She is a leading specialist in modernist and post-modernist literature, feminist theory, intellectual history, and postwar fiction and its political contexts.
[2][3] Waugh completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of David Lodge.
[6] Waugh has won over £5 million in research funding and has been the external examiner of over 90 PhD theses.
With Marc Botha, she is completing a book project entitled Critical Transitions: Genealogies of Intellectual Change arising out of her work as PI on a collaborative Leverhulme funded project at Durham University on Tipping Points which examines issues around modelling complex dynamic systems from a humanities and science perspective with respect to climate change, social behaviours, and economic tips.
Her current work includes a collaborative Wellcome Trust-funded project, on which she is PI, with neuroscientists entitled Hearing the Voice.