Classics PhD

About Classics PhD

REF rankings 2014: 3rd in the country according to the ‘power' metric, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity. The Department also received an outstanding score for the impact of its research. Overall, 76% of our research was rated 3* or 4* indicating internationally excellent and world-leading quality.

Research income: as well as funding for four major research projects, recent awards include, British Academy Postdoctoral and Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowships, a Philip Leverhulme prize, and substantial grants from the AHRC, Getty Foundation, Humboldt Foundation, and Leverhulme Trust.

Current number of academic staff: 24.

Current number of research students: 58.

Partner organisations: British Museum.

Description
We pursue and supervise research across an exceptionally wide range of topics in Greek, Roman and Near Eastern history, archaeology and art, as well as Greek and Latin language, literature and thought, late antique and Byzantine studies, and reception studies.

We have a strong record of attracting major research grants. The Department has recently received funding from the AHRC, the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust for major projects including Digitising the Prosopography of the Roman Republic, The Art of Making in Antiquity: Stone Carving and Carvers in the Roman World, Ancient Inscriptions of the Black Sea Region, and Classics & Class.

Other areas of activity we have been developing include Neo Latin, Roman mosaics and mosaicists, ancient religion, and Greek theatre and performance. We have successful ongoing research projects in collaboration with the College's Department of Digital Humanities and the British Museum. We work with the Faculty of Arts & Humanities' Centre for Hellenic Studies, which combines the resources of Classics and Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies in organising major public lectures by leading scholars (the Runciman Lecture, the Greek Archaeological Committee Lecture) and biennial international conferences (recent topics include Lord Byron and Ancient Greek Theatre in the Black Sea).

Course study environment
You will work mainly with your principal supervisor, who will read and discuss your work with you on a regular basis, advise you about attendance at seminars and direct you to any training opportunities. You will also have a second supervisor who will be able to advise you on particular aspects of your research. Your progress will be monitored through six-monthly individual progress reports. We run regular research seminars, which are both opportunities for staff and students to present and discuss current research and social occasions. You will also have the opportunity to attend the various research seminars organised through the Institute of Classical Studies.

Postgraduate training
We attach great importance to the identification of training needs, and will direct you individually to courses we think will support your research. These are organised through the London Arts & Humanities Partnership, an AHRC-funded Doctoral Training Centre bringing together King's UCL and the School of Advanced Study in Senate House. We aim to offer as many students as possible teaching experience as Graduate Teaching Assistants, and we provide training for this as well.

More information can be found here.