bristol history dissertations

Theses and dissertations

The library holds a large number of Bristol theses and dissertations, including many PhD and doctoral theses. Read our advice about how to locate theses from other institutions, both in the UK and internationally .

University of Bristol theses and dissertations

To find a University of Bristol thesis:

• If the thesis is held in the Research Reserve, it can be requested using the 'reserve a copy' button.
• If the thesis is held in the Research Reserve, use the online request form to request it.
• See below for details of how to access theses held in our other library sites.
• Recently submitted theses may be listed on Explore Bristol Research  though information about these is regularly added to Library Search.

Arts and Social Sciences

The collection includes theses from Arts Faculty, Social Sciences and Law Faculty, Physics, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, Geographical Sciences, Agricultural Science and the School for Policy Studies.

MA, MSc, MPhil and MLitts do not have to be deposited with the library under the Regulations, so our collections of these are incomplete. 

How to consult a thesis

• Arts and Social Sciences theses are now held in the Library's Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.
• We will notify you when the thesis arrives at the library.
• Thesis loans are for use in the Arts and Social Sciences Library only.

School of Chemistry PhD, MSc and DSc theses from 1910 to date.

Thesis loans are for use in the Chemistry Library only, though postgraduates with seats may keep a thesis at their desk. You may ask if a particular thesis can be kept behind the Issue desk if you will be using it repeatedly for a period of time. Other theses are kept in a Library Staff room and are not available during the evenings.

School of Education EdD, PhD, MPhil, and a selection of Masters theses. Many theses written before 2005 are located in the Research Reserve.

• The MSc and Masters theses are located in the Quiet Study Area;
• The MPhil, PhD and EdDs are located in Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.

The thesis collection from the Medical Library has been relocated to the library's Research Reserve. The collection includes: PhD, MD, MSc, ChM and DSc theses of staff and postgraduate students of the Health Sciences Faculty, from 1910 to date.

A card catalogue in the Medical Library contains details of the earlier theses, or you may check the  Card Catalogue Online .

• See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.
• We will notify you when the thesis arrives at the library;
• Theses are for use in the Medical Library only and you will be asked to sign a register.

School of Physics PhD, MSc and DSc theses from 1950 to date, with a few earlier ones. BSc and MSci projects are also held.

A card catalogue in the Physics Library contains details of the earlier ones.

• Ask at the Issue Desk to borrow a thesis, quoting author, year and category;
• Theses may be borrowed by staff and postgraduates as standard loans;
• Undergraduates may use theses in the library only;
• BSc and MSci projects may be borrowed by undergraduates: for the standard loan period.

Queens (Engineering, Mathematics, Computer science)

Engineering and Mathematics PhD theses are held in the Research Reserve, including Computer Science theses before the Department transferred to the Faculty of Engineering.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request these.

A card catalogue, on the right beyond the Issue desk, contains details of pre-1978 theses.

• It can take 2-3 working days for a thesis to arrive and you will be notified when they are available;
• PhD theses may not be borrowed by undergraduates; taught postgraduates or external members but may be consulted in the library.

MSc Projects

• Some early Engineering MSc projects (1914-1950) are available from the Research Reserve - please contact your  Subject Librarian

Undergraduate projects

• Individual and group projects from 2015/16 - 2019/20 academic years for Civil and Mechanical Engineering are available on the open shelves in the Gallery.
• Early projects from 1920 to 1949 have been moved to  Special Collections  in the  Arts and Social Sciences Library

Veterinary Sciences

MSc Meat Science theses from 1979 to date and a small number of PhD theses. The majority of veterinary sciences PhD theses are housed in the Research Reserve.  See 'to find a University of Bristol thesis' section above for details of how to request.

Theses are shelved in the Computer Room and are for use in the library only.

Wills Memorial (Law, Earth Sciences)

Collections of both Law and Earth Sciences theses.

Theses are confined to the library; please ask at the information desk if you wish to borrow one.

