Postgraduate community and research culture
Being a history postgraduate student means you're part of an exciting and supportive community with cutting-edge research and a wide variety of social and research events at your fingertips!
Our postgraduate community
Our postgraduate students are a really active part of helping to build and support the Department's excellent research community.
History Postgrad Forum
The student-led postgrad forum is the heart of the history postgraduate student community. Getting involved with the forum’s is a great way to meet other students, have your views heard and make the most of the social and research events on offer. And, if you become part of the forum committee, it can also be excellent way of building transferable skills for when you start looking for employment.
Postgraduate research groups
The forum includes a variety of postgraduate research groups where postgraduate students at all levels have the opportunity to work with other students and members of staff to create their own programme of speakers and research events.
These events are often speaker-based, with research students and staff from Sheffield and elsewhere coming along to discuss their research. The Modern International History Group is a great example.
Postgraduate research colloquium
The Colloquium is the PhD students’ annual conference, where students present papers and share the latest insights into their research. Papers are welcome on any topic area, so the Colloquium always promises to be an interesting and intellectually engaging event!
It's an excellent opportunity for PhD students to build their experience of giving papers to an academic audience and answering questions on your research.
It is also a great chance for MA students to experience an academic conference and pick up tips ahead of the MA Conference Day that forms part of the Research Presentation module assessment.
Research culture and strengths
Our research interests extend chronologically from the ancient world to the twenty-first century; geographically from the UK to Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, South and East Asia, the Middle East and the USA; and thematically to include political, economic, social, cultural and intellectual history, with a distinct specialism in the application of digital technologies to historical research.
Thematic research hubs offer a focused space that combines staff and student research interests cutting across the usual chronological and geographical boundaries.
Examples of our research specialisms includes:
Our research centres see us take that further by working across faculty and University boundaries with staff from all over the world.
Find out more about research at Sheffield
Departmental research seminars
Our regular research seminar series covers a huge range of topics. Seminars often host an external guest speaker talking about their latest research or feature a round table discussion.
These events are a great opportunity for students to get involved and find out more about the cutting-edge research that’s happening in your main area of interest and beyond.
Interdisciplinary Research Seminars
Many of our research centres also run their own research seminar series including:
Conferences and other research events
In addition to our usual research seminars, many of the research centres, networks and postgraduate discussion groups organise seminars, day conferences or special lectures during the year, often working in conjunction with staff and students across the faculty and the wider University.
Find out more about the research seminars and other events happening this year on our events page.
International Merit Scholarships
We offer a generous package of financial support for international students including 75 undergraduate scholarships worth £10,000 towards the annual tuition fee and 125 postgraduate taught scholarships worth £5,000 towards the tuition fee. Applications are now open for existing offer holders.