MPhil/PhD Archaeology

Our research areas include: Early and Later Prehistory, Classical Greek, Hellenistic and Roman Republican archaeology; Roman provincial archaeology; and late antique and early medieval archaeology, with a focus on the eastern Mediterranean and western Indian Ocean. Key specialisms include: archaeology of human evolution, archaeology of prehistoric architecture, archaeology of urban settlement, archaeology of cult and ritual, death and burial, port archaeology, social archaeology, archaeology and photography, attitudes to the past, post-colonialism and archaeology, and interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies in history and archaeology. A research degree offers you the opportunity to acquire a highly advanced set of conceptual skills developed in the pursuit of new knowledge, which can be applied within or beyond an academic or scholarly context. Research training in any academic discipline helps to channel creativity into critical innovatory reasoning. The legitimate authority of original, independent research depends upon persuasive analytical arguments supported by critically evaluated evidence. An MPhilPhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires original research and the submission of a substantial dissertation of 60,000 to 100,000 words. At Birkbeck, you are initially registered on an MPhil and you upgrade to a PhD after satisfactory progress in the first year or two. You need to find a suitable academic supervisor at Birkbeck, who can offer the requisite expertise to guide and support you through your research. Find out more about undertaking a research degree at Birkbeck. This programme is also available via distance learning, which makes it ideal if your work, family or personal commitments make coming into Birkbeck difficult, if you are living in another country, or if you live near an archive, museum or site that is central to your research. You can conduct all of your supervisions via other virtual meeting software. You will have to visit the main Birkbeck campus in Bloomsbury, central London at the end of your first year (full-time students) or your second year (part-time students), during MPhilPhD Induction Week. You will also need to visit London for your upgrade from MPhil and to present a paper (these may be scheduled to coincide), and you will also usually need to be present in London for your PhD viva, at the end of your programme. If you require a Student visa to study in the UK, you will only be able to apply for the on-campus study option for this course. The online option will not be available to you because it may affect the conditions of your visa.

Confirmed (or predicted) Merit or above at MA level in ancient history, archaeology, classical studies, classics, history or a related discipline, with a distinction in the dissertation. Students applying for the MPhil/PhD by distance learning will need a distinction at MA level (or equivalent) in the aforementioned disciplines.