Expand+Applicants should normally have obtained an honours BA degree (NFQ level 8) in a participating discipline (Archaeology, Classics, History, or English, French, German or Irish Language & Literature), at the minimum class of Second Class Honours, Grad...

Hide-Applicants should normally have obtained an honours BA degree (NFQ level 8) in a participating discipline (Archaeology, Classics, History, or English, French, German or Irish Language & Literature), at the minimum class of Second Class Honours, Grade 1 (or equivalent international qualification; e.g., BA with GPA of 3.3); some applicants might have been awarded an MA in one of those disciplines as well.

By the time of application, candidates will have identified a research topic and key primary sources for it in discussion with the member(s) of staff whose academic interests are most appropriate and who have agreed to serve as the applicants’ Supervisor(s). No previous knowledge of Latin or any medieval language is required.

Expand+Structured PhD (Medieval Studies)—full-time
As part of the doctoral training available on the Structured PhD programme, students avail themselves of a range of interdisciplinary taught modules.

The wide menu of available options include modules...

Hide-Structured PhD (Medieval Studies)—full-time
As part of the doctoral training available on the Structured PhD programme, students avail themselves of a range of interdisciplinary taught modules.

The wide menu of available options include modules that:

are Discipline-Specific in that they augment the student’s existing knowledge in their specialist area

are Dissertation-Specific in that they supply core skills which are essential to completion of the research project, e.g., additional language skills

acknowledge a student’s professional development e.g. presentation of a paper at an International Conference

enhance a student’s employability through generic training, e.g., Careers Workshops, computer literacy.

Each student will be assigned a primary Supervisor(s) and a Graduate Research Committee made up of experienced researchers to plan their programme of study and to provide on-going support to their research.

The PhD in Medieval Studies, delivered by a team of internationally-trained academics, is an interdisciplinary research programme normally completed in four years. Its cross-disciplinary approach encourages students to view the period from Late Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages), in Europe as well as Ireland, in a multidimensional way, even as it allows students to focus on a particular research field.

The programme’s emphasis on languages and source studies equips students with the linguistic skills and interdisciplinary research methods required to undertake innovative research using primary texts, images, manuscripts and other material objects from the period. Students also gain some practical experience in a project-based module.

During their first two years students, depending on their previous qualifications, participate in either 1 or 3 semesters of Sources & Resources, a seminar focusing on palaeography and manuscript studies, but also treating auxiliary sciences such as diplomatic, heraldry and philology and including a team-work web-based project on a medieval scriptorium. They also take Latin and one or two other medieval vernacular languages (no prior knowledge of these languages is required). In order to refine their research proposals, students carry out intensive bibliographical investigation under the direction of their Supervisor(s). Modules in Archaeology, History, or Literature round out Year 1.

In Year 2 all students complete a project-based module in an area like university tutoring; assisting in research, conference organisation or management of research resources; or reaching out to schools or local community groups. A PhD thesis of 80,000 words is completed by the end of Year 4.

Expand+Areas of interest
The Late Antique and Medieval worlds from the perspectives of Archaeology, Classics, History, and English, French, German or Irish Language & Literature.

All students:
Are affiliated with CAMPS: Centre for Antique, Medieval a...

Hide-Areas of interest
The Late Antique and Medieval worlds from the perspectives of Archaeology, Classics, History, and English, French, German or Irish Language & Literature.

All students:
Are affiliated with CAMPS: Centre for Antique, Medieval and Pre-Modern Studies [http://www.nuigalway.ie/camps//] of the Moore Institute [http://www.nuigalway.ie/our-research/listings/moore-institute.html];

Contribute to the international postgraduate medievalists’ IMBAS conference & peer-reviewed IMBAS journal [http://www.nuigalway.ie/imbas/];

Are encouraged to present papers at international conferences such as the ICM (Irish Conference of Medievalists), the Leeds International Medieval Congress and the International Congress of Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, MI, for which latter they are eligible for the Sieg & Dunlop Travel Bursary [http://www.nuigalway.ie/classics/documents/siegdunlop_2012.pdf