Brunel University Uxbridge

Programme overview

The PhD in Anthropology at Brunel is a research degree grounded in ethnographic fieldwork and situated within a single Social Anthropology research grouping. Study can be taken full-time (3 years) or part-time (up to 6 years) with multiple annual start points (January, April, October). Candidates are normally allocated two supervisors, often with complementary expertise, and join a multidisciplinary social sciences environment.

What you'll study

Doctoral candidates pursue original research or advanced scholarship intended to create new knowledge at the discipline's frontier. Research topics are wide-ranging and commonly draw on Brunel staff strengths: global health and medical anthropology; childhood and youth; histories and methods of anthropology; performance, politics and violence; human–animal relations and multispecies ethnography; environmental and anthropocenic discourses; visual anthropology and materiality; and more. PhD students participate in the Graduate Research Skills and Professional Development module shared with other social sciences researchers and may take modules in psychology, social psychology and sociology/communications if relevant to their project. The department provides access to staff profiles and suggested PhD topics to help shape proposals.

Entry requirements

The stated entry requirement is a 2:1 degree. Applicants are encouraged to identify and contact potential supervisors whose research interests match their proposed project.

Career prospects

Brunel frames the PhD as preparation for producing publishable research and applying scholarly skills across academic and non-academic roles. The department emphasises training in presentation, publication and professional development to support future career moves, and candidates join a research-intensive, internationally diverse cohort.

Scholarships & funding angle (general)

Research support and researcher development are provided through Brunel's Graduate School, which runs a Researcher Development Programme of workshops, seminars and online courses (including research integrity, methods and skills toolkits). The programme description references fees and funding information but does not list specific scholarships on the course page; applicants should consult Brunel's postgraduate funding pages or contact supervisors for advice on available studentships or funding routes.