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Creative Critical Inquiry (Practice-Related) MPhil/PhD

London, Bloomsbury

Home to an exceptional range of modern and ancient languages, UCL provides an ideal environment for creative and comparative inquiry in the thriving field of multidisciplinary research, building on well-established language-specific literary and cultural degrees. We actively support interdisciplinary research across languages and cultural periods and potential supervisors' disciplinary perspectives are drawn from the full range of language departments at UCL.

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 academic 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

A minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard and usually Master's degree with Merit in a relevant field. In the first instance, candidates should establish a dialogue with a potential supervisor before making a formal application. Admission is normally dependent on the submission of a detailed research project proposal.

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

Research students can specialise in any aspect of arts and humanities research for which suitable supervision is available. Potential supervisors' disciplinary perspectives are drawn from language departments including the School of European Languages, Culture & Society, the School of Slavonic & East European Studies, Greek & Latin, Hebrew & Jewish Studies, from the CMII Comparative Literature programmes, Film and Gender Studies, Health Humanities, and from other disciplines and departments across UCL, including expertise in the Slade School of Fine Art, the School of Creative and Cultural Industries, and the Creative Arts and Humanities programmes based at UCL East. Creative critical researchers of all disciplines meet through ARIEL: UCL’s Centre for Creative Practice Research based at the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS).

Who this course is for

This programme is for applicants with a background in comparative literary study or creative practice. It is suitable for both recent Masters graduates as well as early or mid-career professionals with an interest in completing practice-led or practice-based research. This MPhil/PhD is for applicants with a strong interest in conducting multi-disciplinary research, who may have completed post-graduate training or study and want to develop an advanced critical analysis in a specific research area.

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

What this course will give you

The Creative Critical Inquiry programme draws on the collective expertise of specialists in UCL Arts & Humanities. We are especially interested in innovative research methods and in proposals that articulate and examine new developments in the intersection of critical thinking and artistic practice. SELCS-CMII offers two Creative Critical Research-Degree Routes: Creative Critical Writing is for students wishing to conduct a creative critical programme of research resulting in a written Thesis, and Creative Critical Inquiry (Practice-Related) is for students wishing to conduct a creative critical programme of research based on and resulting in other creative practices/modes of presentation than writing. Training programmes are designed on an individual basis by the student's supervisory team, and generally involve participation in activities offered by the department of the primary supervisor. Students also take advantage of training provided by the UCL Doctoral School and our departmental research student seminars. 

Find out how your research could have an impact

The foundation of your career

PhD students may go on to academic careers in higher education or careers in research, in publishing or in creative writing and other creative industries. 

Recent SELCS-CMII graduates are able to use to their language, writing, critical analysis, creative thinking, and communication skills in a range of different fields and industries such as translation, consultancy, teaching, marketing, international NGO’s, charities, the arts and heritage.*

*Graduate Outcomes Survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the 2017 - 2022 cohorts.

Employability

Skills acquired as a result of taking this programme include: ability to conduct research in library archives and electronic archives; ability to synthesise and summarise large amounts of information; ability to use evidence in order to construct a convincing argument; ability to produce and reflect on creative practices and research methods; acquisition of sensitivity to the cultural register of texts and other creative practices; ability to plan workloads efficiently and meet deadlines.  

Doctoral students develop a range of skills that are invaluable in academia and in numerous other fields where PhD holders are prized for their skills in communication, critical analysis, creative practices, management of projects and intercultural mediation.

Networking

Supervision and mentorship is available from world-leading researchers with international and national contacts and collaborations across policy, government, cultural institutions, academia and industry. With 83% of SELCS-CMII research activity being graded 4* ‘world leading’ and 3* ‘internationally excellent’ in the REF 2021. There are many opportunities for networking whilst undertaking this programme, with cultural institutions such as the British Museum, research organisations such as the British Library and cultural organisations, such as the Cervantes Institute or the Goethe Institute. Research hubs at UCL (IAS or the SAS) also offer networking opportunities. Students are strongly encouraged to attend and give papers at conferences, establishing contacts with academics and also peers working in their field.

Accreditation

This programme is not accredited

Teaching and learning

Research students undertake relevant induction sessions and can take advantage of the Doctoral Skills Development Programme. PhD students meet regularly in term time with their supervisors and may be offered opportunities to gain teaching experience, and participate in or contribute to organizing reading groups and conferences. 

Students are normally required to make a presentation on their plans to the departmental staff in the summer of their first year. All UCL research students have to submit a substantial report and defend their research plans in an Upgrade Exam in order to transfer from MPhil to PhD registration status, normally within 9 to 12 months of first enrolment.

The standard length of a written PhD thesis is 80,000-100,000 words. Students who pursue a mixed-media practice-led or practice-based research output on the Creative Critical Inquiry (Practice-Related) Route may submit a thesis of 40,000-50,000 words and a presentation of a practical work that taken together will be ‘equivalent’ to the standard requirement of a thesis of 80,000-100,000 words in length.

The practical element of the Creative Critical Inquiry (Practice-Related) Route follows the guidance for Research assessments in place for research programmes in Fine Art, Design, Architecture and Town Planning as described in the Guidance for Research Assessments on the UCL website. 

 This guidance stipulates that submitted practice-led or -based research output must be original work which exemplifies and locates the ideas which are developed in conjunction with the written part of the thesis.

