Home

Anthropology MPhil/PhD

London, Bloomsbury

This is the programme information for 2025 entry

If you require details of the previous year's programme, Anthropology MPhil/PhD (2024), click here

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2025/26)

£6,215

£3,105

Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)

£29,800

£14,900

Duration

3 calendar years

5 calendar years

Programme starts

October 2025

February 2026

May 2026

Applications accepted

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but should be submitted at least three months prior to your preferred start date.

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Ideal candidates will have a Master's degree with Distinction in Anthropology or a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of equivalent standard. Minimum entry requirements are a Master's degree with Merit or a Bachelor's Honours degree with Distinction in Anthropology or a relevant discipline. Applicants must contact their proposed supervisors prior to applying to secure support for their application.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

You will join an engaging MPhil/PhD programme, which currently supports a vibrant community of over 50 students from all over the world, and graduate an expert in the anthropological issues pertinent to your field of study and original data collection.

The degree promotes advanced skills in qualitative and quantitative methods including participant observation, formal and informal interviews, ethnographic recordings, surveys, object and visual analyses, archival research, auto-ethnography, oral and genealogical histories, laboratory work, excavation and and participatory action research.

You will study in a warm and welcoming department that is also one of the largest and broadest anthropology departments in the UK, which researches and teaches across five sub-sections, and which continually works to expand and reshape the discipline.
You will join a world-leading research community, with experts specialising in a wide range of evolutionary and environmental anthropology, social anthropology, material culture, medical anthropology and public anthropology.
You will benefit from direct supervision from world-leading academics. All MPhil/PhD students are supported by supervisory panels of multidisciplinary staff, as well as student mentors and departmental graduate tutors.
You will benefit from a wealth of skills, experience and networking opportunities relevant to a wide range of future careers, both within academia and beyond.
You will study at the top university in London, and 4th in the world, for Anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024) and The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year 2024.

Who this course is for

The Anthropology MPhil/PhD programme is best suited to students looking for a career in evolutionary or environmental anthropology, social anthropology, material culture, medical anthropology or public anthropology, either in academia or industry. The programme is offered full- or part-time, with the part-time option particularly suited to those who continue in employment while gaining their qualification.

Read about what it takes to become a UCL graduate research student

What this course will give you

The Anthropology MPhil/PhD programme will provide you with access to a range of opportunities to develop transferable skills sought after by national and international employers.

Reading and Research Groups
All students are encouraged to host and/or participate in a Reading and Research Group (RRG), open spaces to exchange ideas on themes of mutual interest, which welcome staff and student participants from across UCL and our neighbouring institutions. RRGs often lead to formal workshops, conferences and publications that engage broader audiences and offer platforms for students to present their work.

Publishing opportunities
Studying at UCL Anthropology presents opportunities to post, edit and publish original work in numerous academic journals and blogs associated with or managed by the department, including the Anthropolitan. You will be given opportunities to organise conferences and events and take up teaching assistantships and assistant curatorships within the department's special collections and labs.

Skills Development programme
UCL's Doctoral Skills Development Programme is open to all PhD students at UCL and it offers an extensive list of development opportunities. The purpose of the programme is to give you the opportunity to expand your research and transferable skills in order to support your research, professional development and employability. Find out more about UCL's Doctoral Skills Development programme.

Careers
UCL Careers provides dedicated support for UCL’s researcher community in collaboration with UCL Organisational Development.

Teaching opportunities
The department recognises the importance of providing postgraduate teaching assistant opportunities for PhD students, so they can gain valuable experience during their studies at UCL. Formal training is provided and a range of competitive teaching opportunities are offered each term.

Find out how your research could have an impact

The foundation of your career

Graduates of the Anthropology MPhil/PhD have gone on to pursue careers in a range of industry sectors, including:

Academic research and higher education.
Health and social care.
Manufacturing.
Libraries, museums and heritage.
Teaching.

Graduate job titles have included:

Researchers.
Social and humanities scientists.
Higher education teaching professionals.
Archivists and curators.
Business and financial project management professionals.

(Graduate Outcomes survey, aggregated over the five most recent surveys [2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22])

Employability

We produce graduates with skills and knowledge highly sought after by government departments and public sector organisations worldwide, as well as leading academic institutions.

