PhD Archaeology & Palaeoecology

Overview

By joining Archaeology & Palaeoecology you will become part of a dynamic group of researchers in one of two interdisciplinary Research Clusters: Environmental Change & Resilience (ECR) for more environmentally-related projects, and Culture & Society (C&S) for more humanities-related Archaeology projects.

Projects involving Palaeoecology or Scientific Archaeology focus on themes such as long-term changes and resilience in ecosystems, humans, environments and climate, using approaches such as pollen analysis, tephra dating, dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. Much of our research spans several disciplines - for example projects on the hydrogeology and restoration of bogs.

Research in the C&S cluster explores the material manifestations of culture through time and space. We combine innovative scientific methods with theoretically-informed analyses to understand past human experience, bringing together the humanities and the sciences.

The combination of environmental archaeology, and especially bio-archaeology, with more traditional approaches to the past, helps to differentiate Queen's from most other Archaeology departments and is seen as both a strength and stimulus to future developments.

Career Development

• Archaeology & Palaeoecology at Queen’s have a long-standing record of inter-disciplinary approaches to understanding the relationship between past humans and their environment. Our alumni are going on to successful careers in academia and beyond.
• The University’s Graduate School provides postgraduate students with a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary hub to support their personal and professional development.
• Archaeology & Palaeoecology at Queen’s have an established track record of attracting funding for student-led PhD studentships from the Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and run by Queen’s University Belfast jointly with the Universities of Durham and Newcastle.

INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS: There is significant flexibility regarding start dates for postgraduate research programmes, subject to prior agreement with primary supervisor. Candidates should contact Admissions should they wish to revise their PhD programme start date.