Graduate Research Degrees

How to apply

Find a supervisor

To undertake a graduate PhD research degree in the School of History the first step is to contact the HDR Convenor and a potential supervisor.

Please see our people for each staff member's research fields.

Prepare a thesis research proposal according to the template provided

The second step is to prepare a PhD thesis research proposal. It should provide a clear sense of your research project, its aims, its viability and its originality. Proposals should be a maximum of 1,000 words (exclusive of your bibliography).* Please use the Bold words and phrases as the template for your proposal:

Your full name
A short descriptive title for your project
The object of inquiry (i.e. the aim and key questions that focuses the research)
A clear indication of your project’s scope (e.g. time period to cover, sites to consider, objects to document and analyse, populations to study etc.)
A description of your key sources (e.g. the number and nature of subjects to analyse; the location and accessibility of data)
A review of the methodologies to be deployed, and a rationale for their use in light of the object of inquiry, your project’s scope and the data to be analysed
A review of your project’s historiographical approach and contribution (in light of existing contributions to your field)
An indication of your project’s originality (in terms of the nature of the inquiry, and/or the project’s scope, and/or its empirical base, and/or its selected methodologies, and/or its theoretical perspective)
A select Bibliography (highlighting key works that inform your study).

*Note: the University's generic on-line application form calls for a one-page proposal. However, to be considered for the graduate research programme in the School of History you must follow these guidelines and submit this proposal with your application.

Apply for admission

Australian and New Zealand citizens

To apply for admission into the PhD graduate research program as a domestic student and follow this link:

http://www.anu.edu.au/study/apply

For more information on PhD and MPhil applications in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, please visit http://cass.anu.edu.au/study/higher-degree-research/applications.

Applications to the School of History's PhD program must be submitted with the program code: 9520XPHD

Referees

Reports from three referees are essential and applications without them will not be considered for admission.

Your referees must use the form accessible at the bottom of this page ('resources'): http://www.anu.edu.au/study/apply/anu-postgraduate-research-domestic-and...

It is best to contact prospective referees well in advance of application deadlines, and to ensure that they can comment on your proposed research as well as your academic background. Ideally, referees should be academics familiar with your qualifications; however, past supervisors from industry, who can comment on your independent research and writing capacity, may also serve as referees. Please check with your prospective supervisor or the HDR Convenor if you are unsure about the qualifications of your referees.

Scholarships

The University deadline for Domestic Scholarship applications is 31 October. However, application files should be completed by mid-October in order to be processed by the School of History's rankings and admissions committee

RSSS Director's special top-up scholarship for the top-ranked applicant in the Research School -- $20,000 per annum (details here)

International Applicants

The University deadline for International Scholarships is 31 August. However, application files should be completed by the beginning of August in order to be processed by the School of History's rankings and admissions committee. Information for international applicants, including fees, living expenses, and scholarship advice is available here.

To be eligible for admission, applicants should hold a BA (Hons.) in History at an H2A level or equivalent. However, applicants with prior training in related disciplines or a master's degree that includes a significant research component may also qualify for admission if they have the appropriate training to undertake a thesis and the appropriate project and supervision.