The University of Sheffield
Department of French

MPhil and PhD research

The results of the Research Assessment Exercise for 2008 show that for the proportion of research publications judged world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour, the French Department at the University of Sheffield is second only to Oxford.For all its research activity, including the research environment, research teams (staff and postgraduate research students) and the esteem in which our researchers are held in the broader community, the Department received the second-highest score for world-leading quality in the entire UK. The Department emerged from the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise in seventh place overall of the league table ranking research activity in French throughout universities in Great Britain.

We are also in the front rank of research activity as measured by the award of substantial grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and other external funding bodies. We have particular expertise in editing and the production of electronic resources, in collaboration with the HRI. Among the projects that have helped to establish our reputation in this area are:

André Gide Project - directed by Professor David Walker

Partonopeus de Blois Project - directed by Professor Penny Eley

The French Film Stars Project - directed by Dr Guy Austin

Academic staff in the Department have supervised MPhil/PhD theses on topics ranging from medieval narrative to contemporary film studies. Some recent thesis subjects include:

For further information on the research interests of staff and possible projects you could undertake, click on Research Areas and Current Postgraduate Projects in the Quick Links box