PhD at the Warburg Institute

Undertaking doctoral research allows you to develop in-depth knowledge, while making a meaningful contribution to your chosen field.

With guidance from our expert supervisors, you'll carry out extensive independent research culminating in a thesis of up to 100,000 words. Broadly speaking the area covered by the Institute’s expertise is cultural and intellectual history in the period 1200–1700, but there are a range of specific research interests covered by members of staff who currently offer supervision.

This degree presents the opportunity to gain expertise in your area of interest while also honing a range of transferable skills. On completing this course, you'll be well prepared for specialist career paths both within academia and beyond.

The Warburg Institute is one of the world’s leading centres for studying the interaction of ideas, images and society. It is dedicated to the survival and transmission of culture across time and space, with special emphasis on the afterlife of antiquity.

The resources of the Institute are especially geared to students interested in interdisciplinary study, including the Archive, Photographic Collection, and open-stack Library with its unique cataloguing system specifically designed by Aby Warburg to aid research.

Subject Areas and Supervision

The Warburg Institute offers doctoral research supervision in the following areas:

• Renaissance Art, Architecture, and Visual Culture
• Cultural and Intellectual History
• Reception of the classics
• History of Magic and Science
• History of Cartography and Cosmography
• Religious History
• History of the Book

Before submitting an application you are advised to contact a member of the Warburg academic staff who has interests in your proposed field of study to discuss your proposal.

Course dates

8 January 2024

Location

The Warburg Institute

Course duration

3 years (full-time); 6 years (part-time)

Application deadlines

Applications will open in October 2023 for January 2024 entry.

Level of study

MPhil/PhD

Mode of study

Full-time On Campus, Part-time On Campus, Full-Time Distance Learning, Part-time Distance Learning

Funding Opportunities

Our students fund their studies in a variety of ways including scholarships, bursaries and fellowships, as well as government loans and postgraduate loans.

Contact Us

If you have specific questions about this research degree, please make an enquiry.