PhD

Our Postgraduate Research Culture

Interdisciplinary research excellence

Our Postgraduate Researchers are at the heart of research culture in the School. We seek to support innovative projects at the forefront of current scholarship by building support through expert supervision, training and development, and vibrant research community.

If you want to conduct research that will advance knowledge and understanding in History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, then HAPP can provide the support and environment you need. Over 120 Postgraduate Researchers from around the world currently find their academic home with us. They are pursuing disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinary innovation in a wide range of issues. Whether you want to pursue an academic career, develop research skills for use in public or private sector employment, or just want to make a contribution to research in an area that fascinates you, we would welcome your application to join our community of postgraduate researchers.

Our doctoral research ethos emphasises excellence and engagement. Availing of advanced research methods training, developmental learning, and supervision by world leading researchers our doctoral researchers gain a wealth of opportunities for engaged and exciting research. Our research culture centres around regular seminar series in which doctoral researchers present their work alongside staff and visiting expert speakers.

Our doctoral researchers regularly participate in conferences in the UK and Ireland and internationally (Europe, North America, Australia, etc.). Each year we support and organise postgraduate research conferences bringing participants to HAPP from around the world. In the past two years this has included a conference on anti-communism; a symposium on activism in the US, an Anthropology Conference; and an international conference on non-state political violence.

In addition to disciplinary excellence, doctoral researchers in HAPP pursue inter-disciplinary engagements. All students are able to participate in our series of research culture events; reading groups; and our writing retreat; building connections across the disciplines within the School. For many others, their doctoral research lies at the intersection of disciplines within the School or beyond. We have a very strong cohort of interdisciplinary PhD researchers working also with supervisors from disciplines including Archaeology, Arts, Biological Sciences, Computing and Engineering, Medicine, and others.

Our doctoral researchers are also engaged with a wide range of communities and impact agendas including internships, collaborative projects etc. We are part of a range of doctoral training partnerships and projects which include advanced training, and a range of other opportunities for engagement. including:

AHRC Northern Bridge
ESRC NINE
Leverhulme LINCS

Our PhD pathways are available as a 3 year PhD or a 4 year Integrated PhD (in which the first year is spent developing the project alongside six taught postgraduate modules); and on either a full-time of part-time basis.

If you want to join our community of doctoral scholars explore our disciplinary pages and Findasupervisor pages to identify your potential supervisory team. Please email these members of staff with a concise statement on your proposed research project and your academic background. Staff will then be happy to discuss your project. If you cannot identify an appropriate supervisor then please contact:

Dr Mike Bourne (Director of Graduate Studies)
Dr Scott Dixon (History)
Dr John Knight (Anthropology)
Dr Cillian McBride (Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy)

To view current PhD opportunities and student research visit history, anthropology, philosophy and politics and international relations.

Professor Muiris MacCarthaigh

Professor Muiris MacCarthaigh is the Recruitment and Marketing Lead for the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics (HAPP). Muiris is a proud exponent of the longstanding history of collaborative research excellence at Queen's University Belfast and in this video he explains more about the postgraduate research culture in HAPP.

Jessica Simonds

Jessica's research is based around the question 'Why and how do P&I clubs influence the counter-piracy practice of merchant ships in the high sea, high-risk trade routes?'. The project follows on from research undertaken by Jessica during the MA in Violence, Terrorism, and Security at Queen’s University Belfast. The project reflects the School's interdisciplinary ethos and follows a mixed methods approach that will allow the exploration of international trade law, maritime law, security studies, piracy studies and international relations in one of the most exciting, unconventional spaces of global governance.

Kathryn Mitchell

Kathryn is originally from California, where she completed her BA in International Relations and Anthropology/Sociology at Mills College in Oakland, CA. She later came to Queen’s University Belfast's School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics where she earned her MA with Distinction in Violence, Terrorism and Security. What started in her MA, as a look at counter-terrorism policies use of emancipation discourse to help explain for the rise of female suicide bombers, has since evolved into a PhD examining how emancipation functions in counter-terrorism politics. To do this she takes a feminist perspective in Critical Security Studies to expand on the literature of emancipation and security.

Jamie Day

Jamie is a PhD student working within the LINCS programme (Leverhulme Trust and DEL funded), Jamie is under the supervision of Dr Tom Walker and Dr Fabian Schuppert from the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics and Dr Kieran McLaughlin from the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology. Her research predominantly looks at the right to privacy. In particular specific interests in privacy that have been overtly affected by the development of technologies such as methods of data storage, communication and surveillance.

Anthropology 1st in UK (REF 2014)

Hear from our Anthropology staff and students about why the department is ranked 1st in the UK for teaching and research and all the exciting opportunities available.