re Jennifer Schansberg's helpful summary on PhD's in Museum studies - Jennifer, sorry I was not subscribing at the time of your original query, but I'm delighted you did note that here at Manchester University in the UK we do have research degree students in museum studies now. Our traditional emphasis has been in the art gallery end of things (we are in the History of Art dept.), but for research degrees there is expertise in many other departments on hand. We offer both PhD's and M.Phil's. Quite commonly people register for an M.Phil first, then if appropriate transfer to PhD later. I would say the first question for anyone thinking of higher degrees for a museum career is "what kind of job do I want?" For anyone aspiring to work with collections in a major museum, no question, a museum studies Masters is fine, but then forget museum studies and go for a research degree in the speciality you want to curate, not in a technical area of museum studies. (You can do short courses later if you want to acquire management qualifications, but to get that job you will need an object-based higher degree - just starting work on it begins to give you contacts and get you known in your field). For anyone happy to work in smaller museums, or in larger ones on outreach or community projects, marketing etc. etc., then a research degree in a museum studies department, such as ours or Leicester's here in the UK, would be worth looking into. The important thing then, of course, is to go for the supervisor rather than the department, looking for one who has the strongest background and the best contacts in the field you are aiming at. We will be delighted to talk over possibilities (including ideas about other departments besides our own whom potential students might approach) with anyone thinking of a research degree in museum studies. David Phillips Art Gallery and Museum Studies History of Art Department University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK fax (0)61 275 3331