UK and international theses

Information about many UK and international theses can be found via  Library Search . If the thesis you are interested in is not available online, you can use our  inter-Library Loan service . Non-UK theses can be difficult to obtain: in some countries, universities are working together to make full text electronic collections available:

• Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS)  - a service provided by the British Library
• DART - Europe e-theses Portal
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)
• PQDT Open  - open access dissertations and theses
• PQDT Global  -  a collection of dissertations and theses from around the world

Submit a thesis

Advice on how to submit a thesis for a higher degree can be found on the  Presenting and submitting your dissertation for examination  page. Information on how to submit a thesis to the library can be found on the Library's own Thesis Guidance  pages.

Historians at Bristol

From the department of historical studies, university of bristol.

Category Archives: Practice Based Dissertations

Becoming a public historian: cissy walmsley.

In this series, Dr Jessica Moody, unit co-ordinator of the third year Practice-Based Dissertation option, interviews students about their projects and experiences of this unit. The Practice-Based Dissertation was first introduced at Bristol in 2020-21 and enables students to produce a practical, public-facing ‘public history’ output as well as a 5000 word Critical Reflective Report.   

In this interview, Jessica talks to Cissy Walmsley about her project.    Continue reading →

Becoming a Public Historian: Isabel King

In this series, Dr Jessica Moody, unit co-ordinator of the third year Practice-Based Dissertation option, interviews students about their projects and experiences of this unit. The Practice-Based Dissertation was first introduced at Bristol in 2020-21 and enables students to produce a practical, public-facing ‘public history’ output as well as a 5000 word Critical Reflective Report.

In this interview, Jessica talks to Isabel King about her project. Continue reading →

Becoming a Public Historian: Kim Singh-Sall

In this interview, Jessica talks to Kim Singh-Sall about her project.  Continue reading →

Becoming a Public Historian: Issy Coleman

In this interview, Jessica talks to Issy Coleman about her project. Continue reading →

Becoming a Public Historian: Josh Hillman

In this interview, Jessica talks to Josh Hillman about his project.

Continue reading →

Becoming a Public Historian: Nicola Howard

In this interview, Jessica talks to Nicola Howard about her project.

Becoming a Public Historian: Kate Sudakova

In this series, Dr Jessica Moody, unit co-ordinator of the third year Practice-Based Dissertation option, interviews students about their projects and experiences of this unit.

The Practice-Based Dissertation was first introduced at Bristol in 2020-21 and enables students to produce a practical, public-facing ‘public history’ output as well as a 5000 word Critical Reflective Report.

In this interview, Jessica talks to Kate Sudakova about her project. Continue reading →

Becoming a Public Historian: Haley Jensen

In this new series – ‘Becoming a Public Historian’ – Dr Jessica Moody, unit co-ordinator of the third year Practice-Based Dissertation option, interviews students about their projects and experiences of this unit.

In this interview, Jessica talks to Haley Jensen about her project. Continue reading →

Dissertations and projects

Student dissertations and projects that have been provided by the colleges as examples of good practice.

The Library holds selected student dissertations and projects from the past five years that have been provided by the colleges as examples of good practice (the actual grades awarded are confidential).

Browse electronic dissertations

The dissertations are stored on Blackboard and arranged alphabetically by award title.

For example, to access BA (Hons) History dissertations, click on the BA link below, then look for H istory dissertations in the H-O list. You will be asked to log into Blackboard after making a selection.

Undergraduate dissertations

Postgraduate dissertations, search for student dissertations and projects.

You can search for all electronic dissertations held by the library using the search function in Blackboard – the search bar is available in the left hand navigation bar. Try searching for a particular title, author or topic.

Connect to Blackboard Dissertation Store

Searching for PhD theses?

Search for PhD theses in print format, included those awarded by other universities.

Search for PhD theses

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(net)working out poverty and social exclusion in rural ireland and russia.

