A doctoral degree at the Department of History of Art offers the opportunity for independent research under the supervision of an expert member of staff. The Department of History of Art has expertise in and therefore welcomes candidates in all periods from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and Early Modern eras, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as in Modern and Contemporary art. We also encourage research on historiography and methodology. As well as the research and skills training programme offered by the Faculty of Architecture and History of Art, candidates have the opportunity to attend suitable courses in associated skills, such as modern languages, palaeography, the use of bibliographic and other databases, and computer skills.

In Year 1, the course is structured around two in-person residential modules that you must attend in Cambridge. Each of these residential blocks is preceded by guided preparatory reading and other activities . A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) offers learning support while you are on the programme, including learning resources, peer-to-peer and student-to-tutor discussion between modules to build a virtual community of practice.

In Year 2, the focus is on the dissertation. You will work independently on your chosen topic under the supervision of an expert in your chosen field. You will have five supervisions between May 2027 and May 2028 (you can agree with your supervisor whether these will be face-to-face or online). There will also be three day-schools across the academic year, where you give a short presentation on your research to date. There will also be some research training in dissertation research and writing.

The MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine is a full-time 9-month course that provides students with the opportunity to carry out focused research under close supervision by senior members of the University. Students acquire or develop skills and expertise relevant to their research interests, as well as a critical and well-informed understanding of the roles of the sciences in society. Those intending to go on to doctoral work learn the research skills needed to help them prepare a well-planned and focused PhD proposal. During the course, students gain experience in presenting their own work and discussing the issues that arise from it with an audience of their peers and senior members of the department; they attend lectures, supervisions and research seminars in a range of technical and specialist subjects central to research in the different areas of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine.

The MPhil course is assessed by two research essays and a dissertation.

The topics of the essays and dissertation should each fall within the following specified subject areas:

1. Ancient, medieval and early modern sciences
2. Ancient, medieval and early modern medicine
3. Sciences in the age of empire, c. 1750–1900
4. Modern medicine and biomedical sciences
5. Modern sciences
6. Metaphysics, epistemology and the sciences
7. Ethics and politics of medicine and the sciences
8. Philosophy of the physical sciences
9. Philosophy of biology and the life sciences
10. Philosophy of social and cognitive sciences

In addition to the individual supervisions that support work on essays and dissertations, the MPhil lectures are the core teaching resource for this course. They introduce research topics, methods, and approaches adopted by the Department's teaching officers. Each lecture is followed by a small-group seminar that explores the topics in more depth. All MPhil students attend each lecture, but they can choose which subsequent seminars to follow.

Students are encouraged to attend the other lectures, research seminars, workshops, and reading groups that make the Department a hive of intellectual activity. The Department also offers a postgraduate training programme that focuses on key research, presentation, publication, and employment skills.

The educational aims of the programme are:

• to give students with relevant training at first-degree level the opportunity to carry out focused research in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine under close supervision
• to give students the opportunity to acquire or develop skills and expertise relevant to their research interests
• to enable students to acquire a critical and well-informed understanding of the roles of the sciences in society
• to help students intending to go on to doctoral work to acquire the requisite research skills and to prepare a well-planned and focused PhD proposal

The Department of History and Philosophy of Science currently has around 70 PhD students, their thesis topics covering the full range of history and philosophy of the sciences and medicine. PhD students are part of an exceptionally lively interdisciplinary community, with unparalleled opportunities to learn from and exchange ideas with staff, postdoctoral researchers and visitors here and across the University, and to use the outstanding facilities.

Before a student can be admitted, a member of the Department's teaching staff, approved by the Degree Committee, needs to agree to supervise the PhD. The supervisor is responsible for guiding the student's studies throughout their years at Cambridge, including by giving regular and detailed feedback on written work. In addition, each student is assigned an advisor by the end of the first term who then continues as part of the supervisory team throughout the PhD.

Students are encouraged to attend the research seminars, workshops and reading groups that make the department a hive of intellectual activity. The Department also offers a postgraduate training programme that focuses on research skills and career development.

The PhD in History is an advanced research degree awarded on the basis of a thesis and an oral (viva voce) examination. The PhD's primary purpose is to prepare and present a substantial piece of independent and original academic research, completed in three to four years if studying full-time and four to five years if studying part-time.

Every PhD student in the Faculty of History is supported by a Supervisor (or, in some cases, supervisors). Supervisors are experts in their field of study and support students throughout the PhD. Students will also benefit from the advice and support of other academic members of the Faculty who will be involved in the progression through the various stages of the PhD, from the registration assessment exercise at the end of the first year through to the completion of the thesis.

Most of our PhD students study here full-time but each year we admit a number of students who wish to study on a part-time basis. Part-time study can be ideal for those who are looking to gain a postgraduate qualification without leaving employment and wish to develop their careers while they continue earning, or for those who are home-based for whatever reason and wish to develop their skills. However, it's important to note that the part-time PhD at Cambridge is not a distance-learning course. Part-time students are expected to fully engage with the Faculty, integrate into the University's research culture, and attend the University on a regular basis for supervision, study, skills training, research seminars, and workshops.

