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Postgraduate Study

Course closed:

Politics and International Studies is no longer accepting new applications.

For full-time students the first year of the PhD is spent in Cambridge, with two major activities: firstly, developing a research topic, with the guidance of a supervisor; and secondly, on training in research methods. The development of the topic often involves extensive reading into relevant literatures, the discovery of relevant information sources (such as archives or databases), and formulating plans for primary research, such as through making plans for fieldwork. This is done in combination with your primary supervisor. The first year culminates in the production of a report, which serves as the basis for the registration exercise at the end of the year. This registration exercise is required to move on to official registration for the PhD degree, and is conducted through a meeting with your postgraduate adviser and an independent assessor. Its purpose is to ensure that your research project is viable, that an appropriate methodology is being applied and that relevant literatures are being drawn upon.

The second major focus of the first year is research training. There is a weekly seminar on the methodological and philosophical questions that underpin research in the contemporary social sciences which all first-year PhD students attend.

Alongside the methods course, PhD students choose two further courses to attend from a range of options, such as statistics, qualitative methods and languages. This is mandatory for the registration exercise.

For part-time students, whilst the methods training is expected to be carried out in the first year, additional training and the registration exercise may take place in the Lent term of the second year.

The content of the second and third years for full-time students and the third and fifth years for part-time students varies considerably depending on the type of research being conducted. Many students spend a considerable portion of the second year (3/4th year part-time) of their PhD out of Cambridge on fieldwork, while others are resident throughout. To assist you in the development of your research, we schedule an annual meeting with your primary supervisor and postgraduate advisor, for which you produce a report for discussion.

Learning Outcomes

The PhD programme enables you, first and foremost, to develop your detailed knowledge of one specific field of knowledge, and through your original research to contribute to this field. But it also gives you training in a broad variety of academic skills, engagement through seminars with scholars and practitioners working in a wide variety of other fields, opportunities to be involved in lecturing and teaching, and preparation for the job market.

Many of our PhD students also engage through the university in training in learning new languages or developing existing non-native language skills; presenting their work to non-academic audiences such as policy-makers, NGOs or commercial organisations; and writing for and editing POLIS’s series of publications.


Continuing

Current MPhil students will need to achieve the required mark of distinction on their current programme. An early transcript revealing their current progress is not mandatory, but helpful. Should the committee extend an offer, this would be on the condition of meeting the academic requirements that apply to the course. Should the condition not be met at the end of the MPhil programme, the offer will be withdrawn.


Open Days

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the Postgraduate Open Day page for more details.

See further the Postgraduate Admissions Events pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

 

Key Information


3-4 years full-time

4-7 years part-time

Study Mode : Research

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Politics and International Studies

Course - related enquiries

Application - related enquiries

Course on Department Website

Dates and deadlines:

Applications open
Sept. 4, 2023
Application deadline
Dec. 5, 2023
Course Starts
Oct. 1, 2024

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Course Funding Deadline
Dec. 5, 2023
Gates Cambridge US round only
Oct. 11, 2023

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.


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