PhD in Religions and Philosophies

Join our Research Degrees: Religions and Philosophies at SOAS — as a PhD student at SOAS you will be welcomed by our research community of doctoral researchers from across the globe and play a vital role in developing our vibrant and intellectual culture.

The SOAS Religions and Philosophies Department offers a vibrant, stimulating, and interdisciplinary research environment. We provide individual research supervision in a wide variety of religious traditions and comparative and interdisciplinary topics. Supervisors are experts in their fields and thoroughly familiar with the religions, cultures, languages, and geographical areas they specialise in.

In addition to individual supervision the Department offers research training at various levels: an obligatory research writing workshop which prepares year 1 MPhil students for their upgrade to the PhD level; a weekly seminar for PhD students in years 2 and 3 to discuss work in progress and receive feedback before submitting their thesis; a departmental research seminar in which both staff and students present papers on their research projects and discuss them in an interdisciplinary setting.

Why study Research Degrees: Religions and Philosophies at SOAS

• we are World Top 50 for Arts & Humanities (QS World University Rankings 2022) - with a rate of 91.7% overall student satisfaction (NSS 2021)
• we have been ranked 3rd for research outputs and 7th place overall in the Theology and Religious Studies research rankings in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
• SOAS is ranked in the top 5 universities in the UK for producing a CEO or Managing Director, according to new research
• employability — our strong focus on enhancing your career prospects and practical skills are integrated across the programme
• led by our global community of research-active academic staff we have been very successful in acquiring research funding, hosting research centres and are actively engaged in professional networks with scholars worldwide.

The SOAS Religions and Philosophies Department offers a vibrant, stimulating, and interdisciplinary research environment. Our members of staff cover a wide range of religious traditions, geographic areas, and methodological approaches to the study of religions. We have been very successful in acquiring research funding, we host a number of research centres, and we are actively engaged in professional networks with scholars worldwide.

We normally require a 2.1 bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) plus a Masters degree in appropriate subject area plus one reference. In exceptional cases we may accept applicants who do not meet these criteria if they show evidence of a strong Masters degree and/or appropriate level of relevant work experience.