Supervisor: Cloke, P. (Supervisor)

Student thesis : Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

(Re)Defining Sustainability: Belo Monte, São Luiz do Tapajós and Storylines of Resistance

Supervisor: Flint, A. (Supervisor) & Tucker, K. (Supervisor)

(Re)shaping Genre: The Commercial and Social Presentation of Speculative Fiction in the 21st Century

Supervisor: Krishnan, M. (Supervisor) & Tether, L. (Supervisor)

(Un)healthy prison masculinities : theorising men's health in prison

Supervisor: Payne, S. (Supervisor) & Doyal, L. (Supervisor)

[2+2]-Photocycloaddition Reactions in the Synthesis of Novel Scaffolds and Natural Products

Supervisor: Willis, C. (Supervisor) & Booker-Milburn, K. I. (Supervisor)

#On the edge' : students into teachers; a qualitative study of primary post graduate students focusing upon their transition from students into teachers.

Student thesis : Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Education (EdD)

Supervisor: Ladyman, J. A. C. (Supervisor) & Thebault, K. P. Y. (Supervisor)

3D Bioprinted Engineered Living Materials for Continuous Organophosphorus Compound Detoxification

Supervisor: Perriman, A. W. (Supervisor) & Ting, V. (Supervisor)

3D FE-informed laboratory soil testing for the design of offshore wind turbine monopiles

Supervisor: Ibraim, E. (Supervisor) & Diambra, A. (Supervisor)

3D-printable conjugated microporous polymer electrodes for carbon capture and conversion

Supervisor: Patil, A. (Supervisor) & Faul, C. F. (Supervisor)

Student thesis : Master's Thesis › Master of Science by Research (MScR)

3D-printed flexible energy storage for soft robotics

Supervisor: Faul, C. F. (Supervisor) & Rossiter, J. (Supervisor)

3D-Printing Electrochemical Systems

Supervisor: Faul, C. F. J. (Supervisor) & Lennox, A. J. J. (Supervisor)

3D Printing Enzyme Mediated Interpenetrating-Network Biohybrid Materials with Shape Changing Properties

Supervisor: Perriman, A. W. (Supervisor) & Anderson, J. L. R. (Supervisor)

3D printing shape-changing double-network hydrogels

Supervisor: Seddon, A. M. (Supervisor) & Eichhorn, S. (Supervisor)

5G Communication Framework for Smarter Autonomous Vehicles

Supervisor: Piechocki, R. (Supervisor) & Nix, A. (Supervisor)

5G Neutral Hosting

Supervisor: Simeonidou, D. (Supervisor) & Nejabati, R. (Supervisor)

A Baculoviral ‘Swag Bag’ Protein and DNA Delivery Toolkit for CRISPR-based Editing of Human Genomes

Supervisor: Berger, I. (Supervisor) & Dillingham, M. (Supervisor)

Ab initio methods for atmospheric photochemistry

Supervisor: Glowacki, D. (Supervisor) & Orr-Ewing, A. (Supervisor)

Ab initio Study of Spin-Dependent Transport and Magnetism in Heavy and Superconducting Metals

Supervisor: Gradhand, M. (Supervisor)

A biologically-inspired artificial lateral line: Observations of collective behaviour in fish lead to the development of a novel design of simple and low-cost artificial lateral line sensor

Supervisor: Hauert, S. (Supervisor), Ioannou, C. (Supervisor) & Genner, M. J. (Supervisor)

A biophysical investigation into the self-assembly of α-helix - polyproline II helix oligomers

Supervisor: Race, P. R. (Supervisor) & Woolfson, D. N. (Supervisor)

'A Box of Conflict Memories' - Materiality, Memory and Princess Mary's Gift Box 1914-2020.

Supervisor: Saunders, N. J. (Supervisor) & Were, G. (Supervisor)

A British Pleistocene chronology based on uranium series and electron spin resonance dating of speleothem.

Abstractions for portable data management in heterogeneous memory systems.

Supervisor: McIntosh-Smith, S. (Supervisor)

A case study on learners' 'skills o discovery and interaction' in instant messenger-mediated intercultural dialogue between university students in Taiwan and in UK

Accelerated sampling methods for high dimensional molecular systems.

