Postgraduate research courses in Film Studies

The Department of Film Studies maintains a vibrant and comprehensive research programme in global film cultures, with staff expertise ranging from early cinema to digital media, from feminist cinema to film activism.

The Department was ranked first in the UK for Media and Film Studies by The Guardian Good University Guide 2025.

The Department has access to specially fitted teaching facilities, including a screening and seminar room with 3D projection. The Library holds an array of specialist resources, including a collection of over 9,000 audio-visual works. The Department also maintains one of the most robust Film Studies PhD communities in the UK with approximately 15 students working on a range of exciting topics and hailing from five continents.

The PhD programme offers three years of supervision on your own research project, culminating in a dissertation thesis. An additional continuation year with supervision is available in year four if needed.

Whilst writing your thesis is the major aim of your three years, you will also gain a number of other skills during this period which are essential for entrance into the current job market:

participating in and running specifically designed workshops, symposia, and study days
organising an annual postgraduate research conference
editing and contributing to Frames Cinema Journal
teaching experience in tutorials and guest lectures for sub-honours courses
publishing scholarship (book reviews, articles, edited collections)
applying for grants.

The Department offers an annual travel fund (subject to annual budget confirmation) for conference travel and other related expenses. It also offers an annual budget for library books and DVDs.

NOTE: For PhD entry in 2024/25, there are a number of funding opportunities available (see funding). The deadline for these applications is 6 December 2024.

A typical PhD might progress as follows (depending on the student and their longer-term ambitions):

Year one

Time is spent on in-depth research into your chosen field of study. By the end of the year you will have:
- completed at least one chapter of your thesis
- participated in the annual postgraduate conference
- drafted a full plan for your thesis (chapter breakdown)
- worked out your timetable for completion.
This is a good year in which to hone language skills, take extended research trips overseas, or establish links with external institutions. Former students have made research trips during their first year to places including Hong Kong, Russia, Turkey, Hungary and South Korea.

Year two
- Write at least two further chapters
- Gain experience as a seminar tutor throughout the year
- Participate in, and perhaps organise, the annual postgraduate conference or a funded symposium/study day
- Write book reviews
- Deliver conference papers at other institutions, either nationally or internationally
- Gain experience in external institutions (internships, public engagement work).
Year three
- Complete and submit a final draft of your thesis and have your viva defence
- Consolidate your teaching experience as a seminar tutor or gaining experience and contacts with external cultural institutions
- Participate in, and organise, the annual postgraduate conference
- Work up a draft of a journal article for submission to a reputable refereed journal
- Deliver conference papers at other institutions.
Year four (optional)

If needed, you can take a continuation year to complete and submit a final draft of your thesis and have your viva defence.

Continue working on publications, conferences and even applications for funding, as you enter the job market.
Below is a list of staff who can supervise research. You are encouraged to make contact with a potential supervisor prior to applying.

Professor Glyn Davis

Professor in Film Studies

Professor Davis would be interested in supervising projects in the following areas:
- experimental and avant-garde cinema
- artists' film and video
- queer and trans cinema
- film and the archive
- underground and cult film
- cinema and ecology
Dr Lucy Fife Donaldson

Senior Lecturer in Film Studies

Dr Donaldson would welcome projects from students working in:
- film and television performance and aesthetics
- affect and embodiment in film and television
- audio-visual design
- film sound
- film criticism
- genre (especially horror and melodrama)
- American cinema.
Dr Paul Flaig

Lecturer in Film Studies

Dr Flaig would welcome projects from students working in:
- silent and early film studies
- media theory and archaeology
- film comedy
- German cinema
- animation
- film theory (especially psychoanalysis and the Frankfurt School).
Dr Philippa Lovatt

Lecturer in Film Studies

Dr Lovatt would welcome projects from students working in:
- Ecologies and Environments on screen
- Sound Theory
- East and Southeast Asian art cinemas
- Experimental film and documentary
- History and Memory in global art cinemas
- Transnational spaces of production and exhibition of artists’ moving image
- Non-Western approaches to film theory and history
Dr Tyler Parks

Lecturer in Film Studies

Dr Parks would be particularly interested in working with students in the following areas:
- Environmental Film Studies
- Space, Place, and Landscape in Film
- Experimental Film and Documentary
- Global Art Cinema
- East Asian Cinemas (especially Japan and Taiwan)
- Film Theory
Professor Tom Rice

Professor in Film Studies

Professor Rice would welcome approaches from students working on the following areas:
- film and media history
- colonial cinema
- British documentary and non-fiction
- early American cinema
- world cinemas (especially pre-1960)
- non-theatrical film practices
- educational and government film.
He would be particularly interested in supervising projects that engage with primary research materials or that work with film archives.

