The French Section offers PhD supervision in an exceptional range of French and francophone studies areas. It contains world-leading researchers in the literature, thought, and culture of the Middle Ages, the early modern period, the 19th century, and the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as in cinema and linguistics. There is usually more than one specialist in any field, which helps broaden the PhD student's approach to and understanding of their topic. There is a dynamic culture of research seminars, and the postgraduate students themselves run their own seminar and arrange an annual postgraduate conference. The PhD is awarded on the basis of a thesis, a substantial piece of writing that reports original research into a closely defined area of enquiry within the field of French Studies, broadly defined. The completion of the PhD thesis is generally expected to take three to four years, and most funding is based on this assumption. It is also possible to take a part-time route through research degrees, and the expected timeframe would be five to seven years.