Program Overview

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Overview

The Department of French is committed to research innovation and excellence in major aspects of French Studies. The department has an exceptionally wide range of expertise, including the medieval period, early modern period, visual-textual relations, 19th, 20th and 21st-century literature, film and drama (including screen and stage adaptations), cultural history, politics, and comparative literature. We collaborate extensively with other departments, especially in the fields of visual and literary cultures, conflict and culture, medieval studies, English, and comparative literature.

Each research student is assigned to an academic who works in their proposed area of research or a related field, and benefits from the input of a second supervisor who may be from another department, depending on the interdisciplinary nature of the project.

The department is a regional centre for the Group for War and Culture Studies and members of the department are active in a wide range of Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences research centres and groups. A number of our staff members are editors of leading journals and active in subject associations.

Postgraduate students can benefit from an exchange agreement with the Ecole Normale Supérieure (rue d'Ulm), or take an exchange lecturer post at the Université de Bordeaux III.

Research students often lead the organisation of postgraduate seminar series exploring a theme of their choice.

Key Information

Programme Duration

• MPhil: one year full-time; two years part-time.
• PhD: up to four years full-time; up to eight years part-time.

Start Date

• January 2025, September 2025, January 2026.

Application Deadline

• January 2025 start: 1 December 2024
• September 2025 start:
  • Overseas applicants: 25 July 2025
  • Home applicants: 1 August 2025
• January 2026 start: 1 December 2025

Delivery Method

• Distance Learning, On-Campus

Location

• Clifton

Awards Available

• PhD, MPhil

Programme Structure

MPhil

• A standalone, one-year (full-time) research degree.
• Students will undertake their own research project, concluding in the submission of a 25,000-word dissertation.
• Students may have the option to audit units from our taught master's programmes if they are relevant to their research.

PhD

• A research project undertaken across four years (full-time, minimum period of study three years), culminating in an 80,000-word thesis.
• As well as having the option to audit taught units, there may be the potential for PhD students to teach units themselves from their second year of study onwards (or earlier for holders of GTA Scholarships).

World-Leading Research

• 5th: The University of Bristol is ranked fifth for research in the UK (Times Higher Education).
• 94%: 94% of our research assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Entry Requirements

MPhil

• An upper second-class degree or international equivalent.
• Acceptance will also depend on evidence of your readiness to pursue a research degree.

PhD

• A master's qualification, or be working towards a master's qualification, or international equivalent.
• Applicants without a master's qualification may be considered on an exceptional basis, provided they hold a first-class undergraduate degree (or international equivalent).
• Applicants with a non-traditional background may be considered provided they can demonstrate substantial equivalent and relevant experience that has prepared them to undertake their proposed course of study.

Fees and Funding

Home

• Full-time: £4,850 per year
• Part-time: £2,425 per year

Overseas

• Full-time: £21,300 per year

Alumni Discount

• University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study.

Funding and Scholarships

• The University of Bristol is part of the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (SWW DTP), which will be offering studentships for September 2025.
• For information on other funding opportunities, including University-funded studentships and GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistant) scholarships, please see the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences funding pages.

Career Prospects

• A number of graduates from this programme develop careers in higher education or work on high-level research projects in the field of French Studies.
• Some graduates take up careers in translation or writing for international newspapers, while others will go on to work in libraries and archives, the heritage industries, or publishing.

Meet Our Supervisors

• Professor Marianne Ailes
• Professor Ruth Bush
• Dr Paul Earlie
• Professor Natalie Edwards
• Dr Albertine Fox
• Professor Susan Harrow
• Professor Martin Hurcombe
• Dr Damien Mooney
• Professor Siobhan Shilton
• Dr Clare Siviter
• Professor Bradley Stephens
• Dr Rowan Tomlinson

Research Groups

• Members of the department are active in a wide range of research centres and groups in the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences.