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Why study with us?

Close up of gold leaf letter M in historical style in book

We are well known for the scope and quality of our postgraduate research and the diversity of our doctoral community.

Life in the Department

Professor discussing material with PhD student while teaching collections based workshop
Discover more about life as a doctoral student in a department full of opportunities, connections and possibilities.

Develop your PhD proposal

Three PhD students working independently on their doctorates on laptops

Find out about our areas of expertise, the modes of study we offer, and how we can help you to shape your research project.

Student research topics

Typography doctoral student examining swatches

Learn more about the breadth of doctoral research topics our students have been pursuing for more than five decades.

Fees and funding

Close up of calculator, pen and financial document

The University allocates over £8m each year in PhD studentships and bursaries, so there are many ways to access funding.

How we support you

Aerial shot of two PhD students at coffee table looking at textbooks together

Experienced, committed supervisors support your studies, alongside our Graduate School, the University of Reading's hub for all doctoral activity.

Diagram called Design How You Feel created as part of graphic communication research project.

Our research

In the last research excellence framework, we were ranked first in the UK for research in the history, practice, and theory of typography and graphic communication (Times Higher Education Institutions ranked by subject, based on its analysis of the last research excellence framework (REF) 2014).

Montage of five posters from the Twentieth Century Poster Collection

Collections and archives

Our collections and archives of lettering, printing and graphic design are internationally important. We pioneered collections-based PhD research in our field.

Lecturer holding book gives talk to students in the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication

Our staff

Our staff are leaders in their fields and active in research. Find out more about their areas of expertise and current projects.