The Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is an excellent choice for postgraduate students whose talents and interests lie in subjects such as history; sociology; politics; law; music and languages (English, Irish, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, TESOL). The Faculty offers particular research strengths in the following areas: Criminal Justice; Applied Language Studies; European Studies; Irish German Studies; Peace and Development Studies; International and Commercial Law; International Politics; Social Policy; Gender Studies; Utopian Studies; and Literary or Cultural Studies. Students can choose to do a research degree at Master of Arts/LLM or PhD level in any of these subjects or areas.
Overview
If you enjoyed researching and writing your final year project / graduate thesis or your MA dissertation, then you might enjoy carrying out a more in-depth piece of research at MA (by research) or PhD level.
FAHSS research students are part of a lively community; every student has his/her own research space with individual PC and desk;
Funding is available to research students annually to take part in international conferences and carry out fieldwork/archival visits in Ireland and overseas;
Research degrees develop a wide range of skills which are valued by employers (for example, excellent communication skills (written and oral), and critical/analytical skills);
Our PhD and MA graduates are employed in a wide range of sectors: education, media and publishing, research and consultancy, civil and public service, business, non-governmental sector, creative arts and media, and politics and local government.
*Price shown is for indicative purposes, please check with institution
8 September 2025
University of Limerick
Limerick,
Republic of Ireland
Applicants will normally be expected to hold an Honours degree (minimum 2.1) or equivalent in a discipline appropriate to their area of proposed research.
Matriculation examinations from European countries where English is presented as a subject and an acceptable level is achieved
Irish Leaving Certificate English –Ordinary Level Grade D or above
TOEFL – 580 (paper based) or 90 (internet based)
IELTS – Minimum score of 6.5* with no less than 6 in any one component.
English Test for English and Academic Purposes (ETAPP) – Grade C1
GCE ‘O’ level English Language/GCSE English Language – Grade C or above
PTE ACADEMIC:- a minimum score of 61 (with no section score below 59)
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.
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