We welcome applications for full-time or part-time study. An MA or equivalent higher degree is normally a requirement for application to the PhD programme but other relevant experience will be considered, so please get in touch if this applies to you.

All PhD students are initially registered for a Master of Philosophy (MPhil), and the PhD registration is confirmed after the successful completion of a probationary assessment (at the end of year 1 for full-time students and year 2 for part-time).

Students normally begin their studies in early October, and the closing date for applications is the end of March. Please note that if you wish to apply for funding opportunities for Postgraduate Research in Classical Studies at the OU, you may need to submit your application earlier. The application deadlines for the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership differ from those for self-funded applications and usually fall in early January.

We expect applicants to have discussed their application with the department before applying. To do this, please complete the preliminary proposal form and send it to the department’s Postgraduate Convenors, Dr Jasmine Hunter-Evans and Dr Marchella Ward, via this email address FASS-ClassicalStudies-Enquiries@open.ac.uk.

We have written some guidance notes on how to complete your preliminary proposal form to help you with this task. Your proposal should set out what research question your project will address, and outline what your project will add to the scholarly understanding of your chosen topic. You should think carefully about whether the project is feasible in terms of your skills, time and circumstances, and should have some sense of what kinds of evidence you propose to use to address your research question(s). It is normal for a PhD project to evolve as you start to work on, but the department would like to see that you have a well thought out research question that you will be able to work on independently with support from your supervisors. The preliminary proposal form also allows the department to ascertain whether appropriate supervision in your chosen area of study is available. The process of circulating your preliminary proposal form and evaluating it can take several weeks (or longer during busy periods), so please make sure that you begin this process well in advance of the application deadline.

After you have received feedback on your preliminary proposal form you will need to make a formal application. Further details, including the formal application process, entrance requirements, application dates, residence requirements, facilities and periods of study, are available from the Research Degrees website of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

For any queries about pursuing research with the Department of Classical Studies, please contact the department’s Postgraduate Conveyors, Dr Jasmine Hunter Evans and Dr Marchella Ward at FASS-ClassicalStudies-Enquiries@open.ac.uk.