Research

Setting new standards for inclusive, impactful and interdisciplinary research.

Across the disciplines of English, Film Studies, Media and Communication, and Modern Languages, we are forging transformative ways to research the past, present and future of literature, languages and film, creative writing and journalism, and media content, practice and platforms.

• The 2021 Research Excellence Framework judged 97% (English) and 95% (Media) of our overall research activity to be world-leading or internationally excellent.
• In REF 2021, Media and Communication was ranked 7th in the UK for research excellence according to the Times Higher.
• English (also comprising Film Studies and Modern Languages) was ranked 5th in the UK for research impact and 11th for research excellence according to the Times Higher.

Across all career stages, from PhD researchers to established scholars, we nurture and support individual and collaborative research projects via our wide-ranging research culture.

The School has six vibrant research clusters that foster conversations and collaboration, enabling and supporting the development of inventive, multidisciplinary research projects:

• Contemporary Literature, Writing and Culture
• Health, Environment, Science and Technology in Arts and Media
• Literary and Cultural Histories
• Media Practice
• Public Communications
• Visual Cultures

As well as the longest-established Centre for Victorian Studies in the country, we house innovative research centres for New Writing and Translation and Interpreting Studies, and run two annual research-inspired festivals: Literary Leicester and the Festival of Media Stories.

Our global reach spans Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe and we centrally contribute to four University research institutes that address global challenges: the Institute for Digital Culture, the Institute for Environmental Futures, the Institute for Precision Health, and the Institute for Space.

The School is home to a diverse Postgraduate Research community including Home, International and DL (Distance Learning) students working across all our subject areas. PhD researchers in the School have access to supervisors who are world-recognised experts in their fields.