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Centre for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies

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Research Programme (Ph.D./M.Litt.)

The Centre for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies welcomes applicants wishing to undertake advanced and historically informed research in sexuality and gender studies.

The M.Litt. and Ph.D. degrees are by research alone. Candidates should hold an honours degree or an equivalent qualification. Trinity's admissions policy welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds and genders on an equal basis.

Before applying to our program, you will need to get a faculty member affiliated with the Center for WGSSto agree to be your supervisor. Our faculty receive numerous requests each week. To make your correspondence stand out, please follow these protocols:

Do’s:

  • Learn about the faculty member and their teaching and research areas before contacting them. Be sure to read some of their scholarship so you can explain how your research interests align with theirs.
  • Send a professional and personalized email introducing yourself
  • Use the subject line so faculty know why you are contacting them (E.G. “PhD Supervision” or “Prospective PhD Enquiry”)
  • Inquire whether the faculty member is accepting any new students at this time
  • Concisely and clearly explain your research interests and relevant academic background
  • Explain how your research interests dovetail with theirs and why they would be the ideal person to supervise you
  • Attach a comprehensive research proposal that will help them decide whether your research interests align with their areas of expertise
  • Attach a 1-2-page CV that highlights your academic background, degrees (with GPA) and relevant research experience

Information about the research proposal can be found here: https://histories-humanities.tcd.ie/assets/pdf/postgraduate/Research%20Proposal%20Guidelines.pdf

For the application process and more information about the doctoral degree here at Trinity, please see the information here: https://histories-humanities.tcd.ie/postgraduate/research-degrees.php.

Once the potential advisor has seen your research proposal, deemed it viable, and sees that there is a strong match between your interests and their expertise, they will likely request a meeting via phone or Zoom to talk about your proposal project and what the PhD would be like.

Important: Before submitting a formal application, you must wait until a potential advisor has indicated that they would recommend accepting your application.

A note on funding: While getting accepted into our PhD program is relatively straightforward once you have met the requirements outlined above, getting funding for your PhD research is much more difficult. The Irish Research Councils has a yearly call for The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme. See here for more information: https://research.ie/funding/goipg/?f=postgraduate