Masters by Research programmes

Choose from a range of Masters by Research programmes in European Languages and Cultures. Find out more about our supervisors and their specialisms.

A Masters by Research (MScR) programme is ideal if you would like to complete a short piece of independent research in any subject within European Languages and Cultures. It is a good stepping stone to a PhD, but is equally of value as a stand-alone qualification.

We currently offer the following Masters by Research (MScR) programmes in European Languages and Cultures: 

MScR in French MScR in German 
MScR in Italian MScR in Medieval Studies
MScR in Russian MScR in Scandinavian Studies
MScR in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (Hispanic Studies)

On each programme:

  • you will take courses in research skills and methods
  • you will complete two research assignments, each of 6,000 words
  • you will write a 15,000 word dissertation under the guidance of an experienced and well-published supervisor

For Scandinavian Studies, it is also possible to take an alternative pathway. On this pathway, you will take the research courses and complete one longer piece of written work - a dissertation of 30,000 words.

Each programme is available to study:

  • full-time over one year (all students) 
  • part-time over two years (eligibility criteria apply)

Find a supervisor

You will write your Masters by Research (MScR) dissertation under the guidance of a supervisor.

You do not need to approach a potential supervisor before you apply. However, it is essential when you are thinking about your application to look at the interests and expertise of our research community to ensure that your project is something we can effectively supervise.

Please note that the staff listed here are eligible to supervise masters research but may not currently be taking on new students. To check availability, or seek further advice on the best supervisory fit for your dissertation, please contact our Departmental Postgraduate Research Director.

Subject areas are based on languages; many staff have expertise outside the language area in which they are based. Links will take you to staff profiles on Edinburgh Research Explorer where you can further explore the specialisms summarised through research outputs and activities. 

Subject areaResearcher Specialisms
French and Francophone StudiesDr Fabien Arribert-NarceIntermediality and comparative literary and cultural studies, with an emphasis on Japan and the francophone world
Dr Claire Boyle20th century and contemporary French literature and cinema; autobiography studies; queer theory; French feminism
Dr Sam Coombes20th and 21st century political thought; postcolonialism; immigrant and diasporic communities in Britain and France; existentialist philosophy (Sartre notably)
Dr Séverine Genieys-KirkThe history of feminism and women writers across Europe in the 16th to 19th centuries; translation in the long 18th and 19th centuries; Baroque and Romantic; adaptations of early modern works and lives

Dr Emmanuelle Lacore-Martin

 


 

French Renaissance literature; links between early modern literature and medicine; literary theory and contemporary French literature, in particular the writings of Annie Ernaux
Dr Katie PlemingCinematic representation, ethics, and politics; postcolonial intermediality in work by contemporary French and francophone female filmmakers
Professor Marion SchmidIntermediality; adaptation studies; film and the other arts; the French New Wave and post-New Wave; Marcel Proust; Chantal Akerman
Dr Fionnuala SinclairMedieval French and Occitan literature and culture; inter-relations between literature and history; gender in the Middle Ages
Dr Sarah Tribout-JosephContemporary and comparative literature and life writing; space and urban narratives; medical humanities; education; literature and film
German StudiesDr Eleoma BodammerScottish-German cultural relations; German literature in the 18th and 19th centuries; disability; literary translation
Professor Laura BradleyBertolt Brecht; German and Austrian theatre and performance; censorship; spectatorship; representations of crime; the GDR
Professor Peter DaviesHolocaust writing and translation; Translation and Interpreting Studies; German-language literature and culture, 1880-1945
Dr Leanne DawsonLGBTQI+ representation on page, stage, and screen; Queer spaces, including film festivals and archives; working-class representation in film, television, online; accessibility, equality, diversity, and inclusion in film and the arts
Dr Frauke Matthes20th and 21st century German literature; gender and masculinity studies; transcultural literature and culture; postcolonial studies; travel/migration writing; comparative literature
Professor Sabine RolleTheory and practice of scholarly editing; medieval literature; reception of the Middle Ages
Dr Karolina WatrobaModern literature, film, and culture, specialising in European modernism - its global reception and continuing relevance
Dr Jenny WatsonLiterature and memory; German and/or Dutch-language literature; landscape; WWII; state socialism
Italian StudiesProfessor Davide MessinaModern and contemporary Italian studies; comparative literature and arts; philosophy and semiotics
Dr Emanuela PattiModern and contemporary Italian literary and cultural studies, particularly intermediality, digital culture, and the transnational transformation of texts, media, and cultural memory
Professor Federica PedrialiLiterary and cultural theory; continental philosophy; biopolitics; migration and diaspora studies; environmental humanities; decolonial thought; performance studies; cultural policy
Russian StudiesDr Alexandra SmithRussian and comparative literature; Russian culture (film, theatre and performance, visual arts); literary theory; emigre writing; film and theatre adaptations of literary works; Russian and East European intellectual history
Scandinavian StudiesDr Alan MacnivenThe Viking Age; place-names; modern developments in Scandinavian (particularly Swedish) literature, language and culture
Dr Guy PuzeyLanguage, politics and identity (especially language policy, linguistic landscapes, and semiotic landscapes); socio-onomastics; critical toponomastics; translation of Norwegian; modern and contemporary Nordic social, cultural and historical topics
Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American StudiesDr Barbara Castillo BüttinghausenSouthern Cone literature and culture of the 20th and 21st centuries; travel chronicles by contemporary Latin American female writers
Dr Charlotte GleghornLatin American film studies, with a particular emphasis on the political work of cinema and its relationship to cultural memory; women’s cinema from Latin America; Indigenous and Afrodescendant filmmaking and media
Dr Jessica Gordon-BurroughsLatin American film and visual culture, especially in relation to the politics of archives, print and material culture; diaspora studies
Professor Alexis Grohmann20th and 21st century Spanish literature (including feature writing and newspaper collaborations by writers); the work of Javier Marías, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Antonio Muñoz Molina, and other contemporary writers
Dr Inês LimaEcocriticism; intertextuality; gender studies, queer theory; postcolonial studies; migration and mobility; literary theory; comparative literature; visual cultures
Dr Iona MacintyreHistory, literatures and culture of 19th century Spanish America (especially Argentina) and Brazil; history of the book and popular print forms; gender studies; transatlantic relations
Dr Fiona MackintoshSpanish American women's writing; 20th and 21st century Argentinian novels and poetry; transatlantic literary exchange; comparative literature
Dr Inma Sánchez GarcíaIntermediality; adaptation studies; comparative literature; Shakespearean adaptation; European and transnational cinema; queer approaches to film, literature and the arts
Dr José SavalPopular culture; socio-political aspects of contemporary Spanish literature; 20th century peninsular Spanish theatre; Manuel Vázquez Montalbán; Eduardo Mendoza
Dr Carlos Soler MontesSociolinguistics, applied linguistics and second language pedagogy, with a particular emphasis on language variation, second language acquisition, language contact and social bilingualism

Entrance requirements, fees, funding and more...

The University of Edinburgh Degree Finder gives you lots of information about what topics and themes we can supervise in European languages and cultures.

You can also use Degree Finder to find out about:

  • application deadlines
  • entrance requirements
  • start dates
  • fees and scholarship opportunities 

Degree Finder links straight through to EUCLID, the online system for applying to postgraduate programmes at the University of Edinburgh.

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The University of Edinburgh is ranked 3rd in the UK for Modern Languages.

We are ranked fourth in the UK in the broader subject area of the Arts & Humanities. 

Globally, we’re in the World Top 15: Modern Languages (12) and Arts and Humanities (9).

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