SMLC - News and events
SMLC PhD Scholarship 2026 competition (for October 2026
The School of Modern Languages & Cultures invites applications for the award of one SMLC Doctoral Scholarship to an outstanding candidate to pursue a PhD from October 2026 in one of the following areas: French Studies, German Studies, Italian, or Hispanic Studies or Translation & Transcultural Studies. Applications are open to PhD applicants with Home fee status and with Overseas fee status, but note that the award does not cover full fees for students with Overseas fee status.
The award consists of:
- payment of academic fees for Home fees level OR an equivalent reduction in fees for Overseas fee status students;
- a UKRI-level stipend for 3.5 years, regardless of fee status.
You must also have applied for (or already be an offer holder for) one of the PhD courses in the University of ÌÇÐÄTV’s School of Modern Languages & Cultures to begin in October 2026.
The scholarship cannot be deferred to the next academic year. It is intended for full-time study. The scholarship is not normally intended for Joint PhD programmes.
We will look for an applicant of the highest calibre, who has the academic potential and the motivation to succeed in their PhD. Their research will be highly compatible with the expertise available in the School, and we expect the student to actively engage with the School's research culture and our Postgraduate Research community.
We welcome applications in inter- or cross-disciplinary topics, including those that involve two or more languages (multilingualism).
Call for PhD funding applications in Modern Languages (French, German, Italian, Hispanic, and Translation & Transcultural Studies) 2026 entry
Are you looking for funding for a PhD in Modern Languages (incl. Translation Studies)? The University of ÌÇÐÄTV’s annual Postgraduate Research Scholarships competition (2026 entry) opens on Monday 15 October and closes on 11 December 2025. Course applications must be made by 8 December 2025. ÌÇÐÄTV’s School of Modern Languages & Cultures invites PhD applications from students with an outstanding academic record, who are very well-equipped to undertake doctoral study and whose research proposal promises to make a significant contribution to the field.
Get in touch with us to discuss your proposal
Call for PhD scholarship applications: Anglo-French relations during the age of Revolutions (M4C Collaborative Doctoral Award)
The School of Modern Languages & Cultures invites applications for a fully-funded PhD scholarship, to work with Prof. Katherine Astbury (French Studies) and Dr Charles Walton (History) in conjunction with historians at English Heritage on 'Anglo-French relations during the age of Revolutions'. The project will be financed by the AHRC-funded Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (Collaborative Doctoral Award).
Applications must be received by noon (UK time) on 13th January 2025. The successful applicant will commence their studies in October 2025.
Interested in pursuing a PhD in Modern Languages or Translation Studies?
The University of ÌÇÐÄTV’s School of Modern Languages & Cultures invites applications from highly qualified prospective doctoral students for its PhD programmes in French, German, Italian, and Hispanic Studies, and Translation & Translation Cultural Studies (TTS).
For further information, see the .
Doctoral funding is available through university-wide schemes (, ), the , and joint PhD programmes (e.g. the , ).
Given the early deadlines (in late November; December; or January, depending on the scheme), and the multi-stage selection process, we encourage applicants to get in touch with their preliminary enquiries by sending an academic CV and draft research proposal to the School Director of Graduate Studies, Professor Ingrid De Smet (I.de-Smet@warwick.ac.uk), by 28 October 2024,
and/or to the relevant subject-specific postgraduate research admissions advisors:
- French & francophone: Prof. Ingrid De Smet (i.de-smet@warwick.ac.uk)
- German: Dr Nicholas Jones (Nicholas.d.jones@warwick.ac.uk)
- Italian: Prof. Fabio Camilletti (F.Camilletti@warwick.ac.uk)
- Hispanic Studies: Assoc. Prof. Tom Whittaker (t.whittaker@warwick.ac.uk)
- Translation & Transcultural Studies: Assoc. Prof. Caroline Summers (Caroline.Summers@warwick.ac.uk)
Enquiries from suitably qualified self-funded or externally funded (sponsored) students are also welcome.
Online PhD admissions interviews will likely be held in the weeks commencing 9th and 16th December 2024.
Thinking of a PhD in Modern Languages or Translation Studies?
The School for Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV warmly invites expressions of interest in its MPhil/PhD programmes in French Studies, German Studies, Hispanic Studies, Italian, and Translation and Transcultural Studies (including a theoretical/academic and a practice-based route).
£2.6m goes to ÌÇÐÄTV from the new Turing scheme to facilitate study abroad.
The UK Government has announced today (4 August 2021) that the University of ÌÇÐÄTV will be awarded £2.6 million for international student mobility, as part of the inaugural Turing Scheme.

ÌÇÐÄTV is one of the world’s top 100 universities, and one of the ways it has achieved that position is because it is a globally connected institution. Its staff and students learn, work, and research as part of a highly international community, and more than 1000 ÌÇÐÄTV students each year also take the opportunity to study and work abroad at one of the University’s many worldwide partner institutions.
