Finding a supervisor

Your supervisor will play a vital role in shaping your academic and research experience. They will:

• Help you to develop your ideas, skills, thinking and research.
• Develop connections with academics in your field, and refine and the team you might work with.
• Strengthen your funding applications.
• Support you at every stage of your research journey.

Your supervisor's research interests should therefore closely align to yours. The fit between your research proposal and supervisory team is taken into account in application and funding decisions. 

Please note that contact ahead of an application can only be informal, and no decision can be made on your application until it is submitted and processed through the Humanities Doctoral Academy. 

If an academic is interested in supervising your project, make sure to include their name on your application form.

There are a number of online resources that can help you refine your supervisor search.

Visiting the University's research explorer

Our research explorer portal will allow you to search through our academic research profiles by keywords and areas of interest. You will also be able to see details on recent publications, ongoing projects and whether they are explicitly accepting new research students.

Exploring research expertise on our website

We have a number of centres, institutes and networks across the Faculty of Humanities conducting groundbreaking research. Using the individual websites for our research centres, institutes and networks can help you narrow your supervisor search and view academic research groups in full.

View the subject research area of our School websites

If you prefer to see the research connected to an individual subject areas across our four academic Schools, then you can use our subject filter.

Speaking to academics in your current department or university

Your postgraduate research is likely to be connected to your current subject or area of interest. You may be able to seek advice from previous academic staff or networks that have supported your study.

• If you are applying for a supervisor-led project, you will not need to identify a supervisor but you may still wish to make contact ahead of a formal application.

• Does their research expertise align with your research goals?
• Does their supervision style suit you?
• Some supervisors may have multiple students to supervise whereas in other cases, you may be their only PhD student. How often would you like to meet with your supervisor?
• What networks and development opportunities could this supervisor open up for you over the course of your PhD?

Academics can receive many requests for PhD supervision. It’s vital that you make your first impression count.

An academic’s email address should be available via Research Explorer or department websites. If you are unable to find these details in either location, please contact our admissions team. Our academic PGR directors have prepared this guide.

Do:

• Familiarise yourself fully with the research of a potential supervisor.
• Have a clear subject line – e.g. Enquiry about potential PhD application.
• Include an introductory paragraph why you feel their expertise would be crucial to advance your intended research
• Write as an individual interested in their work and demonstrate how it links to your biography and experience.
• Your eligibility and enthusiasm for research study.
• Include a draft version of your research proposal you intend to use in your application.
• Include how you intend to fund your study and which specific funding routes you wish to be considered for.

Don’t:

• Give the impression you a writing generic emails to multiple academic staff.
• Approach a supervisor without considering the funding requirements.
• Have mistakes relating to spelling, grammar or your supervisor’s name in the email.