services.

Supervision on the DPhil programme will be provided by two supervisors, usually University Lecturers/Professors from the Department for Continuing Education and from within the University of Oxford. The two supervisors will be from different disciplines. Supervisors will help students to develop a programme of research and writing.

Application details

Applications for this course should be made via the University of Oxford  Graduate Admissions  website. This website provides information on fees and entry requirements, along with help on preparing and submitting your application.

Scholarships and funding

Please see the University’s  Fees and Funding  pages for help and information with regard to funding doctoral studies. We further recommend that applicants search for funding opportunities via the online  Fees, Funding and Scholarship search tool.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support

Graduate School

Mst in literature and arts (mla), art history and design research, history of art.

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PhD in History

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Course closed:

History is no longer accepting new applications.

The PhD in History is an advanced research degree, awarded on the basis of a thesis and an oral viva voce examination. The primary purpose of the PhD is the preparation and presentation of a substantial piece of independent and original academic research, completed in three or four years if studying full-time and five years if studying part-time.

Every PhD student in the Faculty of History is supported by a supervisor (or in some cases, supervisors). Supervisors are experts in their field of study and support students throughout the PhD. Students will also benefit from the advice and support of other academic members of the Faculty who will be involved in progression through the various stages of the PhD, from the registration assessment exercise at the end of the first year through to the completion of the thesis.

Most of our PhD students study here full-time but each year we admit a number of students who wish to study on a part-time basis. Part-time study can be ideal for those who are looking to gain a postgraduate qualification without leaving employment and wish to develop their careers while they continue earning, or for those who are home-based for whatever reason and wish to develop their skills. However, it’s important to note that the part-time PhD at Cambridge is not a distance-learning course. Part-time students are expected to fully engage with the Faculty, to integrate into the research culture of the University and to attend the University on a regular basis for supervision, study, skills training, research seminars and workshops.

Throughout their time at the Faculty, PhD students are encouraged to attend one or more of the Faculty’s postgraduate workshops in their subject group or area of research. These workshops are spaces for PhD students to share their work and collaborate with visiting speakers, academic and peers. 

Learning Outcomes

The Cambridge PhD is designed as structured, flexible and individual preparation for becoming a professional researcher. It will help students develop the core skills needed by arts, humanities or social sciences professional researcher of the future, which are valued by both academic and non-academic employers.

The Faculty’s MPhil programmes provide excellent preparation for doctoral study and many of our MPhil students choose to stay at Cambridge to pursue a Cambridge PhD.

Students wishing to continue to the PhD are normally expected to achieve an overall average of 70 in their MPhil with a mark of at least 70 in their dissertation.

Admission to the PhD is always subject to the availability of a suitable supervisor.

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the  Postgraduate Open Day  page for more details.

See further the  Postgraduate Admissions Events  pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

Key Information

3-4 years full-time, 4-7 years part-time, study mode : research, doctor of philosophy, faculty of history, course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, michaelmas 2024 (closed).

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Funding Deadlines

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.

Similar Courses

• History of Art and Architecture MPhil
• World History MPhil
• History of Art PhD
• History MSt
• Education (Critical Approaches to Children's Literature) MPhil

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A-Z of courses

Use this A-Z and search tool to explore all of Oxford's graduate courses. 

Non-standard application processes

The instructions in our Application Guide are relevant to applications for all graduate courses at Oxford, except for :

• Biochemistry (Skaggs-Oxford Prog.) , DPhil
• Biomedical Sciences (NIH OxCam) , DPhil
• Clinical Psychology , DClinPsych
• EcoWild , NERC CDT
• Medicine (Graduate Entry)  eg BMBCh
• Saïd Business School courses

Important notice

Please note that websites external to the University of Oxford may hold information on our courses.  Those websites may contain incomplete and inaccurate information. Please refer to this website which provides the definitive and up-to-date source of information on any graduate course offered by the University.

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