Skip to main content

Research in History, Classics and Archaeology

Our research interests span all human history around the globe. We work together to create an intellectually stimulating environment characterised by disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinary exploration.

History research
Classics & Ancient History Research
Archaeology research

Research themes

We encourage collaboration across the School in both teaching and research. We promote this approach through nine interdisciplinary research themes. Exploring and developing such cross-cutting perspectives is a fundamental aspect of our work:

Conflict and Revolution

Our research focuses on instances of violent and non-violent conflict in past societies.

Empires and After

We have a global perspective. We research the British Empire and 20th century post-colonialism. We also look at earlier empires (not least the Roman Empire).

Ideas and Beliefs

Ideas and Beliefs focuses on interpreting and understanding political and religious values. We look at the attitudes and convictions of past societies.

Labour and Society

We develop new research into the histories of labour. We look at this through the context of cultural representation and collective memory.

Life Cycles, Bodies, Health and Disease

We look at the life cycle, including childhood, gender, disease, death and personhood.

Landscape

This theme encourages active participation from all researchers, including postgraduates. It focuses on Holocene, with research across all periods from Mesolithic to present.

Material Culture

This is an interdisciplinary group for researchers in the field of material culture. We have distinctive strengths in innovative material culture studies of all periods. These periods range from later prehistory to the present.

Performance

This theme encompasses all areas of research connected to performance and performativity in language, literature, history and culture.

Writing of History

How history is written is a core research area for our ancient historians, classicists and historians.

Public Pasts

This interdisciplinary research theme looks at public history, archaeology and engagement. It is a core research area for our ancient historians, classicists and historians.

Collaborative hubs

Our research themes are collaborative hubs where academic staff and research students from multiple disciplines work in partnership. Our staff are also involved in other research centres across the university and with colleagues at other institutions. 

The School is home to the McCord Centre for Landscape - a University Research Centre that brings together interdisciplinary researchers with an aim to create positive social, cultural and economic results by promoting the value of landscapes, now and for the future.  

Research impact

REF 2014 recognised the world-leading and internationally excellent quality of our research. Our academic staff have a diverse range of research interests and publications. We highlight some of them in our virtual bookshelf.

Faculty research groups

Our researchers are active in many interdisciplinary Faculty Research Groups. They bring together scholars from different subjects and schools within the University, including: 

University research institutes

We work with several research institutes at the University. They include the Humanities Research Institute and the Institute for Social Science.

Major grants for our work

In the past five years, the School has secured major grants from the:

Researchers across all three subject areas received grants.

The Forum in Rome

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Newcastle University's School of History, Classics, and Archaeology is keen to attract new members to our growing postdoctoral community. We therefore encourage and seek to support applications from eligible researchers whose research fits with our areas of research expertise and who wish to apply to an appropriate postdoctoral fellowship scheme. Different schemes have different criteria and application procedures. Details of how we manage some of the key schemes are set out below. If you wish to apply to a scheme not mentioned here, please contact HCAResearch@ncl.ac.uk for further guidance.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships

These fellowships generally last for 12-24 months and have a research project as their focus, with a strong element of advanced training both in the research area and in transferable skills. The ideal fellow will be able to engage in a two-way transfer of knowledge, acquiring skills and/or knowledge from Newcastle researchers and sharing their expertise with them.

Applicants must have a compelling track record, appropriate to their career stage, of peer-reviewed publications in internationally recognised outlets, conference invitations or other indicators of success. Applicants must meet the scheme's eligibility criteria.

On the date of the deadline, candidates:

  • Must have a PhD degree. This includes applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded their doctoral degree.
  • Must have a maximum of eight years experience in research from the date on which the PhD was awarded.
  • Cannot have spent more than 12 months of the past 3 years (immediately before the call deadline) in the UK.

Please consult the full eligibility criteria before submitting an expression of interest.

The next round for applications is now open.

If you are interested in applying please produce a document of no more than two sides of A4 setting out:

  • An outline of the proposed project - with an indication of the preferred supervisor (who should also have been contacted)
  • A summary CV

These should be sent to HCAResearch@ncl.ac.uk and copied to rachel.Hammersley@ncl.ac.uk by midday UK time on Thursday 16 June as a single PDF with your name as the file name. Applications which do not include both components and/or which are over-length will not be considered. A message indicating that the application has been received will be sent to all applicants. The documents will be considered by the relevant colleagues and the most promising applicant(s) will be contacted with further guidance and support for the purposes of submitting a full application with the nominated supervisor.

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships

These fellowships are usually held for three years. They enable the award holder to pursue an independent research project, towards the completion of a significant piece of publishable research. The British Academy operates a two-stage process and there is no internal Newcastle competition. However, potential applicants are encouraged to contact their proposed supervisor and to indicate their intention to submit an outline application by writing to HCAResearch@ncl.ac.uk

Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme. They must

  • Not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable institution.
  • Be a British citizen or a national from the European Economic Area or have gained their doctorate from a UK university.
  • Be within a defined period (usually three years) of their Viva Voce examination.

Candidates can only apply once to this scheme. If you have previously applied and failed to reach the second stage you are not eligible to re-apply. Please consult the full eligibility criteria for the scheme to ensure that you meet the requirements before contacting us.

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships Scheme

These fellowships are usually held for a period of three years on a full-time basis. They provide outstanding early career researchers with an opportunity to undertake a significant piece of publishable work. The Leverhulme Trust places particular emphasis on research that is original and of intellectual significance beyond a narrow field.

Applicants must have a compelling track record of publications and other indicators of success appropriate to their career stage. They must also meet the scheme's eligibility criteria. They must:

  • Not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable institution.
  • Be within a defined period (usually four years) of submitting their doctoral thesis for examination.

Please consult the full eligibility criteria for the scheme before submitting an expression of interest.

Because the Leverhulme Fellowships require match funding from the institution we can only submit a limited number of applications. For this reason we hold an internal competition.

Anyone wishing to be considered for this scheme should submit the following by 12pm, Friday 15th November:

  • A research proposal of no more than 1,500 words.
  • A 500-word statement on their past and current research.
  • A brief (2 page) CV.

These should be sent to HCAResearch@ncl.ac.uk by the stated deadline as a single PDF with your name as the file name. Applications which do not include all components and/or which are over-length will not be considered. A message indicating that the application has been received will be sent to all applicants.

The expressions of interest will be assessed by an expert panel from the School, which will meet within three weeks of the deadline for expressions of interest. The most promising applicants will be contacted in the week commencing December 9th, and will be provided with further guidance to develop and support their applications for submission.

Virtual bookshelf
Research themes
Our people