Networking

As a student in the Department you have access to many opportunities to help further your career:

You will attend and deliver departmental research seminars, enabling you to learn from and network with leading internal and external researchers and expert creative practitioners in environmental, evolutionary, medical, public and social anthropology and material, visual and digital culture throughout your studies.
You will be encouraged to take advantage of the broader anthropology and research communities at UCL, our neighbouring institutions and across London more widely, including attending and participating in seminars, conferences, exhibitions and research partnership opportunities to help you establish industry connections and extend your professional networks.
You will be encouraged to engage with the department’s active careers support activities and initiatives, which include regular career development seminars and networking events.

The department's central London location presents a range of opportunities to work, volunteer and carry out fieldwork in major government, business and third sector organisations.

The department also houses London's global non-fiction film festival, Open City Documentary Festival, which all students are invited to volunteer to support to network with non-fiction film industry leading professionals.

Teaching and learning

You will benefit from continuous support to develop your research throughout the programme.

In year one, you will undertake rigorous training in research methods (via the Methods Seminar) and will explore the academic skills required to plan and carry out a successful PhD, with a focus on writing skills, research ethics, wellbeing and policy and media engagement (via the ResDesPres Seminar).

You will also attend a weekly research seminar led by your research section.

PhD final assessment is by means of a thesis which demonstrates your ability to pursue original research based on an understanding of the research techniques and concepts appropriate to the discipline.

Your thesis must represent your distinct and significant contribution to the subject, either through the discovery of new knowledge, through the connection of previously unrelated facts, the development of a new theory or the revision of older views.

You will be examined on your submitted thesis and a viva (an oral exam) with two independent examiners.

Contact hours and hours of self-study are agreed between the student and the supervisor at the beginning of their research degree and should be reviewed on a regular basis.

A typical full-time PhD student is expected to spend an average of approximately 36.5 hours per week working on their PhD, although this will vary, with some periods of more intensive research.

Research areas and structure

The department provides supervision in the following areas, among others:

Anthropological Issues in Education and Learning (AIEL)
Art and Anthropology
Biosocialities, Health and Citizenship
Built Environment, Landscape and Public Spaces
Cognition and the Anthropology of the Mind
Cultures of Consumption and the Home
Cosmology, Religion, Ontology and Culture (CROC)
Culture and Human Wellbeing
Design Anthropology
Digital Anthropology
Dirt, Excrement, and Decay (DEAD)
Documentary Film and Film Ethnography
Ethics and the Person
Fashion and Clothing
Finance, Money, and Social Systems
Human Ecology Research Group (HERG)
Human Evolutionary Ecology Group (HEEG) London Latin America Seminar
Materials and Making
Medical Materialities
Object-based Research
Palaeoanthropology and Comparative Anatomy (PACA)
Pastoralism
Performance, Theatre and Ethnography of the Imagination
Politics, Criminality and the State
Primate Sexualities: Beyond the Binary
Reproduction and Sexuality
Risk, Power and Uncertainty
Social Media
Space, Exploration and Planetary Futures
Sustainability, Environment and Cultures of Materials (SEM)
Technology and Infrastructure
Visual Culture

Regional strengths include the UK, Caribbean, Central and Latin America, the Central Congo Delta, East Africa, Europe (East and West), Mongolia, Oceania, South Asia, and the US. Staff also regularly supervise beyond these areas and in conjunction with supervisors in other departments.

Research environment

UCL is world-renowned for its research excellence. A stimulating and exciting learning environment based in the heart of London, it can bring the full power of a multi-faculty university to bear on anthropological discussions, involving academics across a range of disciplines to tackle the most pressing global challenges.

You will attend a weekly research seminar led by your research section.
You will benefit from supportive courses including Research Design and Presentation and Research Methods in year 1 and Thesis-Writing Seminars in years 2 and 3.
You will be supported by peer-group interaction facilitated by a departmental common room and hot-desk office spaces.

Full-time students are normally registered for a minimum of 3 years. The MPhil/PhD programme is expected to be completed by full-time researchers in three fee-paying years plus one year in Completing Research Status (CRS).

All students initially register for the MPhil degree before being upgraded to the PhD degree.

In year one, you will define your research project and prepare for your upgrade, where a panel will probe your research review and proposal. This panel normally takes place after 9 months, before fieldwork commences but (a) may occur at 12 months and sometimes (b) after the period of fieldwork.

