Postgraduates

Study at Durham

The historic city of Durham provides a unique environment within which to pursue postgraduate studies in Archaeology. Located at the heart of the beautiful city of Durham and in proximity to the Cathedral World Heritage Site, our collegiate university provides an unrivalled opportunity for graduate students to live and work within a city with an ancient tradition of learning.

All postgraduate students in Archaeology are registered with a college, with most becoming members of Ustinov College. Durham University's college system is arguably the most distinctive feature of the University. Colleges are small enough to foster a strong sense of community, whilst still allowing students to enjoy all the academic and other benefits of a large University. Ustinov College, Durham's postgraduate college, offers a relaxed environment in which postgraduate students can find the support and facilities they need to concentrate on their work.

The Department of Archaeology is one of the largest archaeology departments in the UK with an academic and research community offering a diverse and wide-ranging selection of expertise in scientific and arts based archaeology. We teach within a research-intensive environment and we have also sustained excellence in research over a prolonged period. In addition, we are delighted to announce that Durham Archaeology was ranked as the best in the UK in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) for 2008, with the highest overall score and highest percentage of 4* (World Class) plus 3* (Internationally Excellent) research. Find out what this means for you as a postgraduate.

The Department is proud to offer a range of postgraduate courses in the form of Taught Masters, Research Masters and PhD programmes. Our taught Masters courses are amongst the finest in their fields, the MA in Museums and Artefacts Studies and the MSc in Palaeopathology having particular strengths for professional/vocational development and the MA in Archaeology providing an ideal preparation for doctoral research. We are also active in developing new postgraduate provision.

New Courses

In Autumn 2009 we launched an additional professional Masters course, our two-year intensive MA in the Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects. It is already proving to be very popular.

From October 2011 the brand new, exciting MSc in Archaeological Sciences is launched, as a complement to our existing successful MA in Archaeology. We are still taking applications for this year for both courses, please contact pgarch.admissions@dur.ac.uk.

We have a thriving group of postgraduate research students, both at master's and PhD levels, who contribute to the extensive and vibrant research environment led by the members of Academic Staff. A wide range of internationally recognised research expertise within the Department provides one of the best resources available in the UK for archaeological doctoral research. Cross Faculty research projects thrive with Engineering, Mathematics and Earth Sciences and have further extended the range of research potential that can be supported by the Department.

The facilities in the Department, in combination with those provided in the wider University and the Colleges, provide a stimulating atmosphere and living environment for overseas and home-based postgraduate students. The Department's has a wide range of specialist facilities available to the postgraduate community including geophysics and surveying equipment and dedicated laboratories for conservation, palaeopathology, luminescence dating, archaeological chemistry, environmental archaeology and photography and imaging. The Department's contracting unit, Archaeological Services, has substantial excavation and surveying resources and expertise, and also functions as a bidder for externally funded research projects.

For application details please contact:

Postgraduate Admissions Secretary,
Dept of Archaeology,
Durham University,
South Road,
Durham
DH1 3LE, UK
tel: 0191 334 1109 (Monday - Thursday)
fax: 0191 334 1101
email: pgarch.admissions@dur.ac.uk

Derek Kennet, Director of Postgraduate Research
Penny Wilson, Deputy Director of Postgraduate Research