Dr Viviane Saglier

Lecturer in Film Studies

Dr Saglier would welcome projects from students working on:
- Arab cinema
- Anticolonial, postcolonial and decolonial approaches
- Transnational and global approaches
- Film festivals and film infrastructures
- Feminist cinema
- Political documentaries and critical human rights
Dr Isabel Seguí

Lecturer in Film Studies

Dr Seguí would be interested in supervising projects in the following areas:
- Film collectives
- Peruvian cinema
- Bolivian cinema
- Latin American women's filmmaking
- Production studies
- Feminist and decolonial approaches to film studies
Dr Leshu Torchin

Senior Lecturer in Film Studies

Dr Torchin is interested in advising students working in the areas of:
- Documentary Film and Nonfiction Media
- Human Rights, Genocide, and Film/Media
- Media Activism and Film/Media
- Participatory and Community Media
- History and Memory
- Health and Disability
- Economic and Social Justice
For full information see the list of funding opportunities for PhD study at the University of St Andrews. Specific funding opportunities at St Andrews include:

Department of Film Studies scholarships

For entry in 2025/26, the Department of Film Studies will be offering scholarships, which will include fee waivers and partial stipends, available to both Home/EU and overseas students. These fee waivers will cover the full fees for the three years of the PhD programme. These are competitive awards and to be considered for this, students must complete the application process to the PhD programme by 6 December 2024 and confirm that they wish to be considered for internal scholarships.

Carnegie PhD Scholarships

The Carnegie PhD Scholarship scheme supports a limited number of graduates with first-class Honours undergraduate degrees from a Scottish university who wish to pursue postgraduate research leading to a PhD at a university in Scotland.

Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership

The University of St Andrews is part of a block grant of AHRC studentships run in partnership with the Scottish Graduate School for the Arts and Humanities (SGSAH). This offers generous funding and training opportunities for three and a half years.

Please note: If you are selected to be put forward for SGSAH funding, you will be strongly encouraged to develop an application (in consultation with your supervisor(s)) by the deadline of 5 January 2025. You will need to work on this well in advance of the deadline to have the best chance of success.
Proposals may be submitted at any point during the year. However, the best time to begin the application is roughly one year before students propose to begin their doctoral work - i.e. a project that aims to start in September 2026 should begin working on their proposal and be in contact with potential supervisors by September 2025.

In order to be eligible for a range of funding opportunities – including SGSAH and Department of Film Studies Scholarships – proposals must be submitted by 6 December 2024.

It is important to explore external funding opportunities early as these deadlines (and requirements) often vary.
Full details of eligibility, entry requirements, fees and application procedures are found on the postgraduate research application page.

You should start by contacting appropriate staff members from the Department to find someone qualified and able in principle to supervise your project. At this stage, you should be ready to present an informal description of the project and provide further information if necessary.

Once an informal supervisory arrangement has been reached with a staff member(s), it's time for the formal application. You will need to submit:
- a detailed research proposal (1,000 words)
- a CV
- a scholarly writing sample (generally an essay from previous coursework on a relevant topic)
- evidence of qualifications (transcripts)
- letters of reference
- evidence of English proficiency where required.
Applications for the Department of Film Studies must include a research proposal of 1000 words. The research proposal should give a more detailed description of your planned research project, touching on the following points:
- Title and research question. Why is this work important and why are you well-placed to undertake this project?
- Research context. How does it relate to previous work on the topic or field? What is the historical and/or geographical scope of your study?
- Methods and sources. How will you carry out your work? You might include a theoretical framework or planned methodology here. You should include references to relevant literature and materials where appropriate.
- Originality and innovation. Please explain what new perspectives your work will bring to your topic.
- Potential Academic Impact. What contribution can this project make to academia, within and beyond film studies?
- Potential contribution to Knowledge Exchange, Public Engagement and Impact. How might your project and research engage with, and be of interest to, non-academic groups and communities?

Postgraduate research courses in Film Studies

What will my three years look like?

Research supervisors

Funding

Application deadlines

How to apply