Expand+Entry Requirements

A research degree offers you the opportunity to develop your research skills and prove yourself as a researcher. Queen's is committed to the enhancement of research training and teaching and offers postgraduate research opportun...

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A research degree offers you the opportunity to develop your research skills and prove yourself as a researcher. Queen's is committed to the enhancement of research training and teaching and offers postgraduate research opportunities across all fields of study. The following postgraduate research study routes for this subject area are:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

Entrance Requirements

The minimum academic requirement for admission to a research degree programme is normally an Upper Second Class Honours degree from a UK or ROI HE provider, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University. Further information can be obtained by contacting the School.

English Language Requirements

International students (where English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes. Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.5, with not less than 5.5 in any component (*taken within the last 2 years) is required. For more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals see: go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this programme, our partner INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability to entry to this programme.

English for University Study - an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level.

Pre-sessional English - a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.

Expand+Special Features
•The cluster undertakes research in Ireland, Great Britain and abroad, in particular, the Mediterranean region, territories of the former Soviet Union, the North Atlantic, west Africa and North America, where both staff and research...

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•The cluster undertakes research in Ireland, Great Britain and abroad, in particular, the Mediterranean region, territories of the former Soviet Union, the North Atlantic, west Africa and North America, where both staff and research students undertake collaborative projects.

•Being based in the recently built 14CHRONO Centre has expanded our research facilities and allowed us to extend our research agenda.

•Facilities include an AMS 14C dating facility, an NEC accelerator mass spectrometer, cold storage for biological materials, drawing office, laboratories for post-excavation, human bone analysis, palynology, plant, snail and insect macrofossils, dendrochronology and animal bone analysis.

•Students maintain their own research seminar series and attend the fortnightly seminars of the Archaeology and Palaeoecology research clusters, which routinely bring outstanding scholars from abroad as well as Great Britain and Ireland.

•Current postgraduates come from Ireland, Great Britain, the USA, France, and the Netherlands.

Expand+Programme Overview
Research in the Past Cultural Change (PCC) cluster explores the material manifestations of culture through time and space. We combine innovative scientific methods with theoretically-informed analyses to understand past human expe...

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Research in the Past Cultural Change (PCC) cluster explores the material manifestations of culture through time and space. We combine innovative scientific methods with theoretically-informed analyses to understand past human experience, bringing together the humanities and the sciences.

The combination of environmental archaeology, and especially bio-archaeology, with more traditional approaches to the past, helps to differentiate Queen's from most other archaeology departments and is seen as both a strength and stimulus to future developments. Thematically, we have identified seven areas of particular specialist interest and welcome applications from potential PhD students interested in these areas:

•Development of agriculture and the cultural landscape in Atlantic Europe, Eurasia and its associated economic, chronological and environmental backdrop

•Organisation of domestic and ritual space (including landscapes) from prehistory through the post-medieval period in the North Atlantic region

•Populations and palaeodiet from Ireland to Eurasia

•Refinement of chronologies from selected regions of the world, using the facilities of the 14CHRONO labs

•Religion, society and material culture in the central and western Mediterranean

•Settlement and economy of medieval and post-medieval Ireland; connections with the New World

•Social and bio-archaeological approaches to death, involving the study of mortuary data from Ireland across Eurasia, especially the former Soviet Union.

Expand+Research Strengths

Members of the PCC and the Environmental Change research clusters work closely to develop research that takes into consideration both the social and environmental context of human society (see also Geography and Palaeoecology: E...

Hide-Research Strengths

Members of the PCC and the Environmental Change research clusters work closely to develop research that takes into consideration both the social and environmental context of human society (see also Geography and Palaeoecology: Environmental Change). Integrated within PCC is the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, a financially self-supporting excavation unit with an exceptional record of publication and a high media profile, reflecting a strong commitment to community engagement.