We offer MPhil and PhD research degrees in a range of topics linked to staff expertise in Philosophy. Our staff are recognised as experts in their fields, and have produced a number of influential books, journal articles and edited collections, and won funding for a number of prestigious research projects.

We are proud to be part of a developing research culture, which creates a rich and stimulating environment for staff and students. We have a series of links to a number of other centres in our University and the wider community. We contribute to many of our Faculty's research groups, including the CoDE (Cultures of the Digital Economy) research institute, and as a department we run our own research units, the Labour History Research Unit and the Justice and Communities Research Unit. Our programme also hosts and participates in a variety of research oriented events, including Faculty and Departmental research seminar series.

We have close links with many organisations in the local area and the wider region, including the University of Cambridge's Centre for Research into Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH).

Supervision and support

You will be allocated two supervisors, with additional members added if necessary.

Academic supervision is available in many areas of Philosophy, including modern European philosophy, phenomenology, psychoanalysis and feminist philosophy; and also ancient philosophy; philosophy of art; philosophy of religion and ethics.

Facilities

We have a range of excellent facilities, including well-equipped classrooms with data projectors and DVD. Our research students also have access to our outstanding library resources, as well as to the Cambridge University Library and other local archives.

Funding

There are a number of ways in which you can obtain external funding for doctoral research, from the full-time awards granted by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to smaller grants available from a range of grant-awarding bodies. Our programme periodically offers fully funded and fees-only fellowships and, from time to time, Departmental bursaries are awarded to candidates showing exceptional potential. In addition to these, our programme has a Postgraduate Fund to which students can apply for help with travelling expenses, conference fees, and other research needs. We offer advice on external and internal funding to any interested prospective candidates for our PhD degree.

Career development and training

We are committed to offering training and career development opportunities for all research students. Our PhD students may be offered teaching opportunities in our programme, and are encouraged to give papers at graduate conferences within both our University and at other universities. Within our Department, we can also offer advice and support on a range of subjects, including: writing up a paper for publication; placing an academic article; giving a conference paper; style in PhD writing; updates on research methods and literature searches; internet training; editing skills for doctoral research; subsequent monograph publication; and working with agents and publishers.

We welcome proposals from students wishing to work in Philosophy. Below is a list of current staff and their research specialisms:

Dr Alison Ainley : Research Interests: Modern European Philosophy including phenomenology, psychoanalysis, ethics, feminist philosophy. Recent work on weakness of will in Aristotle and Davidson; Adorno and aesthetics; and Simone de Beauvoir and old age.
Dr Tristan Moyle: Research interests: Modern European Philosophy, especially Heidegger; Ethics; Philosophy of Religion; History of Philosophy, especially Ancient Philosophy; Philosophical Botany, Zoology and Anthropology.
Current Research: historical and contemporary ways of conceptualising plant movements; metaphysical realism and the concept of 'to kalon' in Aristotle.
Dr Mike Wilby: Research interests: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Sociality and Social Cognition, Intersubjectivity, Epistemology and the Philosophy of Perception.
Current research: attention and joint attention, collective intentionality and collective action, folk psychology, embodied theories of mind, developmental psychology, social cognition, and the philosophy of PF Strawson.

• MPhil: Candidates must hold a BA or equivalent in a related subject area.
• PhD: Candidates should normally hold an MA or equivalent in a related subject area.
• For candidates whose first language is not English, a minimum IELTS score of 7 or equivalent is required with a minimum score of 6.5 achieved in each of the four language skills. We welcome applications from EU and international students.