Research Degrees: (PHD) Religions and Philosophies

Join our Research Degrees: Religions and Philosophies at SOAS — as a PhD student at SOAS you will be welcomed by our research community of doctoral researchers from across the globe and play a vital role in developing our vibrant and intellectual culture.

The SOAS Religions and Philosophies Department offers a vibrant, stimulating, and interdisciplinary research environment. We provide individual research supervision in a wide variety of religious traditions and comparative and interdisciplinary topics. Supervisors are experts in their fields and thoroughly familiar with the religions, cultures, languages, and geographical areas they specialise in. 

In addition to individual supervision the Department offers research training at various levels: an obligatory research writing workshop which prepares year 1 MPhil students for their upgrade to the PhD level; a weekly seminar for PhD students in years 2 and 3 to discuss work in progress and receive feedback before submitting their thesis; a departmental research seminar in which both staff and students present papers on their research projects and discuss them in an interdisciplinary setting.

You will also have the opportunity to attend seminars, lectures, and conferences offered by the various specialist SOAS Research Centres: Jewish Studies, Study of Japanese Religions, Buddhist Studies, Jaina Studies and World Christianity. Our centres run regular evening lecture series, workshops, and conferences which host visiting speakers from other universities in Britain, Europe, and globally.

As you think about commencing your PhD with us, we invite you to contact a potential supervisor in your area of interest, ideally with a first draft of your project proposal. This member of staff will then advise you on your project and on any questions you might have before making your application.