However presented this must be accompanied by an adequate and approved form of retainable documentation. As per the examination of practice-led work in Fine Art at UCL, the practice-related PhD examination in Creative Critical Inquiry will include a presentation of practical work, the submission of a written report of 40,000 to 50,000 words accompanied by CD/DVD, or USB memory stick, of visual documentation of the practical work, and a viva voce examination. For the final viva examination, you will normally be required to present your research thesis at UCL. This may take the form of an installation, exhibition, performance or other form approved by the supervisors. A discussion of both the presentation and written report will form the basis of the PhD viva. The permanent record of the thesis, which may include an archival box of visual material, should be available at the viva. After the PhD award you are required to submit your work for permanent storage in the Library. The thesis may consist of a written report plus CD/DVD bound into the cover. When submitting practical work, the permanent record of the thesis may also take the form of an archival box. The archival box must:

  • fit within either a standard large library crate (H29 x 32 x 50 cm) or the special large carrying cases (86 x 64 x 6 cm)
  • fit onto shelving (H64 x D54 cm)
  • weigh no more than 10kg
  • include the written report
  • include the visual material

The box can be made from any archival material or decorated in any way, but the exterior must be robust enough to cope with transit. The box may contain the written report plus, for example, video and photographic records, musical scores, audio works, publications, diagrams and drawings and other elements approved by your supervisors. The box should contain a list of contents securely fastened to its cover. It need not conform to UCL’s standard thesis colouring (blue with gold lettering) but must provide your name, year and degree level clearly on the outside. All elements in the box must be scanned and made available for the library e-thesis facility and comply with copyright legislation.

PhD students should treat their research programme as a full-time job, which equates roughly to 35 hours per week, or 15 hours for part-time students. Students agree to a timetable of regular meetings with the Principal Supervisor to effectively manage the progression of project aims. This is flexible, at some points it may be necessary to meet more or less often. Full-time students can expect to meet supervisors at least once a month during the academic year, and part-time students every 2 months. If a student has external funding, they should also ensure they meet the Terms & Conditions of the funder.

Research areas and structure

Research environment

Research students are encouraged to participate in research seminars across and outside SELCS-CMII including networks such as the London Intercollegiate Network for Comparative Studies. Students contribute significantly to the research environment through the organisation of annual conferences, and participation in seminars and online journals. Students can access special collections in Modern Languages, Culture and History at UCL and other world-class libraries (Senate House, the British Library, the Warburg Institute) within walking distance of campus. In addition, students will have access to research support in the form of academic skills courses, student-led workshops and reading groups. 

In the first instance, candidates should establish a dialogue with a potential supervisor before making a formal application. The length of registration for the research degree programme is usually three years for full-time and five years for part-time. You are required to register initially for the MPhil degree with the expectation of transfer to PhD after successful completion of an upgrade exam 9-12 months after initial registration. Upon successful completion of your approved period of registration you may register as a completing research student (CRS) while you write up and complete your thesis. 

In the First Year, you will be required to take part in a mandatory Skills Seminar Programme. You are expected to agree the basic structure of your research project with your supervisor, an appropriate research method, output format and a realistic plan of work. You will produce and submit a detailed outline of your proposed research to your supervisor for their comments and feedback and be given the opportunity to present your research to UCL academic staff and fellow PhD students.

In the Second Year, you will be expected to upgrade from MPhil to a PhD. To successfully upgrade to a PhD, you are required to submit a piece of writing (this is usually based on one chapter from your thesis and a chapter plan for the remainder) in addition to an example of a practice-related research outcome if registered on the practice-related route. 

For practice-related projects, the precise weighting of written to practice-led or practice-based submissions, is to be agreed with the supervisor, but should be in line with the proportions laid out in the Learning and Assessment aims of this programme. You are also required to present and answer questions about this work to a panel consisting of your subsidiary supervisor and another member of the Faculty who acts as an independent assessor. 

The length of registration for the research degree programme is usually three years for full-time and five years for part-time. You are required to register initially for the MPhil degree with the expectation of transfer to PhD after successful completion of an upgrade exam 9-12 months after initial registration. 

Placement

There is no compulsory placement in this programme, but we encourage students to apply to the Yale-UCL exchange programme that offers students the opportunity to pursue their studies for one term at Yale University.

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

Additional costs

Additional costs may include expenses such as books, stationery, printing or photocopying, and conference registration fees. The department strives to keep additional costs low. Books and journal articles are usually available via the UCL library (hard copies or via e-journal subscriptions).

Students on the Creative Critical Inquiry (Practice-Related) Route may have to cover additional costs depending on the nature of their practice-led or practice-based research (e.g. specialist materials – for example artist’s equipment, materials, recording equipment and software; studio, lab or practice/performance spaces). In some cases, appropriate equipment and spaces may be available at UCL. A discussion and agreement of expected costs and access to equipment/spaces will be part of the admission process and agreed with the project supervisor and Programme Director.

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

Depending on eligibility students can apply for a fully funded LAHP studentship. For information about available funding and scholarships please visit our Funding and Scholarships webpage.

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

Dutch Studies Bursary

Deadline: 1 November 2025
Value: From £1,250 to £2,500 (1 year)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK, EU, Overseas

Quirk PhD Scholarship

Deadline: 24 January 2025
Value: Fees and maintenance (3yrs)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: UK

Next steps

All applicants must identify and contact potential supervisors before making their application. For more information see our 'Need to Know' 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.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Centre for Multidisciplinary and Intercultural Inquiry
Centre for Multidisciplinary and Intercultural Inquiry

selcs-cmii.enquiries@ucl.ac.uk

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