© 2010-2011 University of Leeds,
Leeds, LS2 9JT

Entry Requirements and Application Process

What kind of PhD applicants we are looking for?

Our PhD students come from a variety of backgrounds. You should normally have a good BA / BSc honours degree plus a good Master's degree in relevant social science, humanities, arts or language subjects.

All students whose native tongue is not English are required to provide evidence of English language competence.

Students who will need to use East Asian languages in their research are similarly evaluated. Further language training is available in the form of pre-sessional and in-sessional English courses.

You should also demonstrate to us in your application documents that you are committed to pursue a PhD study for three years in a subject that we can supervise.

How to Apply

Before a formal application can be made, we normally require a CV and a research proposal. In some cases, however (e.g. where you have already identified a specific member of staff whom you wish to supervise your research), you may first make an informal enquiry to the member of staff concerned.

In all cases, a formal research proposal must be submitted before a decision about the application can be made. Formal research proposals vary in length according to the nature of the project. The following provides some general guidance of what the research proposal should include:

  • Working title for the thesis: this should have a core research enquiry or question at least implicitly stated, or explicitly stated.
  • Main Study Issues: this should start with an introduction that sets the general background context of the proposed study. You should then clearly outline the main study issues to be researched in terms of their importance, theoretical and methodological approaches, primary sources to be analysed. This should include a short literature review, including academic references and an identification of gaps in theory and empirical work, from which the research questions should be generated...
  • Research Questions: you should aim at writing between 3 to 5 of these. These should expand further on the main research enquiry or question found in the working title of the thesis, and indicate what are the main research enquiries of your proposed study.
  • Methodology: detailing what methods you intend to use to conduct your research explaining why these are appropriate.
  • Schedule: the planned schedule of your research tasks, preferably over the three-year period.
  • Your background: why you are so well qualified or suited to undertake this work? This should include reference to your own experience in the field of the proposed research, how the research interest links up with previous activities, and which special skills (language, access to sources, analytical methods) you possess to conduct the proposed research
  • References: including citations of works mentioned in the proposal generally.

Applications for PhDs supervised by our Department are handled through the School to which we belong, the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. You can find more information on submitting research proposals in the SMLC's Postgraduate Study: Research Proposal document.

Following the submission and acceptance by the School of your research proposal, you are required to supply the following:

For further information, see the University's research degree applications webpage, or email the SMLC Research Postgraduate Administrator. You can also call on

+44(0)113 3437844

or write to:

SMLC Research Postgraduate Administrator
SMLC Office, Michael Sadler Building
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
UK

You might also like to contact our Department's Research Postgraduate Director:

Professor Victor T. King
Department of East Asian Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
Email: v.t.king@leeds.ac.uk