Digital Humanities PhDs

About our DHI PhD programme

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

You are required to have passed a Masters degree in a relevant subject (no distinction or merit required). The offer you receive will be conditional, based on the Masters result, and Admissions will decide whether you will need to wait for a final mark on the dissertation. Please contact us on dhi-pgr@sheffield.ac.uk if you have any questions about your qualifications.

English language requirements

If you have studied in the UK we can accept this as a substitute for an English language qualification. Otherwise, candidates must have an IELTS score of 7.0 overall, with at least 6.5 in each component.

Entry requirements for international students

Funding & tuition fees

For further guidance and information on applying for funding, please see our PhD funding page. 

Other useful links (subheading):

PhD Scholarships  Information on tuition fees

If you have any questions about scholarships please see the FAQs or email pgr-scholarships@sheffield.ac.uk.

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Supervision 

Our staff

Once you know what you would like to study, it’s important to find a supervisor who is an expert in the area, and who can guide you through the programme. This is the first step in the application process.

We would advise that you get in touch with us directly to outline your proposed research. This doesn't have to be a formal research proposal, but will allow us to ensure that your application is relevant to the DHI, and also that we have suitable expertise to supervise your project. Please contact your preferred supervisor from the list below. You can find further information by clicking through to their staff profile pages:

• Dr Seth Mehl
• Dr Kathryn Simpson
• Dr Isabella Magni
• Dr Valeria Vitale
• Dr James Chetwood
• Dr Alexandra Ortolja-Baird
• Dr Guy Solomon

Our DHI academic member profiles can also be found on our DHI staff page. 

Types of support

You will be assigned a first supervisor, a second supervisor, and a personal tutor during your studies. 

A first supervisor (also known as a primary supervisor) provides academic guidance on all facets of the research. They supervise your work, offering constructive and timely feedback, and guide the project to help you to complete it within the tuition fee paying period. They will also help you to engage with the wider research community, to build peer support and to present or publish your work.

A second supervisor (also known as a secondary supervisor) provides guidance, feedback and support on your academic progress, with a particular focus on key milestones to support timely submission. They also take the lead in supporting your researcher/professional development.

A personal tutor provides pastoral advice and referral to specialist support. They can also support students in relation to matters such as Leave of Absence applications, Change of Candidature, and other major pastoral issues. You can talk to your personal tutor about any personal difficulties that you are worried about or are impacting on your studies. They will be able to signpost you to relevant support. You will be assigned a personal tutor during the start of your studies. 

Further information on the roles and expectations for supervision can be found in the University of Sheffield’s ‘Code of Practice’ (see the Postgraduate Research Hub). 

Our research

The DHI has a lively research culture. Find out more about our research activities. 

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How to apply 

You should select and contact a potential supervisor to discuss your proposal, and you may contact our PGR Lead, Seth Mehl (s.mehl@sheffield.ac.uk) with general queries, but for formal consideration, you must complete the University's application form.

Our academic skills centre, 301, offers advice on how to write a research proposal.

Guidance

1. The completed application form.
2. Reference letters from two referees, who should each send their references to the DHI directly (dhi-pgr@sheffield.ac.uk or by post). Your referees should be people able to address the issue of your academic abilities and performance.
3. A supporting statement of at least 300 words giving your reasons for applying and any other information you want to include in support of your application. Among the issues you may wish to cover are how your previous education and experience relates to the course, and how the course fits into your long-term academic or career plans.
4. A research proposal with details of the area of research you want to pursue. The proposal should be about 1000 words in length. Guidance on writing a proposal is available on the University research webpages: Writing a proposal
5. Academic transcripts of your academic performance at undergraduate and Masters level.
6. Documentation of English language qualifications.

For further guidance on supporting documents for applications, please visit the supporting documents page. 

Deadlines

There are no deadlines as such, however there will be deadlines for the applications you may want to make to the various sources of funding available.

Scholarships

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Contact us 

For general queries about the PhD programme, doctoral study, the application process, or funding related queries, we recommend that you contact our PGR lead, Seth Mehl (s.mehl@sheffield.ac.uk) for further information. For general queries, you can also contact dhi-pgr@sheffield.ac.uk for more information.