Throughout their time at the Faculty, PhD students are encouraged to attend one or more of the Faculty's postgraduate workshops in their subject group or area of research. These workshops are spaces for PhD students to share their work and collaborate with visiting speakers, academics and peers.

In Year 1, the course is structured around three in-person residential modules that you must attend in Cambridge. Each of the three residential blocks is preceded by guided preparatory reading and other activities. A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) offers learning support while you are on the programme, including learning resources, peer-to-peer and student-to-tutor discussion between modules to build a virtual community of practice.

In Year 2, the focus is on the dissertation. You will work independently on your chosen topic under the supervision of an expert in your chosen field. You will have five supervisions between May 2027 and May 2028 (you can agree with your supervisor whether these will be face-to-face or online). There will also be three day-schools across the academic year, where you give a short presentation on your research to date. There will also be some research training in dissertation research and writing.

The MPhil in Heritage Studies focuses on the interdisciplinary field of Heritage Studies and equips students with a critical understanding of the diverse uses of heritage in the present. The overall aims are:

• To enable students to attain a critical appreciation of the development of heritage as a public enterprise, its theory, its values and uses. By the end of the course, students are expected to understand the broader context in which the heritage sector operates, the approaches and methods employed by professionals in the field, and to be able to enter a range of professions within the heritage industry.
• To enable students to think both reflectively and analytically about the field and the nature of heritage. By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to apply their critical thinking and knowledge about heritage to particular specialisations and be able to pursue independent research in their field of specialisation.
• To give students training in a range of general, transferable skills, such as analysing and formulating arguments, writing, presentation, debate, and research skills. By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to exercise these skills in any professional-level work which requires them.

The Advanced Diploma is a nine-month graduate qualification that provides instruction in the Hebrew language for students with a first degree whose knowledge of the language is at an intermediate or lower intermediate level at the time of entry with the objective of bringing their knowledge up to an advanced level.

The advanced level Hebrew is intended to prepare students for two possible pathways after the course:

• an MPhil degree with a research component, with a view to advancing thereafter to a PhD or another career requiring high-level language and research skills;
• a career in specialist Hebrew language teaching (in, for example, the Secondary Education Sector).

The Diploma consists of three taught modules, which are assessed by written and oral examinations at the end of the course. These are as follows:

Paper 1
Classical Hebrew language: to be assessed by one written examination paper, including translation and grammatical parsing questions.

Paper 2
Modern Hebrew language: to be assessed by one written examination paper, including translation and grammatical parsing questions, and an oral examination in Modern spoken Hebrew.

Paper 3
Either (i) History of the Hebrew language; or (ii) introductory Aramaic. (i) will be assessed by essay questions; (ii) will be assessed by a written examination paper, including translation and grammatical parsing questions.

The MPhil in Health, Medicine and Society is a full-time 9-month course run jointly by the Departments of History and Philosophy of Science, Sociology and Social Anthropology. It introduces students from a range of backgrounds to research skills and specialist knowledge relevant to their research interests, and provides them with the opportunity to carry out focused research under close supervision by senior members of the University. Students develop a critical and well-informed understanding of discourses and practices of history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology of health and medicine, and those intending to go on to doctoral work learn the skills needed to help them prepare a well-planned and focused PhD proposal.

During the course, students attend lectures, supervisions and research seminars in a range of subjects central to research in the different areas of history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology of health and medicine. These include core and optional modules covering each of these areas, as well as opportunities to attend research seminars across the Departments and the wider University.

Students complete three essays over the course of 9 months, working closely with supervisors to address a range of topics covered by the core and optional modules. They also write a dissertation on a topic of their choice, refined in consultation with their supervisor. Dissertation seminars give students the opportunity to gain experience in presenting their own work and discussing the issues that arise from it with an audience of their peers and senior members of staff.

The programme is targeted at both mid-career and new graduates who wish to develop their knowledge and skills in the healthcare innovation field. The part-time nature of the three courses is designed to fit around the demands of full-time employment. The courses are broadly based and inter-disciplinary and students from any technical or healthcare-related discipline are welcomed. The courses aim to:

1. Provide professionally relevant teaching and learning of the knowledge and skills necessary to be at the forefront of efforts to engineer better care.
2. Develop healthcare innovation experts with the necessary expertise, and originality of application, to pursue and expand their roles in the rapidly evolving environment of healthcare systems.
3. Promote a comprehensive understanding of the practical and ethical considerations relevant to healthcare improvement and biomedical engineering.
4. Provide work-relevant learning around the current problems, best-practice, challenges and potential solutions in the delivery of effective health and care.
5. Create a professional network of like-minded individuals as leaders in the field of healthcare systems and biomedical engineering.
6. Provide students with systems leadership skills and the knowledge to use technology to deliver value in healthcare, research, and commercial arenas.
7. Equip graduates with the language and mindset to work in an interdisciplinary manner across the interface between medicine, engineering and commercial settings.
8. Expose students to the industrial context and perspective within the technology area, providing opportunities throughout the study for involvement with industrial partners through workshops, seminars and the projects.