The University of Sheffield
School of East Asian Studies

The Research Degree

Professor Glenn D Hook
Director of the Graduate School at SEAS (GSEAS)

hook photo

Tomorrow's leading academic or a professional with an expertise in East Asia?

Either way, Sheffield will help you to realise your ambition as a full-time, part-time, or remote location PhD student. Our social science research training, quality research opportunities, and high standards of physical infrastructure, including online access to vernacular newspapers and databases, attracts a range of outstanding students annually. But what is unrivalled is the quality of the teaching and research environment the Sheffield team provides. It is what led the Higher Educational Funding Council for England to designate our taught programmes as 'excellent' - the highest accolade given - and our successful bid with our counterpart at the University of Leeds to become the country's Centre of Excellence on East Asia, the White Rose East Asia Centre (http://www.wreac.org/).

The Sheffield Degree

The Sheffield degree is a three-year research degree of normal registration. As such, it is particularly flexible, with classroom work for in-house students tailored to the needs of the student for research as well as transferable skills. We are recognized as an outlet for scholarships offered by the Economic and Social Science Research Council as part of the East Asia Pathway of the White Rose Doctoral Training Centre as well as being part of the Arts and Humanities ‘block grant’ scheme. With funding from the ESRC and the AHRC, other scholarships, or private funds, some of our students enter the job market with a Ph.D. after only three years of study. If the needs of your fieldwork mean that you must spend long periods of time in East Asia, this is not only acceptable but actively encouraged and appropriately monitored by the School.

Fieldwork and supervision

Indeed, many of our graduates have spent a large part of their time as students actually researching and writing their dissertations in the region. We ensure supervision is maintained by electronic means, by mail and by regular meetings in line with the Faculty´s quality control mechanisms. The specific format can be designed in terms of your own individual needs: some visits to the UK will be required; but it is just as likely that fieldwork in the region will mean that your research-active supervisor will be able to meet you in East Asia. The specialist knowledge you gain as a result of these periods of study overseas will contribute significantly to your future career success. Our links with a large number of prestigious universities in the region, including Tokyo University in Japan, Nanjing University in China, and Yonsei University in South Korea, mean that arrangements for your field visits can be carried out with ease.

Research and publication

Many students have come before you. The department has already produced leading academics who are at the cutting edge of East Asian studies, not only in the UK, but also in the region and more widely in the world. Some of them have published revised versions of their dissertations in international peer review journals as well as in the School's book series, from top-ranked publisher Routledge (part of the Taylor and Francis Group). The Sheffield Centre for Japanese Studies/Routledge Series is edited by Professor Glenn Hook.

Career enhancement and opportunities

If you already hold a position in higher education, but want to add value to your career by further research for the Ph.D., then we are committed to helping you conduct advanced research making the optimal use of your existing academic experience. Should you choose a career outside academia, the School's degrees are recognized by the top echelon in many spheres of activity. Whatever your own final career goal, as a Sheffield Ph.D. you will join that select group of graduates who have made their careers in government, world-class banks, brokerage firms, and as a range of professionals, whether in Britain, East Asia, or in the wider world.

Research topics

If you are unsure about a possible research topic, why not visit our staff profiles to see the sort of research our research clusters carry out. Our research topics are constantly responding to developments in the disciplines, as well as to the dynamic changes in the region. We are certainly able to supervise dissertations in a wide range of disciplines, including politics, international relations, political economy, business and economy, demographics, sociology, culture and film, language and literature, and modern history. The focus is on Japan, Greater China, the Korean peninsula, and East Asia as a region. The topic of your dissertation can be country specific or regional. Inter-disciplinary and inter-departmental supervision is also available for students wishing to pursue research involving another part of the world or involving other disciplines.

We are particularly keen to receive applications in the areas covered by our research clusters: