Postgraduate Funding

School of Modern Languages and Cultures Awards   

MA Awards

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities intends to award up to ten MA bursaries to students of exceptional ability and promise for commencement in October 2012.

Benefits

MA bursaries are tenable for 12 months (full-time) and cover full fees at home/EU rate for taught or research MA programmes in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for candidates with the following:
1. a first-class or 2:1 undergraduate degree
2. an outstanding academic record and research potential
3. a high-quality research/ dissertation project
4. a firm intention to progress to doctoral study

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Faculty MA bursary, you must apply to commence an MA programme within one of the Faculty's departments in the 2011/12 academic year.  If you are eligible to be considered for an AHRC or ESRC studentship, you must also apply for these.

Please note that awards cannot be deferred and selected candidates will be assumed to be starting their studies in October 2012 unless there are exceptional circumstances.

How to Apply

To apply for a Faculty MA bursary, you will need to complete Durham University's on-line application form
(http://www.dur.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/), and to state that you wish to be considered for the Faculty MA bursary when the form asks you to indicate how you intend to fund your studies.

If you have already submitted an application, please contact your prospective department and inform them that you wish to be considered for a Faculty MA bursary.

The deadline for receipt of applications is 5 p.m. on Monday 27^th February 2012.

Selection Process

Your prospective department will review your application and it will decide whether to put you forward for consideration by the Faculty's Postgraduate Awards Panel, which is chaired by the Deputy Head of Faculty (postgraduate).  The Faculty's Postgraduate Awards Panel will be considering applications in late March 2012 and we anticipate notifying candidates whether they have been successful or not by  Friday, 30^th March 2012.

Doctoral Awards

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities intends to award up to ten Durham Doctoral Studentships (DDS) to postgraduate researchers of exceptional ability and promise for commencement in October 2012.

Benefits

Durham Doctoral Awards are tenable for three years full-time or five years part-time, and offer the following financial support package:
1. a maintenance allowance of £8000 (full-time) or £4000 (part-time)*
2. fees at home/EU rate
In addition, departments may be able to offer paid teaching and/or research assistance opportunities.

*In exceptional cases, a higher rate of maintenance award may be offered.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for candidates with the following:
1. a first-class or 2:1 undergraduate degree
2. an MA (completed or in progress) in a relevant subject area
3. an outstanding academic record and research potential
4. a high-quality research project that can be completed within 3 years

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Durham Doctoral Studentship you must apply to commence a programme of doctoral study within one of the Faculty's departments in the 2012/13 academic year. Home and international students are both eligible to apply, though in the case of international students, departments will be required to specify on the nomination form how the difference between home/EU and overseas fees will be met. Awards can be held by full- and part-time students.
If you are eligible to be considered for an AHRC or ESRC studentship, you must also apply for these.
Please note that awards cannot be deferred and selected candidates will be assumed to be starting their studies in October 2012 unless there are exceptional circumstances.

How to Apply

To apply for Durham Doctoral Studentship, you will need to complete Durham University's on-line application form
(http://www.dur.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/), and to state that you wish to be considered for Durham Doctoral Studentship when the form asks you to indicate how you intend to fund your studies.
If you have already submitted an application, please contact your prospective department and inform them that you wish to be considered for a Durham Doctoral Studentship.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 5 p.m. on Monday 27 February 2012.

Selection Process

Your prospective department will review your application and it will decide whether to put you forward for consideration by the Faculty's Postgraduate Awards Panel, which is chaired by the Deputy Head of Faculty (postgraduate).
The Faculty's Postgraduate Awards Panel will be considering applications in late March 2012 and we anticipate notifying candidates whether they have been successful or not by Friday, 30 March 2012.

For further information, see http://www.dur.ac.uk/arts.humanities/funding_opportunities/

Information about Research in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Staff in the School carry out internationally-recognised research in a wide range of specialist areas, from the medieval to the modern period. Research in the School is informed by a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches and focuses on a number of different media. Areas of particular strength include the following:

• Medieval and Early Modern literature and culture
• 19th- and 20th-century literature and culture
• Visual culture (film, photography and art)
• Literary and musical culture
• Performance arts
• Gender and sexuality studies
• Critical and cultural theory
• History (cultural, political and intellectual)
• Cognitive metaphor theory
• Translation studies

Moreover, an exciting culture of interdisciplinary and collaborative research has taken shape in the School over the past few years. This has been fostered in particular by the creation of the Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Durham Centre for Advanced Photography Studies, and the Centre for 17th-Century Studies. In addition, every research-active member of staff contributes to at least one of the School's Research Groups, which are designed to foment and encourage intellectual dialogue and interaction around common themes and topoi: 'Culture and Difference'; 'Literature, History, Theory'; 'Translation & Linguistics'; and 'Visual and Performance'. Postgraduate research students are expected regularly to attend at least one of the research groups, and all postgraduates are most welcome to attend any session run by the groups.