MPhil History

Programme description

Our History MPhil programme is a course of study that enables you to carry out a piece of in-depth research in the area that most interests you.

Our research interests stretch from the early Middle Ages to the end of the 20th century, and our geographical range includes Britain, continental Europe, South and East Asia, Africa and the Americas.

You will prepare a thesis under the guidance of two supervisors with specialist expertise. Your progress is monitored at regular meetings of your research panel (two supervisors plus a reviewer who is independent of the supervisory team), which also provides guidance on research training and career development.

The aim of the programme is to turn you into a competent independent researcher.

The programme culminates in the submission of a 50,000-word dissertation that makes a substantive contribution to historical knowledge.

This programme is for you if, having already undertaken a master's degree, you want to undertake a substantial piece of research, but cannot commit to a PhD.

As a postgraduate researcher in the History department, you will join a large and lively research community. We have over 40 established members of staff engaged in research, often in ways that help to re-shape their fields, and there are also many historians working in other departments and research institutes across the University.

The University is committed to investing in History, which has recruited 20 new staff in the last four years.

Teaching and learning

Your research will normally be supervised by two members of staff - usually from the History department, but if appropriate, from another department in the University.

Close supervision based on regular production of written work is at the heart of the research student's working life. But your supervisors will aim to nurture your capacities as an independent researcher, and equally central to the learning process is your ability to take advantage of the wider opportunities offered by the University - seminars, conferences, reading groups, training courses, and the like.

Coursework and assessment

This programme requires regular attendance at the University, except during periods of approved 'fieldwork', ie archival research away from Manchester.

It is not available on a distance-learning basis, since regular engagement with the University's research environment as well as with your supervisors is integral to your development as a researcher.

Part-time students should ensure a minimum of two full days in the working week for their studies for the same reason; evening and weekend study on its own is unlikely to be sufficient.

Your progress will be reviewed by your research panel, consisting of your two supervisors and one other member of staff.

Career opportunities

Some MPhil students opt to progress to a PhD and an academic career.

Most do not take this route, but in undertaking a piece of independent research, they develop a portfolio of skills that made them highly desirable to other employers, from the civil service to think-tanks, from museums and archives to large business organisations.

A Bachelors (Honours) degree at 2:1 level or above (or its international equivalent) in a related subject; and A UK Master's degree with an overall average of 65% or higher, with a minimum of 65% in the dissertation and with no mark below 55% (or its international equivalent) in a related subject.