Program Overview

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French Research MPhil/PhD

Key information

Award: MPhil, PhD Study mode: Full time, Part time Campus: Strand Campus Duration: Expected to be MPhil two years FT, three years PT. PhD three years FT, four-six years PT. October to October, February to February or June to June.

Study

The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers research strengths and opportunities for PhD supervision across all periods of French and Francophone literature and visual culture, French thought and modern French history and politics. Current postgraduate research students are working on topics across the whole range of French studies, and many of our recent PhD graduates have gone on successfully to academic posts or postdoctoral fellowships.

The Department has a vibrant and energetic research culture, in which postgraduate research students are fully involved. In the recent Research Excellence Framework assessment of our research (REF 2021) our research environment was rated 100% ‘world-leading’ (4), and research impact was rated 87.5% ‘world leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’ (3).

Current number of academic staff (French studies): 11 permanent (all research active)

Current number of students: 11

Recent staff publications

• The Unbridled Tongue: Babble and Gossip in Renaissance France
• Thinking Cinema with Proust
• Roland Barthes and Film
• Our Civilizing Mission: The Lessons of Colonial Education
• _Figurations of the Feminine in the Early French Women's Press, _
• Marcelle Gauvreau,Lettres au Frère Marie-Victorin_. Correspondance sur la sexualité humaine
• Antonin Artaud: The Scum of the Soul
• The Calendar in Revolutionary France - Perceptions of Time in Literature, Culture, Politics
• The French Revolution Effect
• Republic of Islamophobia
• Performance Art and Revolution: Stuart Brisley's Cuts in Time

Current research projects

• Casts, Imprints and Traces in Modern and Contemporary Art
• Deviant Speech in the Early Modern Period
• Algerian women's writing
• Representations of the Detective in Nineteenth-Century France
• World History as World Court: The Theatrical Origin of Human Rights
• Translating French psychoanalyst Pierre Fédida
• French Nietzscheanisms
• The Politics of Racism in France
• Colonial Education
• Québécois film
• Post-1968 French feminist film
• Radical Translations: The Transfer of Revolutionary Culture between France, Britain, Italy

How to apply

1. Your proposal

Before you submit your application via the admissions portal, you should consider the following guidance and take the following steps in preparation of your application:

• Define your topic: begin with an idea of the area you wish to do research in.
• Refine your proposal. As part of the application process you (see below) will be required to submit a research proposal. This should include the following:
  • the central research question(s) you intend to address;
  • a critical assessment of the relevant published scholarship on the research topic and its related field, indicating how you expect your own project to expand, complement or challenge that existing body of scholarship by the discovery of new materials and data or new analytical insights;
  • The material scope of the project, e. the materials and resources that will be your object of study
  • Methodological tools and approaches to be employed (including any training you may require; you should already have the language proficiency appropriate to your research programme);
  • A proposed plan and schedule of work, to show that your project can be completed within three years (four years including writing up) if you are a full-time student, or seven years (eight including writing up) if you are a part-time student. These are now the maximum allowed registration times for PhD students.

2. Approach the department

• Find a supervisor: Search for academics working in the field you wish to study (see the ‘People’ section of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures website, or the King’s ‘Research Portal’( There need not be an exact correlation between your proposal and their research interests, after all it should be a 'unique' project, but they should be equipped to advise you on secondary reading and where to find sources if relevant.
• Contact your supervisor: It is best to contact your proposed supervisor before you apply. You can then discuss your proposal with them, ensuring that they are happy with the topic. They will also at this time be able to give you advice on your Research Proposal - particularly important if you are hoping to apply for funding.

3. Applying and interviews

• Apply: Once you have been in touch with the supervisor and they have provisionally agreed to your proposal, apply to the college for a place.
• Candidates seriously being considered for entry onto the PhD programme are normally invited for interview by two or members of the Department’s academic staff, normally including the prospective supervisor and the Research Admissions Tutor.

