Archaeology & Palaeoecology MPhil

Queen's University Belfast

Overview

By joining Archaeology & Palaeoecology you will become part of a dynamic group of researchers in one of two interdisciplinary Research Clusters: Environmental Change & Resilience (ECR) for more environmentally-related projects, and Culture & Society (C&S) for more humanities-related Archaeology projects.

Projects involving Palaeoecology or Scientific Archaeology focus on themes such as long-term changes and resilience in ecosystems, humans, environments and climate, using approaches such as pollen analysis, tephra dating, dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. Much of our research spans several disciplines – for example projects on the hydrogeology and restoration of bogs.

Research in the C&S cluster explores the material manifestations of culture through time and space. We combine innovative scientific methods with theoretically-informed analyses to understand past human experience, bringing together the humanities and the sciences.

The combination of environmental archaeology, and especially bio-archaeology, with more traditional approaches to the past, helps to differentiate Queen's from most other Archaeology departments and is seen as both a strength and stimulus to future developments.

Career Development

• The University’s Graduate School provides postgraduate students with a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary hub to support their personal and professional development.
• Archaeology & Palaeoecology at Queen’s have a long-standing record of inter-disciplinary approaches to understanding the relationship between past humans and their environment. Our alumni are going on to successful careers in academia and beyond.
• QUB’s Researcher Plus scheme provides PhD and MPhil students with an opportunity to develop skills which are transferable beyond their research degrees, and the Researcher Plus award provides them with official recognition for the skills acquired in addition to their research.