Linguistics

Entry requirements

Successful completion of a Masters course with an overall classification of Merit or higher, or its overseas equivalent, with an element of research training, is a prerequisite for entry to a PhD. A research proposal must be included with the formal application materials.

The University requires you to reside within a commutable distance from Manchester during your time as a registered student, unless you are on approved fieldwork/a formal placement or are on a period of Submission pending. This is to ensure that you are able to meet attendance expectations and participate in wider research activities within your discipline area and/or School. Should you be unable to do this at any point during your programme, a formal case must be made to the Faculty office, together with the full support of your supervisor(s). The University reserves the right to reject such a request where it is considered that your residency could have a detrimental impact on the progression and engagement of your studies.

Months of entry

January, September, April

Course content

The Department of Linguistics and English Language is an international centre for Linguistics, with 22full-time members of staff and approximately 35 Postgraduate Research students. It is virtually unique in the UK and beyond in the breadth of subject areas and theoretical approaches represented by its members, many of whom are internationally renowned scholars in their specialisms.

Potential PhD projects in Linguistics may fall into any department member's areas of expertise. These include phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax (Lexical-Functional Grammar, Role and Reference Grammar, Construction Grammar, and Minimalism), (formal) semantics, pragmatics, historical linguistics, dialectology, the linguistics of English, language contact, variationist sociolinguistics, child language acquisition, field linguistics and language documentation, typology, quantitative corpus-based approaches and forensic linguistics. In their research, members of the department combine the advancement of theoretical approaches with a strong concern for their empirical and methodological foundations. Each member of staff also has a special interest in particular languages and language families, including major European languages as well as lesser known languages of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Australia. We do not, however, supervise projects with a focus on second language teaching and learning.

For more information about the research interests of individual members of staff, please visit http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/about/people/staff-directory/linguistics-english-language-staff/

Joint supervision arrangements for interdisciplinary projects are available.

Information for international students

Students whose first language is not English require:

an overall IELTS score of 7.0 with 7.0 in the writing component

or

a TOEFL score of 600 paper-based test or 100 internet-based test

or

a Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 70 overall with 70 in the writing component

or

an overall Trinity Integrated Skills in English (ISE) III grade of Merit with Merit in the writing component.

We accept a range of qualifications from different countries. For these and general requirements including English language see entry requirements from your country .

Fees and funding

AHRC competition; School Bursa

The School offers a limited number of bursaries and studentships on a competitive basis, details of which can be found via the links below.

Please note that whilst we do not have closing dates for programme applications, all funding competitions have a specified deadline for submitting the funding application form and a separate (earlier) deadline for submitting the online programme application form, both of which will be stated in the funding competition details below:

• ESRC North West Social Science DTP (NWSSDTP) PhD Studentships in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures 2018-19
• Research Impact Scholarships in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
• AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures 2018-19
• President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures 2018-19
• School of Arts, Languages and Cultures PhD Studentships 2018-19

Qualification and course duration

PhD