Media Studies - PhD

With access to specialist supervision, excellent resources and a vibrant intellectual community, your time at Kent will empower you to create innovative research that breaks boundaries and intervenes into urgent debates. You conduct original research under the guidance of a team of specialist supervisors. We welcome enquiries on any topic, and provide you with excellent research resources to enable you to complete your research, which culminates in a thesis of up to 100,000 words. The first step is to reach out to a potential supervisor with an email (see Staff Research). You will have a minimum of two supervisors who support and guide you through your academic and professional development throughout your studies. You meet regularly with your supervisors, who not only oversee your research project but help you to identify areas where you may require further advice or training. A series of reviews take place throughout your studies in order to ensure that your project stays on track and that you have all the necessary support and resources required to successfully complete it. You may be eligible to apply for a fully funded PhD scholarship. Scholarship opportunities may include the Vice Chancellor’s Research Scholarship (GTA) and the Consortium of the Humanities and the Arts South-East England (CHASE) collaborative doctoral award. For further information and eligibility requirements, please see our Scholarship website. Media Studies at Kent is a vibrant and supportive community of academics, practitioners and students, connected through our shared passion for all forms of media and communications. Our international staff are able to support a wide range of research covering social media, online and fan culture, media industries, promotional media (including marketing and PR), audiences and participatory culture, and issues of politics, identity, diversity and the media. Our staff encourage you to locate media forms within broader social and historical contexts. You will be part of a substantial community of PhD students within the School of Arts. The Research Group for Film, Media and Culture will be your homebase for symposia and talks by internationally excellent visiting scholars. You can test out your own ideas, share tips and get extra feedback in the School’s staff-led PhD ‘Work in Progress’ research colloquium. The Templeton Library contains vast digital and print collections. Our dedicated Media Hub, which contains cameras as well as computers equipped with editing software, supports research with practical designs and outputs. Media Studies students also benefit from Kent’s one-of-a-kind location. Based in the cultural city of Canterbury, we are less than one hour from London by train and forty minutes from the Eurotunnel, meaning that you will enjoy both a green, welcoming campus and close proximity to metropolitan culture, archives and industry. Our staff are able to support a wide range of research covering digital media, online culture, audiences and participatory culture, gender and the media, and all forms of media in the broader social and historical contexts. We also partner with the Gulbenkian Cinema, part of the University of Kent’s Arts Centre, to offer innovative, engaging and high quality arts activity for the public, staff and students. The School of Arts also has the Lupino, a 62-seat cinema named after the pioneering female filmmaker Ida Lupino, which Media Studies students can enjoy as part of their experience during their studies. The Lupino has state-of-the-art digital projection and sound, and has been created to provide an intimate atmosphere for film viewing. Media Studies at Kent students also benefit from our fantastic location. Based in the cultural city of Canterbury, we are less than one hour from London by train and forty minutes from the Eurotunnel, making us close to both London and Europe.

MA in a relevant subject PhD: An MA in a relevant humanities subject. In certain circumstances, the School will consider candidates who have not followed a conventional education path or who may have relevant experience in the industry. These cases are assessed individually by the Director of Graduate Studies or the Director of the relevant Research Group.

IELTS 6.0 overall, minimum 5.5 in each component

International students: £19,300 per year

UK students: £5,238 per year

September, January and April

April intake; 29 June 2026 (September intake)

• Canterbury, United Kingdom