As a postgraduate research student in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures you will join a vibrant research culture. You will work closely with your designated primary supervisor, seeing them regularly, and benefit from feedback from other staff members including your secondary supervisor. You are strongly encouraged to attend research seminars and research-related events in the department and beyond. There are multiple opportunities to gain experience in the presentation and dissemination of your research and to exchange ideas with fellow students and members of staff.

In the area of French studies we are nationally and internationally reputed for the breadth and reach of our research and this informs an energetic postgraduate research student culture, with students pursuing projects in areas including French and francophone literature across all periods, film, politics, visual culture and critical theory. Much of this work is interdisciplinary, and it reflects the diversity of the department’s researchers and lecturers across the whole range of French studies.

We offer a dedicated study space for our postgraduate research students in the Virginia Woolf building, part of the campus centred on the Strand. You will benefit from funds to subsidise student attendance at conferences, and to contribute towards research costs. In the area of French studies we have exchanges at graduate level with the Université de Paris Nanterre and the Ecole Normale Supérieure Lyon.

Postgraduate training

Training for postgraduate research students is offered at various levels throughout PhD registration, including, at King’s, the courses and sessions offered by the Department, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Centre for Doctoral Studies and the King’s Language Centre. You also benefit from training is offered by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership and the Institute of Modern Languages Research of the University of London. Research training will include a range of different kinds, including research ethics and integrity, bibliographic and referencing skills, the opportunity to learn or improve language skills, career support, job applications, networking, working with community partners, and much more.