Classical Archaeology and Ancient History

Entry requirements

A good degree in ancient history, archaeology, classical studies, classics, history or a related discipline.

Months of entry

January, April, October

Course content

An MPhil/PhD is an advanced postgraduate research degree that requires original research and the submission of a substantial dissertation of 60,000 to 100,000 words. At Birkbeck, you are initially registered on an MPhil and you upgrade to a PhD after satisfactory progress in the first year or two. You need to find a suitable academic supervisor at Birkbeck, who can offer the requisite expertise to guide and support you through your research. Find out more about undertaking a research degree at Birkbeck.

A research degree offers you the opportunity to acquire a highly advanced set of conceptual skills developed in the pursuit of new knowledge, which can be applied within or beyond an academic or scholarly context. Research training in any academic discipline helps to channel creativity into critical innovatory reasoning. The legitimate authority of original, independent research depends upon persuasive analytical arguments supported by critically evaluated evidence.

In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, History at Birkbeck was ranked 6th in the UK for the percentage of our research deemed world-leading or internationally excellent. 94% of our eligible staff submitted research and we achieved 100% for a research environment supporting world-leading and internationally excellent research. Our current research interests include: the cultural and social history of ancient Greece; the Hellenistic world; ancient Italy and Rome; the reception of the 'classical' past within ancient and modern worlds; the study of approaches to identity in the ancient world; and cultural change in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds.