phd in war studies

PhD Modern War Studies

We offer MAs by research in both Military History, Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History at out London office.

Course overview

Jan, 3 Years
Jan, 6 Years
Apr, 3 Years
Apr, 6 Years
Sep, 3 Years
Sep, 6 Years
Doctor of Philosophy
From £8,267 per year *
From £4,133 per year *
From £14,500 per year *
From £7,250 per year *
School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Upcoming events

Why not meet us at our next online or in-person event?

About the Course

“We must continually ask questions of the past, even the most recent past, because it holds the key to the future. History must be handled carefully of course, for it is trained experts that must provide the intellectual underpinning for decisions taken by politicians and the senior leaders of the Armed Forces. We need more research and Defence must work ever more closely with academics if we are to make sense of our complex world and so provide practical solutions to knotty problems. We need to know what to change, how to change, when to change and why. We also need to know what not to change. These are not questions for the ill-informed.”

Field Marshal The Lord Bramall, former Chief of the Defence Staff, in an interview with PhD programme director, Professor Lloyd Clark.

The University of Buckingham’s PhD in Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History seeks to provide the trained minds to which Field Marshal the Lord Bramall was referring, and our programme flourishes with doctoral students currently drawn from four continents and with graduates making their mark around the world. In a world of uncertainty and rapid change, there has never been a more important time to understand why war and how wars are fought, and their influence on politics, economics, society and culture.

The PhD programme is based in London, but its students can be located wherever their research demands and there is a choice full time or part time study. For those based in the UK, full use can be made of well-established relationships with some of the most important research facilities and institutions in the country including:

The Imperial War Museum
The RAF Museum
The National Army Museum
The Royal Navy Museum
The National Archives
The Royal United Services Institute
Chatham House
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The British Commission for Military History
The Centre for Army Leadership
Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research

While at The University of Buckingham, students can also enjoy access to:

The Humanities Research Institute
The Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies
The Centre for UN Studies
Field Marshal The Lord Bramall Archives

Developing Potential

All PhD students benefit from:

Programme Induction

Research Skills Seminars/ Lectures

PhD Research Group Seminars

Specialist Supervision and Tutorials [see below]

Invitations to attend a series of evening seminars held at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall and a course study day at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

SEMINAR PROGRAMME 2024-25

Seminar Location: Army and Navy Club, 36-39 Pall Mall, St. James’s. London SW1Y 5JN

Time: Seminars take place from 6.00pm and are followed by dinner.

23 October 2024: John Foreman CBE ‘The UK Defence Attaché’s View from Moscow, 2019-22 (Former Defence Attaché in Kyiv and Moscow)

20 November 2024: Admiral the Lord West ‘The UK’s Nuclear Endeavours since 1940’ (Former First Sea Lord and Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office)

19 February 2025: General Sir Nick Carter ‘British Defence in Dangerous Times: An Assessment’ (Former Chief of the Defence Staff)

19 March 2025: Dr Thomas Colley ‘New Wars: How Governments are Battling to Shape Reality’ (Department of War Studies, King’s College London)

09 April 2025: Professor Lloyd Clark ‘Mission Command and Warfighting: Rethinking old ideas’ (Professorial Research Fellow in Modern War Studies, The University of Buckingham)

23 April 2025: Dr Daniel Packham ‘Compulsory Military Service in the Modern Age: Selective Conscription in the Nordics’

Study Day at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 2025

Study Day Location: The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey GU15 4PQ

Date: Saturday 17 May 2025

Professor Tom Dyson: ‘A Revolution in Military Lesson Learning? Good Practices from NATO and Ukraine’ (Royal Holloway College, University of London)

Dr Matthew Powell: ‘The Rise of Multi-National Defence Procurement in the 21st Century’ (RAF College Cranwell and University of Portsmouth)

Dr Jonathan Carroll: ‘Challenging our Assumptions: The Spectre of Somalia in the 1990s’ (Department of War Studies, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst)

WO1 Sarah Cox: In conversation with Professor Lloyd Clark (Command Sergeant Major, Home Command)

Supervision

Each student is allocated two supervisors. There is a First (or Principal) Supervisor, who is the student’s regular guide during his or her research, and with whom the student meets regularly throughout the year. There is also a Second Supervisor, whom the student may consult on a more limited basis where a ‘second opinion’ on a particular draft chapter may be helpful.

Current supervisors include:

Dr Andrew Boyd – 20 th Century naval history and new security challenges

Professor Lloyd Clark – History of the British Army; military transition and change; lesson learning; leadership and command

Dr Andrew Lownie – Modern British history and espionage

Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice – Human Rights Law

Dr Ife Oakafor-Yarwood – Multidisciplinary approaches to security, the environment and maritime governance in Africa

Dr Gareth Price – Strategy, armed forces, politics and economics in south Asisa

Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Christopher Pugsley – The military history of the Australian and New Zealand armed forces

Major General (retd) William Robbins – Command, leadership and organisational culture.

Professor Matthias Strohn – History of European Armies; fighting methods; doctrine and command, counter-insurgency.

Dr Andrew Tchie – Security, stabilisation and peace operations in Africa

Dr Paddy Walker – Future warfare/rules; military ethics; military technology

Dr Aaron Edwards – Insurgency and COIN; terrorism

Current PhD Topics include

Retaining Women: A Review of women in the British Army, 1992-2022
Re-evaluating Counterinsurgency: The British Army and its Methods during the early years of the Malayan Emergency 1948 –1952
Strategic Leadership and Change: Generalship in the British Army since 1991
Framing War: The responses of The Times and The Guardian newspapers and their respective letter writers to the UK Government’s narrative framing of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 2001-2014
Private Military Companies and the Fight Against Terrorism, 2001-2014
Criminal activities in Sahel: The relationship between organized crime and terrorism, and its implications for regional security and development
India’s Strategic Culture: Understood as a Convergence of Western and Eastern Strategic Culture
The Military Challenges to the Boko Haram Insurgency Campaign Within Nigeria’s Political, Economic, and Societal Contexts (2002-2020)
The Cultures of Remembrance: A Comparison of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Volksbund deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, 1945-2020
Sub Regional Intervention in West Africa. An Analysis of the ECOWAS Military Intervention In The Gambia, 2017-2020
Facing Cyber Conflict: A Comparative Study of the Doctrinal and Organizational Evolution of NATO’s Top Three Western European Cyberforces (Great Britain, France, Germany), 2009-2019

What our students say

‘My PhD in Modern War Studies experience has been thoroughly rewarding and exceeded my expectations. The world-class academic supervision and opportunities have been second to none, opening doors to networks, excellent research facilities and most importantly drawing out my intellectual curiosity to hone my chosen topic’. (Scott Sherriff) ‘After years of asking myself should I undertake a PhD, I decided to investigate possible universities to undertake a potential PhD in Modern War Studies. I approached various universities only to be given a number of different dates for an open evenings. It was not until I contacted Buckingham that I received a warm welcome. Within days, I talked with a potential supervisor who was willing to support my interests. Over the past 18 months, the support from the academic community at Buckingham has been unwavering. The opportunities you have to meet and discuss your work with experts in your field are extraordinary. The team at Buckingham is always willing to support you and answer any questions you may have.’ (Richard Jones) ‘The Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History PhD programme has been a formative experience that challenges students to develop their ideas and academic skills. Access to supervisors is excellent and support from the wider academic team and library is readily available online and in-person. The programme has been a superb experience that I can highly recommend to prospective students.’ (Claudia Harvey)

Study period

Students are registered initially for the degree of PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), although their status is probationary until the first Annual Review has taken place, normally between 12 and 18 months from first registration.

The usual period of doctoral study is three years, though the University’s Regulations also permit candidates who make particularly rapid progress to apply to the University Research Committee for permission to submit at the end of their second year of study.

HM Armed Forces Discount

A 20% discount is available on the tuition fees for this programme to all serving members of the British Armed Forces (regardless of rank).

Ministry of Defence Enhanced Learning Credits

More information

Enquiries should be directed in the first instance to Professor Lloyd Clark [email protected] Details can also be obtained from our Admissions Officer (London Programmes) on [email protected] or by telephone to +44 (0)1280 827514.

In addition to PhD Modern War Studies, we also offer a variety of other PhD programmes .

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements.

Applicants are normally expected to have a first or second class, upper division degree or significant experience. A Master’s degree is preferred.

Mature students

Age is no barrier to learning and we welcome all applications from suitably qualified students.

International students

We are happy to consider all international applications and if you are an international student, you may find it useful to visit our international pages for details of entry requirements from your home country.

The University is a UKVI Student Sponsor .

English levels

If English is not your first language, please check our postgraduate English language requirements . If your English levels don’t meet our minimum requirements, you may be interested in applying for our Pre-sessional English Language Foundation Programmes .

Selection process

Candidates apply online, sending in their supporting documents, and will be assessed on this basis by the Programme Director. The Programme Director or Admissions Assistant will be happy to answer any enquiries, email [email protected] .

Student Contract for prospective students

When you are offered a place at the University you will be notified of the student contract between the University and students on our courses of study. When you accept an offer of a place on the course at the University a legal contract is formed between you and the University on the basis of the student contract in your offer letter. Your offer letter and the student contract contain important information which you should read carefully before accepting an offer. Read the Student Contract.

Teaching & Assessment

PhD students undertake supervised but independent research, at the end of which they submit a thesis embodying the results of that research. This thesis must demonstrate familiarity with, and an understanding of the subject, its principal sources and authorities. It should display critical discrimination and a sense of proportion in evaluating evidence and the judgements of others. A PhD thesis must embody an original contribution to the knowledge of the discipline either by the discovery of new knowledge or by the exercise of a new and independent critical approach.

Teaching methods

Candidates spend a considerable part of their studies undertaking supervised research, at the end of which they submit a thesis embodying the results of that research. This thesis must demonstrate familiarity with, and an understanding of the subject, its principal sources and authorities. It should display critical discrimination and a sense of proportion in evaluating evidence and the judgements of others. The subject should be dealt with in a competent and scholarly manner.

After Your Course

The University’s Course Directors, students’ supervisors, and the Research Officer and Tutor for Graduate Students are available to discuss students’ post-graduation plans and how they may utilise most effectively the skills acquired during their studies.

Fees & Scholarships

The fees for this course are:

The University reserves the right to increase course fees annually in line with inflation linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI). If the University intends to increase your course fees it will notify you via email of this as soon as reasonably practicable.

Course fees do not include additional costs such as books, equipment, writing up fees and other ancillary charges. Where applicable, these additional costs will be made clear.

Postgraduate loan scheme

A system of postgraduate loans for Masters’ degrees in the UK is supported by the UK Government. The loan will provide up to £11,222 for taught and research Masters’ courses in all subject areas. The loans can be used for tuition fees, living expenses or both.

Scholarships

Details of scholarships can be found on our Bursaries and Scholarships page . You should make an application to study at the University and receive an offer letter confirming our acceptance of your application before applying for a scholarship.

You may also find it useful to visit our External Funding page .