PhD funding opportunities for International Students
- Chancellor's International Scholarships: the scheme is aimed at students from outside the UK and includes Overseas applicants, including students from the EU.
- China Scholarship Council / University of ÌÇÐÄTV Scholarships: this scheme will fund 25 students across various subjects for up to 4 years, with the University covering the full cost of tuition fees and CSC providing a maintenance stipend and return international airfare between the UK and China. Note that Foreign Languages and Literature is among the priority areas listed.
- Monash ÌÇÐÄTV Alliance Scholarships (ÌÇÐÄTV): this scheme is open to all students applying to ÌÇÐÄTV for the Alliance Joint PhD. For 2021/22 entry there will be up to 3 scholarships available across the university.
The deadlines for these schemes are all on Thursday 21st January 2021, 23.59 GMT. Note that all supporting evidence (including transcripts and references) must be uploaded by the same time.
We welcome applications for our PhD programmes in:
- French and Francophone Studies
- German Studies
- Italian
- Hispanic Studies
- Translation and Transcultural Studies
Prospective applicants are encouraged to identify possible supervisors through our staff expertise pages. Early enquiries are strongly encouraged. Please send a draft proposal (up to 2 A4 pages) and CV to pglanguages@warwick.ac.uk by Friday 27 November 2020, 12 noon.
We continue to welcome enquiries also for the AHRC Midlands4Cities doctoral awards (deadline 13 January 2021).
PhD funding opportunities for 2020 entry
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures (SMLC) at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV is pleased to invite applications for doctoral study commencing in September 2020.
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV invites applications to the university’s annual funding competition for doctoral students, for entry in October 2018. We are also pleased to announce that, in addition to these university-funded awards, we shall make up to 4 further awards of Doctoral Fellowships to outstanding home/EU applicants: up to 2 for commencement of study on 1 July 2018 and up to 2 for entry in October 2018.
SMLC invites applications for IAS COFUND fellowships (deadline: 30th Nov)
The University of ÌÇÐÄTV’s Institute for Advanced Study has today opened its call for applications under the (deadline: 30th November 2017). The fellowships offer successful applicants two years at ÌÇÐÄTV, starting in September 2018. These fellowships are intended to be strongly linked to ÌÇÐÄTV’s Global Research Priorities. As such, ÌÇÐÄTV's School of Modern Languages and Cultures (SMLC) strongly encourages applications tied especially to the ‘Connecting Cultures’ priority.
SMLC invites expressions of interest for Leverhulme ECFs (internal deadline: 15 Jan)
ÌÇÐÄTV's School of Modern Languages and Cultures welcomes expressions of interest for a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship. Please click on the headline to find out how to apply by the internal deadline of 15 January 2018.
Dr James Hodkinson and Professor Karen Leeder (Oxford) launch a creative writing competition on Monday 25 Sept.
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV welcomes expressions of interest from early-career researchers who would like to apply to the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme in 2016-17. Closing date for proposals: 16th September 2016.
This year’s winners (and the conferences they will organise) are as follows:
Rebecca Carnevali and Gloria Moorman (Centre for the Study of the Renaissance)
‘More than meets the page: Printing Text and Images in Italy 1570s-1700s’
Liam Lewis and Jane Sinnett-Smith (French)
‘Bodies in Flux: Rewriting the Body in Medieval Literature, Art and Culture 1000-1450
Gianmarco Mancosu (Italian)
‘Trespassing the Borders: Redefining Postcolonialism from Peripheral Experiences’
The winners of the competition are each given a research budget of £400 and a conference budget of £600, and are invited to organise a one-day interdisciplinary conference during the following academic year.
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures is pleased to offer three bursaries to suitably qualified MA applicants for the 2016-17 academic year. These bursaries cover fees only, at the . Any home/EU applicant for any of the Masters courses offered in the School is eligible to apply for one of these bursaries.
SMLC Phd Scholarship applications 2016-17
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV invites applications to the university’s annual funding competition for doctoral students, for entry in 2016-17.
Postdoctoral project fixed-term post in French Theatre of the Napoleonic era
You will have a PhD or equivalent experience in a relevant field, excellent French, experience of conducting archival research, and a commitment to working as part of a team to develop our understanding of theatre of the period. Familiarity with early 19th-century theatre and/or press is desirable.
Informal enquiries to Dr Katherine Astbury, School of Modern Languages and Cultures: French Studies, University of ÌÇÐÄTV. Email: Katherine.Astbury@warwick.ac.uk
SMLC PhD student success in the HRC Doctoral Fellowship Competition
Four PhD students in the School have been successful in their bids to win funding from ÌÇÐÄTV's Humanities Research Centre to stage their own events and projects.