4. Personal statement and supporting information

You will be asked to submit the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Personal statement: Yes, A personal statement is required. This can be entered directly into the online application form (maximum 4,000 characters) or uploaded as an attachment to the online application form (maximum 2 pages). The personal statement should include an account of your academic career to date, your reasons for wishing to pursue a graduate research programme and the particular project as proposed.
• Research Proposal: Yes, The proposal should explain in some detail precisely the field of study that you want to contribute to, what you want to do and how you propose to do it (see below for further guidance).
• Previous Academic Study: Yes, A copy (or copies) of your official academic transcript(s), showing the subjects studied and marks obtained. If you have already completed your degree, copies of your official degree certificate will also be required. Applicants with academic documents issued in a language other than English will need to submit both the original and official translation of their documents.
• References: Yes, One academic reference is required. A professional reference will be accepted if you have completed your qualifications over five years ago.
• Writing Sample: Optional, If you have any relevant recent examples of substantial research-based writing, e.g. from an MA degree, then these can be attached to your application.
• Other: Optional, You may also wish to include a CV (Resume) or evidence of professional registration as part of your application.

Application closing date

We encourage you to apply as early as possible so that there is sufficient time for your application to be assessed. We may need to request further information from you during the application process.

• February 2025 entry – 20 October 2024 for Overseas fee status and 20 November 2024 for Home fee status
• June 2025 entry – 20 March 2025 for Overseas fee status and 11 April 2025 for Home fee status
• October 2025 entry – 25 July 2025 for Overseas fee status and 25 August 2025 for Home fee status
• February 2026 entry – 20 October 2025 for Overseas fee status and 20 November 2025 for Home fee status
• June 2026 entry – 20 March 2026 for Overseas fee status and 11 April 2026 for Home fee status

Fees or Funding

UK Tuition Fees 2024/25

• Full time tuition fees: £6,168 per year
• Part time tuition fees: £3,084 per year

International Tuition Fees 2024/25

• Full time tuition fees: £24,786 per year
• Part time tuition fees: £12,393 per year

UK Tuition Fees 2025/26

• Full time tuition fees: £6,600 per year
• Part time tuition fees: £3,300 per year

International Tuition Fees 2025/26

• Full time tuition fees: £27,100 per year
• Part time tuition fees: £13,550 per year

Study environment

Base campus

Strand Campus

Located on the north bank of the River Thames, the Strand Campus houses King's College London's arts and sciences faculties.

As a postgraduate research student in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures you will join a vibrant research culture. You will work closely with your designated primary supervisor, seeing them regularly, and benefit from feedback from other staff members including your secondary supervisor. You are strongly encouraged to attend research seminars and research-related events in the department and beyond. There are multiple opportunities to gain experience in the presentation and dissemination of your research and to exchange ideas with fellow students and members of staff.

In the area of French studies we are nationally and internationally reputed for the breadth and reach of our research and this informs an energetic postgraduate research student culture, with students pursuing projects in areas including French and francophone literature across all periods, film, politics, visual culture and critical theory. Much of this work is interdisciplinary, and it reflects the diversity of the department’s researchers and lecturers across the whole range of French studies.

We offer a dedicated study space for our postgraduate research students in the Virginia Woolf building, part of the campus centred on the Strand. You will benefit from funds to subsidise student attendance at conferences, and to contribute towards research costs. In the area of French studies we have exchanges at graduate level with the Université de Paris Nanterre and the Ecole Normale Supérieure Lyon.

Postgraduate training

Training for postgraduate research students is offered at various levels throughout PhD registration, including, at King’s, the courses and sessions offered by the Department, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Centre for Doctoral Studies and the King’s Language Centre. You also benefit from training is offered by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership and the Institute of Modern Languages Research of the University of London. Research training will include a range of different kinds, including research ethics and integrity, bibliographic and referencing skills, the opportunity to learn or improve language skills, career support, job applications, networking, working with community partners, and much more.

Entry requirements

UK requirements

• 2:1 first degree, usually in French (or in a combined honours degree including French)
• and a taught master's degree with an overall grade of at least Merit.

Equivalent International qualifications

Select a country to view the equivalent qualifications.

English language requirements

English language band: C

To study at King's, it is essential that you can communicate in English effectively in an academic environment. You are usually required to provide certification of your competence in English before starting your studies.

Nationals of majority English speaking countries (as defined by the UKVI) who have permanently resided in this country are not usually required to complete an additional English language test. This is also the case for applicants who have successfully completed an undergraduate degree (of at least three years duration), a postgraduate taught degree (of at least one year), or a PhD in a majority English speaking country (as defined by the UKVI) within five years of the course start date.