MARS Postgraduate (Research)

Information about MARS research study options.

UCL has a wide range of experienced researchers working in Medieval and Renaissance Studies with excellent track records of PhD supervision. In general, we recommend that students identify the staff member whose interests most closely correspond with their own before contacting them directly to discuss the proposed programme of research. It is best to do so as early in the academic year as possible. 

Funding

Medieval and Renaissance Studies is not housed within a single department at UCL. PhD students will be admitted to the department by which their primary supervisor is employed (although it may be possible to arrange for a subsidiary supervisor from another department if your thesis is interdisciplinary). We therefore recommend that students consult the website of the department to which they are applying in order to obtain the most up-to-date advice on postgraduate research funding. Deadlines will vary across departments and funding bodies so, again, it is wise to do this as early as possible in the application cycle.

Thesis

Visit the UCL page for guidance on submitted your PhD thesis.

Selection of Completed PhDs

MARS tutors have supervised a wide range of PhDs. Titles of completed PhDs include: 

  • Katherine Cross, 'Viking Identities in England and Normandy, c.950-c.1015';
  • Alexander Good, 'Saint Lazarus: The development of a cult as a political tool in medieval France'.
  • Zubin Mistry, 'Abortion in the Early Middle Ages';
  • Anaïs Waag, ‘Forms and Formalities of Thirteenth-Century Queenship: A comparative study’
  • Kathleen Walker-Meikle, 'Late Medieval Pet-Keeping: Gender, Status, and Emotions'
  • Dr Agata Zielinska, ‘Territorialization, the Papacy, and the Institutions of the Polish Church, 1198-1357’
  • Emma Zurcher, 'Territorial loss and moral affliction at the time of the Crusades'
  • Benedict Wiedemann, 'Papal Overlordship and Protectio of the King, c. 1000-1300' 
  • Alejandra Concha Sahli, 'The meaning of the habit: religious orders, dress and identity, 1215-1650' 
  • Alison Ray, 'The pecia system and its use in the cultural milieu of Paris c1250 to 1330' 
  • Emily Corran, 'Lying and Perjury in Medieval Practical Thought' 
  • Antonia Fitzpatrick, 'Bodily Identity in Scholastic Theology' 
  • Matthew Ross, 'The Papal Chapel 1288-1304: a study in institutional and cultural change'  
  • Aaron Hope, 'Hireling Shepherds: English Bishops and their Deputies, c. 1186-c.1323' 
  • Barbara Gaspar, 'The Immaculate Conception 1100-1700: Para-magisterial Powers and their Politics'