MPhil / PhD

These are University of London research degrees examined wholly by thesis, prepared under the supervision of a member of staff of the Institute. Students can pursue their academic interests within the friendly and supportive environment of the Institute, enhanced by the outstanding libraries of the University of London, including our own prestigious library collection.

Apply online for the MPhil / PhD programme

Course details

The Institute of Historical Research is based in Bloomsbury, located within the University of London’s Senate House, and in easy walking distance of the British Library.

Our research students have access to the world-renowned IHR's Wohl Library with over 200,000 history books and periodicals, the digital and online resources within the Institute, as well as free access to the University of London’s Senate House Library with over a million books. Also available are other unique collections such as the Institute of Classical Studies Library and the Warburg Institute Library.

Students are also welcome to attend the wide range of history seminars and specialist research training programmes hosted by the IHR. Students also benefit from the Institute’s network of Senior, Honorary, Research and Associate fellows with their many research interests.

There are also opportunities to work alongside our established research centres: the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community, the Victoria County History and Digital History.

The Institute is at the centre of academic history, and has partnerships with numerous nationally and internationally renowned library and art collections, as well as links to the cultural and heritage sector, professional bodies, London guilds and livery companies, archives, the City of London and higher education institutions in the UK and internationally.

Subject areas covered

The Institute currently offers supervision in a number of subject areas across different periods, including, but not limited to:

Medieval British history
Modern British history
Local, regional and community histories of the British Isles
Place and Identity
Early medieval Northumbria and the north
Later medieval armies and warfare
Urban and metropolitan history (especially London), including comparative approaches across Europe and elsewhere
Late medieval and early modern urban history
Digital history and Historical GIS
History of propaganda in the twentieth century
History of the First and Second World Wars
History of emotions in modern Britain
The everyday lives of 'ordinary' people
Architecture, planning and the built environment in Britain from the twentieth century onward
The British Commonwealth and British decolonisation
History and policy
Medievalism and other usages of the past
American foreign relations
US political history