You will usually spend between 12 and 15 months undertaking data collection. For ethnographic projects, this means being ‘in the field’, but data collection can also take place in laboratory or archive settings.

Your third year should ideally be devoted to writing up your findings. If your PhD progresses well during that year, you will be encouraged to spend some time teaching or publishing.

Students are regularly monitored to ensure that they are making good progress and that supervisory arrangements are satisfactory to both the student and supervisor. Once the student has completed their research and submitted their thesis, they have a viva (an oral exam) with two examiners.

Part-time students are normally registered for a minimum of 5 years.

For part-time researchers, The MPhil/PhD programme is expected to be completed in five fee-paying years plus two years in Completing Research Status (CRS).

Placement

There is no formal placement programme, though some students choose to work in institutions for up to a year as a part of their fieldwork, and many form collaborations with others.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£6,215	£3,105
Tuition fees (2025/26)	£29,800	£14,900

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

Fieldwork can entail additional costs, including travel, accommodation and living costs, which students must cover themselves.

There are no additional costs for editing or design software as all computers on campus are equipped with the required software and students are expected to complete their coursework there. If students wish to purchase the software for personal use, the cost would need to be covered by the students, typically around £57 per month for full Adobe Creative Cloud Apps.

There may be additional costs related to participating in scientific meetings, conferences, short courses or data collection/access; however, these are all optional.

If you have any questions regarding additional costs, please contact the programme director for further advice.

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

To apply for funding through the department, you must first apply for the MPhil/PhD programme.

Funding sources research students have previously benefitted from include:

• GRS/ORS.
• ESRC/UBEL Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) (the UK's funding body for social science research).
• AHRC/LAHP Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) offers funding for arts and humanities projects with an artistic, design or material culture angle.
• London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) has funding for environmental science research.
• BBSRC (biological sciences funding).
• Soc-B Centre for Digital Anthropology (CDT) a UCL Centre of Doctoral Training, relevant to some BioSocial projects.
• Wellcome Trust (funds medical-related research)
• Leverhulme Trust (charitable scheme funding annual Doctoral Research Scholarships)
• Wolfson Awards (UCL scholarship scheme for work relating to history, literature or languages)
• Mary Douglas Scholarships (departmental scholarship scheme. Please note this may not be available every year, depending on the benefactor)
• Collaborative awards (for research collaborations between UCL and another institution). Both ESRC and AHRC have collaborative schemes
• The ESRC has specific awards for quantitative projects (AQM awards, biological anthropology or digital projects using quantitative data) and interdisciplinary awards.

Research students in the department have also received funding from CONCIETAS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the government.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

: UCL Research Opportunity Scholarship (ROS)

Deadline: 10 January 2025

Value: UK rate fees, a maintenance stipend, conference costs and professional development package (3 years)

Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need

Eligibility: UK

Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarships - SHS

Deadline: 31 January 2025

Value: Full tuition fees plus £28,840 stipend for full time study ('pro rata' for part-time students) (3 years)

Criteria Based on academic merit

Eligibility: UK, EU, Overseas

Next steps

We assess your application on:

• your CV (i.e. whether you have the necessary experience to execute research to a world-class standard)
• your project proposal (i.e. whether it has academic merit for new knowledge)
• your prospective supervisor (i.e. whether we have the expertise to advise on this research)

Candidates will require the support of a prospective supervisor in the department, with whom they have talked through their proposal, interests, experience and ideas.

While an academic background in anthropology is not strictly required, the candidate should be equipped to undertake research in an anthropology department, and the project should contribute to the discipline.

In general, projects supervised in the Social Anthropology and the Medical Anthropology subsections do tend to require you to have an anthropology background. Environmental and Evolutionary Anthropology and Material Culture are more mixed, with candidates from biological sciences, palaeontology, archaeology, design and museum studies backgrounds. Advice on this can be sought from prospective supervisors.

Deadlines and start dates are usually dictated by funding arrangements. It is advisable to consider these in your application preparation.

For more information, see our How to apply page.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

This programme requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found on this Selecting your references page.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Research Degree: Anthropology, Full-time

Research Degree: Anthropology, Part-time

Year of entry: 2024-2025