124 PhD programmes in Literature in Europe

Our research ethos underpins and stimulating and dynamic environment in which to study. As a PhD researcher in the School of English at the University of Sheffield, you'll be joining a community of world-leading researchers who are pushing the boundaries of literary and linguistic study. 

The English PhD programme at City St George's, University of London allows you to study in a vibrant academic environment in London where you can emerge as an independent scholar producing original research.

The Department of Language, Literature and Communication (TLC) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Faculty of Humanities conducts research in the fields of language, cognition, (journalistic) communication, (digital) information and literature.

Study a wide range of English, Scottish, Irish, American and world literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day at the University of St Andrews School of English.

The English programme offered by Aberystwyth University develops advanced expertise in literary analysis, textual interpretation, and cultural criticism.

Literature, Culture and Thought at University of Cambridge supports interdisciplinary projects that by virtue of their design clearly transcend or stand outside any one Section in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics. 

Staff supervise research in: African Literature in English and in translation, Caribbean literature, African-American and Native American literatures, Australian literature, New Zealand and South Pacific literature since 1800, Indian and South-East Asian literature in English and in translation, middle-eastern literature and Mediterranean literature, postcolonial women writers.

The Comparative Literature Research programme offered by King's College London explores literary traditions, cultural exchange, and textual interpretation across languages, periods, and global regions.

The English and American Literature (Individual Doctorate) program from University of Zurich requires participants to conduct independent research, write a PhD thesis, and to perform coursework. 

This programme addresses one of our main aims at Kent, which is to enable research students to take risks and use cross-disciplinary techniques to explore research questions. This is the PhD that covers narrative non-fiction, as well as other forms of creative writing that are not poems or a novel.

The Creative Writing MPhil/PhD programme from The University of Exeter covers all areas of Victorian Britain and the Empire: culture (high Victorian and fin de siecle literature, gender, and sexuality); science (biology and economics); technology (print, optical and sound media).

English Language and Literature (Postgraduate Research) students at the University of Wolverhampton play a key role in our research community and it is our mission to support your development into researchers, academics or whatever career you aspire to.  

The Turkish Language and Literature programme offered by Bogazici University develops advanced scholarship in Turkish literature through specialized study in classical and modern traditions.

The Literary Theory and Comparative Literature programme offered by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona develops advanced research expertise in literary analysis, theory, and cross-cultural textual studies.

Both in Classical Languages and Literature, and in ancient history, the DPhil programme from University of Oxford is a research degree intended to make it possible for the successful candidate to aspire to a career in research and teaching at university level anywhere in the world where the Classical subjects are studied.

The Literature programme offered by University of Gothenburg develops advanced research expertise in literary texts, reading cultures, and interpretive traditions.

PhD studies in English at Karlstad University may be pursued with a specialisation in linguistics or literature, and admitted PhD candidates have the opportunity to design their dissertation projects within either of these subject areas.

The defining strength of research carried out in Comparative Literature at University of Liverpool is the multidisciplinary nature of projects with a global reach and informed by an ethos that challenges rigid disciplinary boundaries and consolidated practices. 

Staff at the Finno-Ugric Languages section of the Department of Modern Languages at Uppsala University have wide interests covering the whole Finno-Ugric language family, ranging from Scandinavia to Siberia.

Early modern period research is under The Open University UK’s Medieval and Early Modern Literature Group. We have wide-ranging expertise in social, political, religious and cultural developments of the medieval and early modern periods.