Supervisor: Glowacki, D. (Supervisor) & McIntosh-Smith, S. (Supervisor)

Access and equity in the school’s marketplace: the case for random allocation in secondary school admissions

Supervisor: Watson, D. L. (Supervisor) & Harris, P. R. (External person) (Supervisor)

Student thesis : Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci)

Access to collective labour rights for platform workers under European Union Law: an analysis based on the republican idea of freedom as non-domination

Supervisor: Novitz, T. A. (Supervisor) & Syrpis, P. A. J. (Supervisor)

ACCORD – ACCESSING CLINICAL ETHICS COMMITTEES FOR RAPID DISCUSSION: What approach(es) should be adopted by clinical ethics support services (CESS) for advising on urgent decisions in healthcare?

Supervisor: Huxtable, R. (Supervisor), O'Connor, D. (Supervisor), O'Connor, D. (Supervisor) & Huxtable, R. (Supervisor)

Accountability and multilateral global governance : exploring the discourse of transparency and the role of secrecy.

Accounting for sustainability with a focus on materiality and completeness.

Supervisor: Cooper, S. (Supervisor) & Chapman, C. S. (Supervisor)

Acetylcholine in the Interpositus Cerebellar Nuclei

Supervisor: Apps, R. (Supervisor), Bashir, Z. (Supervisor) & Pickford, J. (Supervisor)

A changing world: how anthropogenic noise and climate impact dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula) behaviour

Supervisor: Radford, A. (Supervisor) & Cuthill, I. C. (Supervisor)

A characterisation of mononuclear phagocyte dynamics in the healthy and regenerating zebrafish heart

Supervisor: Richardson, B. (Supervisor) & Martin, P. B. (Supervisor)

A Chemical Synthesis Paradigm for in utero Repair of Spina Bifida

Supervisor: Galan, C. (Supervisor), Briscoe, W. (Supervisor) & Cosgrove, T. (Supervisor)

Achievement of Nepalese pupils in Hong Kong primary schools : barriers and education needs

Supervisor: Hill, T. (Supervisor) & Tikly, L. (Supervisor)

A Child of Two Worlds: Materiality and Landscape of Mushroom-Shaped Bunkers in Albania

Supervisor: Saunders, N. (Supervisor)

A clash of clades: the evolution and ecology of terrestrial amniotes through the Permo-Triassic.

Supervisor: Benton, M. J. (Supervisor) & Rayfield, E. J. (Supervisor)

A Closed-Loop Recycling Process for Discontinuous Carbon Fibre Composites

Supervisor: Longana, M. (Supervisor), Yu, H. (Supervisor), Potter, K. (Supervisor) & Hamerton, I. (Supervisor)

A comparative study of the gastropod populations in two North Somerset reservoirs, England

A comparison between methadone and buprenorphine for perioperative analgesia in dogs and cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy.

Supervisor: Murrell, J. (Supervisor), Hunt, J. (Supervisor) & Yates, D. (Supervisor)

A Comparison of Eulemur Social Systems and Vocal Communication During the Mating Season: Implications for the Speciation and Conservation of Blue-Eyed Black Lemurs and Black Lemurs

Supervisor: Mccabe, G. (Supervisor) & Holderied, M. (Supervisor)

A comprehensive screening of the two-component network in Staphylococcus aureus

Supervisor: Massey, R. (Supervisor)

A Computational Framework for the Optimisation of Antivenom Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

Supervisor: Hauert, S. (Supervisor), Blee, J. A. (Supervisor) & Collinson, I. R. (Supervisor)

A consideration of geometry in very-low Earth orbit satellites

Supervisor: Berthoud, L. (Supervisor) & Allen, C. B. (Supervisor)

A constraint-based partial evaluator for functional logic programs and its application.

A conversation analytic study of co-working between a person with learning disabilities and a person without learning disabilities.

Supervisor: Dowling, S. F. (Supervisor) & Williams, V. J. (Supervisor)

Acoustic and Flight Behaviour of Emerging Greater Horseshoe Bats in Paired Flight

Supervisor: Holderied, M. W. (Supervisor)

Acoustic communication of rare and threatened crocodilians and its use for population monitoring

Supervisor: Holderied, M. W. (Supervisor) & Mccabe, G. (Supervisor)

Acoustic Flow Perception in Bats and Applications in Navigation

Supervisor: Windsor, S. P. (Supervisor) & Holderied, M. W. (Supervisor)