Durham University’s Department of Philosophy is a centre for world-class research in a wide range of fields, including metaphysics, ethics, feminism and the history and philosophy of science and medicine. It is home to the Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society (CHESS) and it has strong links with several interdisciplinary research centres, such as the Centre for the Ethics of Cultural Heritage and the Centre for the History of Medicine and Disease.

The Department’s research environment obtained outstanding scores in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. Each year, MA and PhD students in Philosophy organise and participate in a range of activities, including reading groups, research seminars, Royal Institute of Philosophy Lectures and meetings of EIDOS, our postgraduate philosophy society. The postgraduate journal Philosophical Writings is also based here and managed by our postgraduate students. Our PhD students receive training on topics such as writing for publication, and from Year 2 onwards almost all of them gain experience teaching undergraduate classes. Former postgraduate students have taken up posts at a number of prestigious institutions, including the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of London, MIT, Harvard University, Caltech, Emory University, Cornell University, the University of Notre Dame, Rhodes University (South Africa), University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and Trinity College, Dublin.

More general information concerning graduate work in Durham, our college system, course fees and financial support for overseas and UK graduate students can be found on the University's Postgraduate Study web pages.